reach more shoppers in the new year - help with resolutions

How Grocery Stores Can Support Their Shoppers’ New Year’s Resolutions

Dec 14, 2021

The holidays are upon us, and before we know it, we’ll be ringing in the new year. With any new year comes resolutions, among the most common healthy eating and New Year’s resolution diets. Last year around this time, we saw an even greater interest in healthy eating than usual as consumers came off the heels of quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to International Food Information Council Foundation’s 2020 Food and Health Survey[1], some 85% of adults changed their eating habits during the pandemic. 41% of parents reported snacking more often, and 31% of women and 22% of men reported thinking about food more than usual. Some consumers even felt anxiety about their changed eating habits during quarantine, according to a study[2] conducted in Italy.

These behaviors and the general concern about health and wellness that came along with the pandemic brought healthy eating to the top of many consumers’ minds. In response to the changing consumer behaviors and priorities in 2020, several grocers adopted nutritional initiatives in 2021, such as meal kits, curbside pick-up, and virtual nutrition services. Kroger, for example, launched a “telenutrition” service free to shoppers. As part of the telenutrition program, Kroger shoppers (and the public) can schedule a video chat with dietitians trained in food, grocery, and clinical nutrition. The goal of these two-way chats, according to Kroger, is to “promote individual nutrition and health in [the] community” and “[help] all Americans experience the healing power of food in a personalized, non-judgmental way.”

Other grocers like ShopRite, Stop & Shop, and Giant Food have followed suit, and some chains such as Hy-Vee offer virtual supermarket tours, meal plans, and other services. As the inclination toward healthy eating continues and New Year’s resolutions begin, we’ll likely see initiatives like these continue.

Becoming a partner in the health of their shoppers is one way grocers can create consumer loyalty that extends beyond the length of a New Year’s resolution. Here are a few ways to support your shoppers’ New Year’s resolutions while becoming their go-to healthy grocery store.

1. Provide resources like healthy grocery shopping lists and nutritional tips.

Going into the new year, shoppers will be looking for information that helps them create a grocery list that goes together with their established resolutions. Offering free resources on your website and social media is an excellent way to show you know and care about your shoppers’ interests and values. Easy-to-follow cooking tips, healthy recipes, and meal planning ideas all resonate with shoppers while driving them to your store—and boosting product sales on items you want to promote. Content such as healthy grocery lists for weight loss, New Year’s resolution grocery lists, and healthy grocery shopping lists gives shoppers information that’s relevant to them (building consumer loyalty) and allows you to direct them to high-margin products.

Stop & Shop offers free resources like healthy grocery lists, nutrition guides, and online webinars on healthy eating.

2. Offer premium immersive content on health, wellness, and healthy grocery shopping.

Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, several retailers started providing helpful content ranging from free blog resources to meal planning workshops to paid cooking classes. Premium content options such as webinars, virtual store tours, dietitian consulting, and virtual cooking classes can help you reach health-minded shoppers around the new year and beyond—without customers needing to leave their home. And it can create additional revenue or promotional opportunities.

Hy-Vee, for example, offers classes and consultations ranging from $10 to $99 depending on the content. Topics include freezer meal prepping, holiday carb swap, and kids in the kitchen. There are also group virtual tours for shoppers with diabetes and 4-week menu planning classes available. While some efforts, such as Kroger’s free dietitian program, are temporary and pandemic-related, accessible content on healthy eating will always be relevant.

Sign-up form for Hy-Vee’s virtual cooking class on low-carb holiday meals.

3. Propose (and advertise) products customers can include in their New Year’s resolution diets.

Most New Year’s resolution diets share similar goals, whether it’s losing weight, getting healthier, or making up for snacking around the holidays. Some shoppers may have a general idea of what to put on a healthy grocery shopping list. However, providing products—especially flavorful ones consumers are excited to try—while advertising their attractive attributes gives customers much-needed guidance in their quests to find healthy meal options. Suggesting creative, fresh sides for familiar dishes is one way to educate consumers on healthy choices while advertising products. Including nutritional information and specific health benefits is also beneficial.

For example, beef is a classic, nutritious product that customers know and love. Over the past few years, however, interest in premium, “better-for-me” options has skyrocketed. In 2020 specifically, 72% of consumers reported wanting to see products they thought is better for them or their families. Stocking your meat case with premium, claims-based options like Natural Angus beef shows consumers that you’re interested in their health and wellness.

Diversifying your healthy product offerings is the first step in supporting your shoppers’ New Year’s resolutions. But, you’ll also want to follow through on education, whether opting for case-ready packaging with clear product attributes and nutritional information or using our beef marketing tips for retailers. That way, your shoppers will not only know the story behind the products they’re buying, but also how those products will benefit them.

Share these resources with your Natural beef shoppers to help them add beef to their healthy grocery lists:

Shoppers can also use our holiday hosting guide to find healthy sides, drink pairings, cooking tips, and more for the holiday season.

Reach more shoppers this holiday season with Aspen Ridge Natural Angus Beef

Rich in protein and raised without antibiotics or added hormones, Aspen Ridge beef is the perfect addition to any occasion. With Natural Angus beef, your customers can indulge in the flavors they enjoy without sacrificing nutrition. Talk to us today to add Natural Angus beef to your meat case or learn more about marketing to health-minded consumers in the new year.

[1]International Food Information Council Foundation. 2020 Food and Health Survey. Qtd in Healio. “Survey: US adults changing eating habits during COVID-19.” 2021. https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20200623/survey-us-adults-changing-eating-habits-during-covid19

[2] Renzo, et. al. “Psychological Aspects and Eating Habits during COVID-19 Home Confinement: Results of EHLC-COVID-19 Italian Online Survey.” 2020. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7401000/