Raley’s Hires Nutrition Strategist to Support Brand’s Wellness Direction

As health and wellness trends continue to influence shoppers’ purchasing decisions across the store perimeter, Raley’s Family of Fine Stores has created a new nutrition strategist and brand influencer role to drive the company’s nutrition strategy and support the brand’s wellness direction.

The retailer has appointed Yvette Waters to the newly created position, in which she will be responsible for driving nutrition strategy across all Raley’s brands and work alongside the company’s merchant team to deliver healthy products to its store shelves.

Waters first joined Raley’s to support the development of the retailer’s new farm-to-fork concept, Market 5-ONE-5, which debuted in Sacramento, Calif., in May. Leading the brand’s nutrition strategy, Waters developed the store’s category standards and curated the product assortment, each of which was hand-selected based on the brand’s three core values: organic, nutrition and education.

In her new role as nutrition strategist and brand influencer, Waters will support team member education on products and nutritional content. As corporate dietitian, she will also be responsible for developing customer education pieces, attending community events and making PR appearances.

“As Raley’s strives to make healthy options accessible to all, Yvette is a proven dietitian who will help guide our organization,” Raley’s President Keith Knopf said in a statement. “Her knowledge and expertise will enhance our nutrition strategy. She will play an integral role in improving the education and nutritional value of our relaunch of Raley’s private label products, including our clean deck line, Raley’s Purely Made.”

Raley’s creation of the new nutrition strategist role serves as a strategic step in the company’s ongoing effort to “change the way customers eat, one plate at a time.” In addition to enhancing its private label line, the retailer last year launched Raley’s Shelf Guide, a new shelf tag program designed to bring product transparency to its customers.

Waters is a registered dietitian with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition dietetics from the University of Nevada, Reno, and is on track to receive her master's of science in nutrition and human performance from Logan University in the coming weeks.

Prior to joining Raley’s, Waters was a registered dietitian for the University of Nevada, a dietitian for the Nevada Diabetes Association and an intern and nutrition expert for a medical hospital.

“This new role at Raley’s is a great opportunity to share my expertise and influence real change for Raley’s customers on their personal wellness journey,” Waters said.