Grocers Amp Up Customer Health, Wellness Programs

The Food Marketing Institute's (FMI) "2019 Retailer Contributions to Health and Wellness" report shows that food retailers are continuing to expand the health-and-wellness programs they offer customers. The survey represented 39 food retail companies and more than 20,000 stores ranging in size, with 90% having established health-and-wellness programs, and 49% having them for both employees and customers. This is an 86% increase since 2017.

Health-and-wellness programs covered in the report included both in-store services and omnichannel options. Of the respondents, 85% reported employing registered dietitians, with 70% of those at the corporate level and 27% of those at the regional level. One in three grocery stores reported having an in-store clinic for shoppers.

Online still offers untapped potential, with 94% of respondents providing online shopping, yet only 70% extend their health-and-wellness initiatives to those online shoppers. Shoppable health-and-wellness content and better program integration can give retailers the chance to enhance their health-and-wellness programming, according to FMI.

“Overwhelmingly, food retailers see health-and-wellness programs not only as a business growth opportunity (71%), but also as a way to meet consumer expectations (63%),” said Hilary Thesmar, PhD, RD, CFS, chief food and product safety officer and SVP food safety at Arlington, Va.-based FMI. “Grocers understand their value as both a destination and partner in a shopper’s health-and-wellness journey. The report finds retailers offer an enormous spectrum of health-and-wellness programming, especially around activities that provide more shopper experiences and product assortment.”

FMI's complete "2019 Retailer Contributions to Health and Wellness" report can be downloaded at the trade association's website.