Supermarket Perimeter - June 2022 - 9

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Health and wellness
are more important
than ever, but its many
definitions can be
hard to pin down.
The huge increase in
SKUs from the fresh
perimeter of yesterday
to the perimeter of
today creates huge
opportunities - and
poses many challenges
- for today's retailers.
Educating consumers
via old-fashioned and
cutting-edge media is
critical to tapping into
the power of health and
wellness merchandising.
In-house dietitians are
a great way to bridge
the gap between retailer
and consumer when
it comes to health.
A shift from negative
to positive: consumers
today identify more
with what foods have
that's good for them vs.
what they don't have
that's bad for them.
" H
ealth and wellness " has never been more important for
Americans and for the suppliers of the foods they eat to help
them meet their personal better-for-you goals.
But health and wellness have evolved so much in recent years, it's hard
to pinpoint exactly what people mean when they use the terms. Getting a
better handle on it, though, is critical to perimeter departments that want to
capitalize on the obvious advantages their fresh and healthy foods provide.
In the food world of 20 or so years ago, there wasn't nearly as much
crossover between healthy eaters and those who fell into different
categories, said Krystal Register, director of health and wellbeing for
Arlington, Va.-based FMI - The Food Industry Association.
For instance, people who called themselves healthy eaters didn't tend
to overlap with those who identified as foodies.
But what Register calls a " convergence " began to emerge before
the pandemic and only accelerated during it. Today's consumers
increasingly don't just want to be just foodies and health-conscious,
they also want convenience and a host of other benefits when they
make their food-buying choices.
When it comes to the fresh perimeter, one way retailers are trying to
meet that new consumer where she is, Register said, is with easy meal
solutions that combine convenience, health and flavor.
Crucial to those efforts for many retailers is the input of in-house
dietitians.
" There's an uptick in the number of dietitians in stores, " Register
said. " They have the education and the knowledge to take the science
of nutrition, which isn't always easy to talk about, and put it into a
customized solution. "
Making that solution convenient is crucial. According to recent
Industry Speaks data from FMI, 80% of retailers plan to add more graband-go
options in the near future.
The rise of " natural "
One big difference between the perimeter departments of the past and
the perimeter departments of the present is the presence of " natural "
products, said Raj Shroff, founder and principal of Columbus, Ohiobased
PINE Strategy & Design.
" It used to be you had a market that specialized in natural, now every
grocery store has a huge organic section, " he said. " Natural continues to
go mainstream. "
" Mainstream " also increasingly means " decentralized, " said John
Youger, a PINE partner. Kroger and other retail chains used to have
natural sections in their store. Now natural products are spread
throughout the perimeter and the rest of the store.
Despite all of the gains, selling consumers on health and wellness
can be easier said than done. As Youger points out, it's convenience,
not health and wellness, that seems to be playing the biggest role in the
grocery perimeter of today. Sometimes that can overlap with healthy,
but not always.
One simple thing retailers could do in the perimeter to promote
the health benefits of their products is more instore signs, Shroff said.
Simple messages like " This product is high in fiber, " or " This product has
been tied to heart health. "
Heart-healthy foods
rich in magesium
are among the top
choices of healthconscious
Americans.
supermarketperimeter.com
JUNE 2022 - 9
http://www.supermarketperimeter.com
Supermarket Perimeter - June 2022

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