Category Spotlight: Diet and Nutrition
Still, grocers have the opportunity to cultivate consumers in search of healthy nutrition by investing in the requisite R&D to bring their own bars to market in this segment. This could result in not only greater trust and loyalty from their customers, but also a chance to steal share from some of the biggest names in nutrition bars. In this respect, grocers should follow the lead of retailers like Walmart, GNC and CVS, all of which have introduced such products as protein bars under private brands.
Progressive Grocer's 2018 Consumer Expenditures Study Data
DownloadOf course, it’s not just bars that can address diet and nutrition needs for those on the go, or for consumers looking to replace or augment traditional supplements in powdered or pill form: Product offerings in this area have rapidly expanded to encompass beverages, cereal, chips, cookies, crackers, chocolate bark, jerky, nuts and seeds, peanut and other nut and seed butters, popcorn, pretzels, and more.
Grocers should stay aware of health-and-wellness trends and consumption habits and look to provide their own products to capitalize on consumer interest in functional foods across the store. They also need to make sure that the items they develop not only meet their stated dietary and nutrition specifications, but also deliver on consumers’ taste and texture expectations, or else they risk losing shoppers’ trust, along with their repeat sales.