WHEAT FOODS COUNCIL MULLS TARGETING SHOPPERS AT RETAIL

ROSEANNE HARPER

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Wheat Foods Council here has turned its attention to retail bakeries.

At its June meeting, the council's 25-member board of directors voted to determine the feasibility of a program to target consumers through retail stores, including in-store bakeries.

Toward that end, the council plans to survey retailers and others in the industry via a market research firm to determine whether such a program would be widely supported, said Barbara Witte-Scott, the council's communications manager.

"All we know now is that we're going to have the survey done. We don't know what type of involvement with retailers would be most productive. We'll get some direction on that also from the survey," Witte-Scott added.

A retail-oriented program would not replace any of the council's current efforts, which traditionally have been aimed at opinion leaders such as nutrition and fitness instructors, dietitians and food editors, she said. "Since we have a small budget, targeting opinion leaders has proved the best way to reach consumers with what we have to spend," Witte-Scott said.

Last year's council budget was $1.2 million. This year's is $1,354,500.

The plan to work more closely with retailers was spurred by inquiries from retailers about educational materials, said Witte-Scott.

"We've had an increasing number of phone calls from them [retailers] about materials such as posters of the Food Guide Pyramid and other items like magnets and table tents featuring the pyramid," she said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid recommends eating six to 11 servings of grain products daily as one of its dietary guidelines.

To further explore retailers' opinions about the Food Guide Pyramid, the council informally surveyed attendees at the Retail Bakers of America expo-convention last spring in St. Louis. And the results were encouraging, Witte-Scott said.

More than 95% of 140 retailers questioned said they thought use of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid to educate customers would increase retail bakery bread sales. And more than half said use of the Food Guide Pyramid in-store would increase sales of sweet goods as well. The latter was particularly interesting, Witte-Scott said, because the pyramid also recommends that fats, oils and sweets be used "sparingly."

Only 16% of those surveyed said their customers are already familiar with U.S. dietary guidelines.

The retailers surveyed also told the council they were particularly interested in the availability of posters, brochures, table tents and point-of-purchase displays featuring the pyramid. Witte-Scott added that the council offers a flier with a graphic of the pyramid and descriptions of serving sizes, as well as other materials at cost.