Healthy Food Promotions: A ‘Must’ for Retailers

Across the food industry, healthy, better-for-you food promotions are becoming more than a “nice thought.” They’re becoming essential to attracting new customers and retaining current traffic. More retailers are launching promotions and reorganizing product assortments as they realize the opportunity to increase their bottom line. Family Express of northwest Indiana is an example of one such retailer. Convenience Store Decisions recently reported on a new better-for-you initiative at this 68-store chain. For the next two months, children 12 and under who visit one of Family Express’ locations will be offered a free banana, pear or apple while their parents shop. The retailer is also working towards displaying its healthier food options to make it easier for customers to find and select healthy foods. Eventually each store will have a “Better for You” section. Convenience store competitors are also making an effort to improve their healthy snack offerings. In June, CVS Pharmacy announced the expansion of its assortment of healthier foods and beverages to more than 2,900 stores nationwide. This includes the expansion of better-for-you snacks at checkout lanes and healthy trend zones. Raw snack foods are currently on display in the summer, and they’ll be followed by vegan options in the fall. The CVS promotion adapts with the changing seasons and recognizes that healthy snacks are here to stay. Packaged Facts recently released data that should get every retailer fired up about this category. In the past half-decade, healthy-ingredient snacks have seen steady growth. In fact, the market’s compound annual growth rate of 4.7% has outpaced overall food and beverage sales growth. That rate is expected to jump to 5.7% between 2016 and 2020. That translates to $25.4 billion in sales by 2020. According to Packaged Facts, snack bars are still the largest category of healthy-ingredient snacks, followed by sales of nuts and seeds. In terms of growth, meat snacks continue to be the fastest-growing category within the segment, particularly in supermarkets and convenience stores. Retailers across different channels are getting the message: Healthy foods attract customers and the expansion can be profitable. The public sector is also taking note as it considers ways to support retailers who want to expand access to fresh produce, particularly in urban areas. For example, Philadelphia launched the Philadelphia Healthy Corner Store Initiative to support neighborhood stores that are trying to expand healthier offerings. “The representative from the program showed me data that I could make as much money selling two tomatoes as I could soda,” one c-store owner told NACS Online. “I didn’t realize produce could have such a decent markup.”

A Checklist a Day Makes the Apples Stay

The success of healthy food initiatives is dependent on three factors:

1. Getting the word out via promotions
2. Product selection
3. Execution of display

Remember: No promotion in an ever-changing retail environment falls under “set-it-and-forget-it.” If you’re going to test the effectiveness of a new healthy foods campaign, you have to mobilize your team and follow up in each store.

For instance:

• Is promotional signage up and accurate?
• Is there enough product available? Are products priced correctly? (Don’t make the Whole Foods pricing error!)
• Are individual stores executing the marketing plan? (In the case of Family Express, is every age-appropriate child provided a piece of fruit? This observation can be recorded.)

Having regional or store managers account for a promotion’s various elements via a checklist is smart, intuitive, and enables you to react in real time. It could mean the difference between a promotion increasing your bottom line or failing to make a return. Tools like Zenput increase accountability and increase returns by providing real-time, actionable insights. To learn more about how this mobile solution works in the c-store environment, click here.