CHICAGO — The overall goal of supermarket retailers looking to help their health-minded shoppers should be to close the gap between good intentions and real effort.
Cary Silvers, director of consumer advertising and research for Rodale, the Emmaus, Pa.-based health information provider, referenced several studies to demonstrate ways the food industry can be the bridge that helps consumers cross over to better eating and more healthful lifestyles.
“We are a big country, and I just don't mean in square mileage,” he said during an educational session at the FMI Show. “Over half of Americans say they have a few too many pounds. Baby Boomers are even worse. And 28% of parents say they have an overweight child.”
Even among those who stated they are eating better, Silvers noted that there seems to be no real progress made toward reducing the spread between trying to change and actually committing to it.
“There's always been a gap. If we go back to 2000, essentially what we're seeing is that 45% said they make a lot of effort to eat healthy, and 30% said their diet was healthy enough,” he said. “And even though both numbers have increased over the years, we still have the gap. The overall objective is not being achieved.”
Using statistics from Rodale's 2006 “America Grabs for the Gold Ring” study, Silvers pointed out that the spread between those who say they want to live better, and those actually attempting change, totals 41 million consumers, and that's where conventional retailers should focus their efforts.
Silvers described this group of shoppers as free agents who do not subscribe to any one particular diet, lifestyle plan or exercise regimen. Their unpredictable, finicky nature is a riddle, and requires supermarkets to be bold in their marketing.
“There's no one way to capture them. Experiment, try something new because there's no one way to answer consumers' questions. The overall route to eating healthier is to connect the desire to showing consumers how to find it in stores,” Silvers said, using two studies to show how supermarkets can fail in this effort.
FMI statistics, for example, show that consumers today spend roughly $72 a week — the bulk of their weekly food expenditures — on supermarket shopping. A separate Rodale study demonstrated that nearly three-fourths of respondents said eating at home is healthier than eating out. At face value, both assertions should mean good news for retailers.
“Well, when we asked [respondents] if they saw a lot of healthy choices in the supermarket, only half or fewer could identify at least some healthy choices,” Silvers countered. “This is another gap and another opportunity for retailers to think about.”
Silvers said Rodale's research uncovered an interesting tidbit operators should keep in mind regarding organic foods. “There are positives to the organic story and negatives,” he said.
Fifty-five percent of all shoppers in the study said they bought some sort of organics in the past six months. However, when asked if they purchased organics besides fresh fruits and vegetables, the percentage plummeted.
“The 55% goes way down to 33%,” Silvers said of the “reality organics” category. “For some Americans, organic right now is not much more than fresh fruits and vegetables. Remember that.”
