ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kowalski's Markets here has been focusing customers' attention on particularly healthful foods for quite a while, and now it's taken the effort up a notch.
The latest evolvement of the nine-unit independent's Good Food for Good Health program involves sets of “Good for You!” cards in plastic racks situated on shelf edges in the middle of various categories of food.
One side of the colorful cards lists six to 10 of Kowalski's favorites in that particular category, based on criteria that the retailer says makes the product more healthful than others. The other side of the card lists and explains the criteria on which Kowalski's has based its judgment.
“We think this is a step up because it gives the customer the tools to figure out for themselves what is best for them,” Sue Moores, registered dietitian at Kowalski's, told SN. “Instead of us just saying this [product] is the best for you, we're telling the customer why, and he or she can apply that to other products.”
In an article in Kowalski's October newsletter, Moores explains it this way:
“You can select our recommendations or you can use the criteria on the back of the card to look at your favorite foods and see how they match up for being considered good-for-you.”
As an example, in the yogurt section, the Good for You! cards list five yogurt products that Kowalski's deems most healthful. The card's reverse side tells the customer why: The selected products have active cultures, real fruit, no artificial flavors or colors, no preservatives, fewer than 200 calories, fewer that 4 grams of total fat, and fewer than 30 grams of sugars.
“This part of the program, which we launched this fall, gives customers the tools to do it themselves,” Moores said.
Kowalski's launched its multi-pronged Good Food for Good Health program two years ago with a system that identified foods particularly good for one's heart, bones, brain, etc. Foods were designated by what they could do for you, and seminars were held to give customers more information.
Then, last year, the company devised drop-down tags affixed to shelves that designated “Good For You Foods,” but logistics hampered that effort, Moores said.
This latest incarnation is simpler logistically and “it's the first time we've shared the criteria we use in designating a product particularly healthful.”
Customer feedback has been great, Moores said.
“We see people putting the cards in their pockets or pocketbooks, and we receive very positive comments through our website and Facebook.”
Also, Moores, offering her email address, encourages customers to address comments, and especially any questions they might have, to her.
