Supermarket Tours

THE STORY

The face of public health and retail in America is changing. Because, supermarket dietitians.

EXPLAIN.

Supermarket dietitians are helping bridge gaps in community health one grocery store at a time. Dietitians are hoping that nudging customers toward healthier options, educating at the point of purchase, and providing shopping lists and menus for specific health concerns or diseases/conditions, to name a few, would fill these gaps (Webb, 2015). Right now, there are about 1,000 supermarket dietitians nationwide complete with corporate and retail dietitians (Webb, 2015). Supermarket dietitians offer unrivaled access to nutrition services and information to consumers. This is a big deal because it allows consumers to come into the store and speak directly with a dietitian with no added hassle. In-store supermarket dietitians are there to counsel shoppers, provide nutrition education, answer questions on the stores’ website, and help consumers make healthful choices (Webb, 2015).

IMPLEMENTING CHANGE IN SUPERMARKETS

Supermarket tours, nutrition classes, cooking demonstrations, food sampling, and collaboration between physicians, pharmacists, and chefs are but a few of the ways change was being implemented. In the last few years, grocery store chains have been offering supermarket/nutrition store tours. Often, these tours are intended to convey needed information/facts about nutrition to improve knowledge, motivate shoppers to establish healthy eating practices and gradually change habits related to nutrition, help consumers eat more healthfully on a budget, and increase healthful food purchases. Barbara Ruhs, MS, RDN, LDN weighed in, saying that these tours “can be the first line of defense in preventing and treating chronic disease” (Ruhs, 2015). The impact in-store dietitians’ have on public health and retail business is huge.  

Ruhs (2015) has identified 10 strategies dietitians can use to plan their tours and improve success. These include (1) Coordinate efforts with store personnel; (2) Use store layout and design and selling psychology; (3) Plan the tour in key departments (i.e., Can start in produce first then move to the dairy section); (4) Schedule tours to accommodate participants (Choose a convenient time; limit tours to about 60-90 minutes per session); (5) Customize the tour; (6) Build trust with shoppers; (7) Make learning interactive (i.e. Offer product samples; do an interactive nutrition facts labeling and ingredients list exercise); (8) Highlight resources; (9) Offer incentives to shoppers (i.e., free reusable bags filled with coupons, product samples, recipe cards); and (10) Take advantage of resources (ie., Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters at the Store program; The Whole Grains Council Whole Grains Store Tour Kit; Network for a Healthy California retail program) (Ruhs,2015).

SO WHAT?

For supermarket dietitians, hosting tours can prove useful. The thing about hosting supermarket tours is that to be effective, dietitians should consider the above strategies. The benefits behind this are increased awareness and knowledge about food, label reading, and healthy eating, which can lead to improved health in the community. Two additional benefits that have been highlighted are improved sales and customer satisfaction (Ruhs, 2015).

As demand for healthier products increases, so too has the reliance on dietitians in retail settings. Dietitians: Good for business. But most importantly, good for providing nutrition advice to shoppers, providing encouragement and support, and helping shoppers make meaningful health changes to improve health and well-being.

References

Ruhs, B. (2015). Hosting supermarket tours. Today’s Dietitian, 17(11), 40.

Webb, D. (2015). Retail RDs’ impact on public health. Today’s Dietitian, 17(3), 40.

CP