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Duda celery with StarKist tuna. The initiative was covered by the local television station and incorporated into the chain’s shopper magazine. “Involvement of the entire store is a key success factor, with the produce department driving execution,” says Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, president and chief executive for PBH.
Although often housed in different busi- ness and marketing “silos,” the produce and prepared foods departments can work toward the common goal of boosting health through fruit and vegetable consumption. At its Napa, CA, campus, the Culinary Institute of America invites retail foodservice leaders to its Appetites + Innovation forum to talk about shaping the future in a way that speaks to consumer desires for health and convenience.
“In addition to culinary discussions and demos, we educate chefs from the prepared foods department on how to advocate for change with supermarket chain executives,” explains Jacqueline Chi, director, programs and special projects, Culinary Institute of America at Copia.
Food consumption data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examina- tion Survey (NHANES) shows cross-pro- motions can boost produce consumption. “The diets of adults who eat pasta, for example, are associated with higher daily consumption of vegetables,” says Diane Welland, RDN, spokesperson, National Pasta Association, Washington, DC. “One way to increase the intake of vegetables — not just tomatoes or peppers but also others — is to pair with a familiar food such as pasta. Also, try a different ethnic twist or add plenty of fresh herbs to create new flavor combinations.”
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“Retailers should curate their assort- ment based on their shopper’s needs and wants,” suggests 210Analytics’ Roerink. “The Smartfood study confirmed one size fits nobody. Produce and its marketing need to be tailored to the store audience.”
United Fresh’s Coppola suggests “retailers can target shoppers who are slightly less devoted from time, effort and price points of view, but still would like to make better-for-you choices. These shoppers take a more ‘common sense’ approach to healthy eating and fresh produce fits beautifully into that kind of thinking. Retailers can be the helping hand by pointing out health benefits more clearly,
and enticing these shoppers to purchase fresh produce just one more time that month or week.”
Questioning whether retailers can create wealth by marketing the benefits of fruits and vegetables undoubtedly will continue. Although the health message is likely to resonate with many consumers, it’s not likely that all retailers will invest in promoting wellness in their produce departments if it doesn’t connect with their customers.
“The marketplace dictates who will buy produce all the time, and there are a lot of
ways to get people to buy more,” says Spez- zano. “But it’s a free country; you can’t force them.”
Discovering the optimum health messaging may take time, tweaking and more study.
“It’s not about abandoning the health message; it’s about augmenting it,” says Means of PMA. “It’s the idea of integrated marketing and we’ve been doing new research in this area.” pb
— Carol Bareuther and Doug Ohlemeier contributed to this article.
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