RALPHS OFFERS HEART SMART CHOICES FOR HEALTHY FOOD

MARYELLEN LO BOSCO

COMPTON, Calif. -- Ralphs Grocery Co. here is featuring the Heart Smart seal of approval on qualified private-label items, as part of a storewide strategy to communicate healthy food options.

"The real benefit is to the consumer," said Tom Dahlen, senior vice president of marketing for Ralph's. "The more nutritional information they can get accurately, quickly and simply, the more knowledgeable decisions they can make. And we believe this leads to increased customer loyalty and increased sales."

The seal is offered by Health Smart Marketing, a retail division of Health Smart International, Dublin, Calif., which has been certifying menu options for restaurants since 1991. The new division was created to certify grocery and service menu options in supermarkets that meet Food and Drug Administration claims for food that is "Heart Healthy."

The Heart Smart seal appears on the front of the package of Ralphs private-label certified products, along with a statement of FDA compliance on the back of the panel. It gives shoppers a quick way to identify items that comply with FDA's heart healthy guidelines.

Each certified product must meet the FDA's requirements for low- fat, low saturated fat and low cholesterol and must not exceed FDA recommendations for sodium content. In addition, each item must contain at least 10% of the Recommended Daily Values for one or more of the following: protein, dietary fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium and iron.

Heart Smart has already certified more than 150 Ralph's private- label products, including Private Selection frozen fruit and white corn. Ralphs brand oatmeal will soon feature the seal.

Nonetheless, it will take some time before many more products actually show up on the shelf. According to Anthony Mullen, spokesman for Heart Smart Marketing, Ralphs currently has about a dozen items on the shelf, and the company expects to have about 50 items available throughout the store by year end.

Ralphs is gradually phasing in the certified items. The chain has opted to use up existing private-label packaging rather than immediately create new packaging that carries the seal.

Moreover, Ralphs will not widely promote the Health Smart program until there are more items for customers to choose from.

"They are waiting to get a critical mass of 20 to 25 items, before they put it in their regular marketing program," he explained. While Ralphs is the first supermarket in the country to use the Health Smart Marketing program on its store-branded items, the company is talking to other chains, Mullen told SN.

Catering to the health conscious is not new for Ralphs, and the chain has offered low-salt and low-fat private-label items for several years, but the Heart Smart program enables the chain to market these items more prominently.

Unlike chains like Kroger and Safeway, which have created "healthy" brands, Ralphs is using Heart Smart co-branding on its existing lines. According to Mullen, this strategy will be more effective, since it will be easier for consumers to recognize and understand the ubiquitous seal.

"Over the long term, co-branding is more economical and creates stronger brand equity. Our approach is slower, but over the long-term it is more viable," he said.

Ralphs Grocery Company and Food 4 Less, a subsidiary of Ralphs, was recently acquired by Fred Meyer, Portland, Ore. Fred Meyer also recently acquired Hughes Family Markets, Irwindale, Calif., and Quality Food Centers, Bellevue, Wash.