Small Decisions Add Up in Raley's Transparency
(Above: Michael Teel, owner and CEO of Raley's, speaks on his company's better-for-you initiatives at TransparencyIQ. Photo credit: Stephanie Casstevens, Label Insight.)
Not every successful company must be purpose-driven or change the way people think about everyday activities. That’s not to say, though, that the grocery industry isn’t in need of retailers that base success on such pillars, especially in an age where consumers value transparency more than ever.
At TransparencyIQ – an event covering CPG transparency hosted by Progressive Grocer parent EnsembleIQ, held Oct. 16-17 in Rosemont, Ill. – Michael Teel, owner and CEO of western grocer Raley's, noted that in the future, three types of companies will be successful: price leaders, innovation leaders and purpose-driven leaders. Given Teel’s family history with the longtime trusted grocer, the executive decided to go with the third for Raley's: to lead with purpose, specifically that of infusing life with health and happiness by changing the way the world eats, one plate at a time.
Teel showed a video of a room full of mousetraps, each with a ping-pong ball on it, to display how one small, effective, properly intentioned decision – such as throwing a single ping-pong ball – can trigger many more and cause everything to fall into place. For Raley’s, it was removing cigarettes, and then certain private label sodas containing high-fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors, and then candy from checkout displays. But because the company had that purpose and made that first decision, every subsequent decision made fit in with it and – Teel believes – will ultimately help make a change in the marketplace.
Another such decision to spur others was the grocer's recent introduction of Raley’s Shelf Guide, which is said to combine current food trends and leading research to set strict standards for packaged food claims and provide label transparency. Today, 59 percent of grocery shoppers encounter difficulty in understanding nutrition facts on product packaging, while at the same time, recognizing ingredients is the No. 1 influencer of consumers’ decisions to purchase a food or beverage.