What is your store doing to keep up with the competition in nutrition? Retailers across the nation are recognizing the vast opportunities in the growing nutrition market. In this day and age, if you want to keep up with competitors your store needs to do something to support health and wellness.

According to FMI’s Retail Contributions to Health and Wellness:

• 54% of surveyed food retailers have established health and wellness programs for both customers and employees.
• 63% view health and wellness as a selling point.
• 70% view health and wellness as an opportunity for growth.
• 78% view in-store health and wellness programs as a responsibility to their communities.

Here is a glimpse of what the competition is doing to grow business in the health and wellness arena:

Whole Foods— They are the first national grocery chain committed to labeling all food products with GMO’s in their stores by 2018. Whole Foods already caries 25,000+ organic products and 8,500 Non-GMO-verified products. After introducing their first loyalty program in September 2014 and launching its first national marketing campaign, Whole Foods first-quarter sales went up 10.2% to $4.7 billion.

Target— In its second year, Target’s “Made to Matter” program features healthy products from new brands, including Angie’s Boomchickabites. More than 200 organic and natural products from 31 select brands will be available exclusively at Target for 6 months, bolstering Target’s reputation as the place to go to find natural, healthier products.

Kroger— Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic product lines include 400+ items, all claiming to be made without 101 artificial ingredients and preservatives. Kroger Co.’s Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic product lines made $1.2 billion in sales in 2014 alone.

Trader Joe’s—Known for offering unique product lines at affordable prices, Trader Joe’s carries a wide variety of gluten free, kosher, organic, and vegan food products. The specialty grocery chain has over 420 stores across 39 U.S. states, half of which are in California. According to an article in Business Insider, Trader Joe’s plans to open 38 new stores in the next year.

Sprouts Farmers Markets— Focused on selling healthy, fresh, natural and organic foods at affordable prices, Sprouts continues to open new locations across the U.S. The grocery chain appeals to consumers who want to eat healthier by providing an assortment of high-quality, healthy alternatives.

H-E-B— The Texas grocery store chain has nutritional shelf tags placed throughout their stores to make it easier for customers to find products that fit their dietary needs. There are 11 nutritional icons on H-E-B shelf tags, including heart healthy, sugar free, organic, and vegetarian.

Better Health Store— Started in the late 1990’s as an online vitamin shop, the Better Health Store grocery chain has grown to 14 stores and 300 employees. They are on track to make roughly $40 million in revenues this year, which is nearly double the amount of revenue five years ago.

Farm Fresh Foods— Recently launched the “Healthy You Challenge” which is a six-week program encouraging local residents to eat better and adopt healthier lifestyles. Participants who complete the challenge and weigh-in at least four times will receive $10 gift cards from Farm Fresh.

AWG offers retailers three different in-store nutrition programs: NuVal, Guiding Stars, and Attributes. If you are interested in learning how your store can implement a nutrition program, check out our nutrition programs page and contact Michelle Turner.