More Ahold Delhaize Banners Introduce Guiding Stars
The Guiding Stars nutrition navigation program will be available at Ahold Delhaize USA divisions Giant Food, Giant/Martin's, Stop & Shop, and Peapod, the country's largest online grocery retailer, starting April 6. Under the program, thousands of items feature a good/better/best star ranking system, with one star equating to good nutritional value, two to better nutritional value, and three to the best nutritional value.
"As more and more consumers prioritize nutrition and look to cook at home, Guiding Stars is an important tool in enabling consumers to easily locate nutritious foods," noted Jim McBride, director of the program. "Guiding Stars serves as a visual reminder to achieve good nutrition. We're delighted to work with four more grocery brands to help them make it easier for their customers to make more nutritious choices while they shop and achieve their healthy eating goals."
“We know that more and more of our customers are prioritizing nutrition and in fact, our research tells us that over half of Americans cook at home because the meals are healthier,” said Giant Food Lead Nutritionist Lisa Coleman, citing an ORC International online survey conducted last November. “We saw this growing demand for healthier meals, and we set out to make it easier to shop for nutritious ingredients and meal solutions. Customers can find the products they're looking for faster and feel confident that they’re selecting the foods that are best for their families.”
The program is consistent with such national policies as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPlate. If no Guiding Stars symbol is shown, the following conditions may apply: The item isn’t nutritionally recommended; is new to the program and as yet unrated; contains fewer than five calories, such as water or tea; is a dietary supplement; is a medical food such as baby formula; or doesn’t have any nutrition information available.
“Label reading can be intimidating and time-consuming,” added Coleman. “We’re thrilled to be giving this empowering tool to our customers to easily identify the products they want.”
With the latest rollout of the program, Guiding Stars will now be available at Stop & Shop's 410 stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island; Giant/Martin's 171 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia; Giant Food's 166 stores in Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, and for customers of Peapod, which services markets in Chicagoland; Milwaukee; southeast Wisconsin; Indianapolis; Connecticut; Massachusetts; Rhode Island; southern New Hampshire; New York; New Jersey; Maryland; Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; southeast Pennsylvania; and central Pennsylvania.
Since its 2006 debut at Hannaford Supermarkets (now a sister banner of the latest chains to adopt the program, following the 2016 merger of Ahold and Delhaize), Guiding Stars has rolled out to grocery stores in the United States and Canada, including Food Lion, another sister banner, in 2007, as well as public school, college, corporate and hospital dining facilities. The program is also accessible through the Shopper mobile app for iOS devices. Portland, Maine-based Guiding Stars Licensing Co. is a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize USA.