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Grocer sees sales soar for nutrition ‘stars’
BY JAMES SCHLETT Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter James Schlett at 395-3040 or jschlett@dailygazette.net.

   Conventional thinking says that the more stars critics give a movie, the more likely it is people will see it at the theater. Apparently, that logic holds true for yogurt at the supermarket, too.
   A year after Hannaford Supermarkets launched a nutrition rating system, the Scarborough, Maine, grocer has seen sales of food items bearing one or more nutritional stars sell 2.5 to 4.5 times faster than starless goods.
   Hannaford in September 2006 unveiled its Guiding Stars program. It was the nation’s first supermarket chain to roll out a storewide nutrition rating system. The program grades over 25,000 food items.
   Twenty-eight percent of those rated goods received one, two or three stars, signifying their nutritional value is “good,” “better” or “best.”
   “There clearly is a movement in this direction … There’s consumer demand for a healthier food product. Manufacturers are responding to that and supermarkets are promoting it,” said Jim Rogers, president and chief executive officer of the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, an Albany-based trade organization.
   A company review of Guiding Stars found that sales for starred frozen dinners and entrees rose at a rate 4.5 times faster than the nonstarred frozen products. Sales rose 3.5 times faster for starred yogurts and breakfast cereals.
   While the sale of starred lean ground beef rose by 7 percent, it dropped 5 percent for ground beef not bearing stars.
   Sales for starred chicken was up 5 percent and down 3 percent for non-starred poultry.
   At its 160 Northeast stores, Hannaford said it previously encountered difficulty in getting people to buy more nutritious packaged foods, such as cereals, commercial bakery, canned foods, pasta, dry products, snacks and beverages.
   But after the rollout of the star ratings, packaged foods bearing stars sold at 2.5 times the rate of their starless counterparts.
   Hannaford decided to pursue the rating system after a 2004 survey found that 80 percent of 3,000 customers said they read nutritional labels but do not fully understand them.
   Hannaford convened a panel of scientific medical advisers from Harvard, Tufts, Dartmouth and other universities to develop its patent-pending Guiding Stars formula.
   The system weighs a product’s presence of vitamins, mineral, fi ber and whole grains against its trans fats, saturated fats, cholesterol, added sugars and added sodium.
   A recent survey of 774 shoppers found that 81 percent of them were aware of the star rating system. Half of those customers use Guiding Stars “fairly often.”
   “We’re talking about more than 1 billion food product decisions since Guiding Stars was launched,” Hannaford spokeswoman Caren Epstein said.
   On Sept. 15, Hannaford will roll out Guiding Stars for baby foods — 82 percent of which received at least one star.
   By year’s end, the rating system will also apply to oils and other fats.  

  
  
  

I can't remember the last time I was in Hannaford. I think it has been years. The nutritional rating system seems like a pretty good idea, but not enough to make me shop there. I AM A BJ'S SHOPPER!!

Same here Bumble, I will shop at Price Chopper when I need small amounts of things and for things that BJ's doesn't carry

Everybody should actually check out Price Rite.  It's over at the old Caldor in the Crosstown Plaza. They really do have some good prices.  They're a no frills place, i.e. you have to pay for bags and bag the stuff yourself, but at the same time, I just use the empty boxes that are on the shelves, don't pay for bags, and have cut my cost of doing grocery shopping over the times that I used to go to The Chop or Hannaford.

It's the same principal as the old Edwards market in Latham that went out of business because people wouldn't support the store.

I like BJ's for some things, the paper products and pet food.  But then I find some things they have multi-"flavored" packages when I don't want them or they have one "flavor" only when I do want a multi "flavor"

PriceChopper is fine for their front page sales, but they are much more expensive than Hannaford.  Most recently we were making lasagna and I had everything but the mozzarella cheese, I was closer to Pr Chopper at the moment enroute to home, so I ran in there.  Their one pound package of the brand we like the best (Sorrento) was like $2.00 more than Hannaford (Hannaford is $3 something to Pr. Chop $5 something).  I almost was going to buy there, until I went to pick up a thing of Friendly's Ice Cream and found it a $1.00 something more than Hannaford.   So I left and went to Hannaford.

Price Rite is good for somethings, when you can find the same brand.  There vegetables often look old and I'd never buy meat there.  Cereal is OK, and some canned goods are ok

I also like BJ's for many items, but sometimes I just don't need 3 gallons of maple syrup.  Its just the two of us and a small (normal) size jar will last us until it crystalizes anyway

I went to Price Rite once and actually didn't like it. I never went back. Although there a quite a few people that do frequent the store and love it. I tend to be a 'name brand' person on some items, and they don't have any that I like.

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Hannaford’s food rating system spreading
BY DAVID SHARP The Associated Press

   PORTLAND, Maine — The Hannaford Bros. supermarket chain plans to license its gold star rating system that has been applied to more than 25,000 food items ranging from fresh habanero peppers and mangos to SpaghettiO’s and Wonder Bread.
   Billed as the first program of its type, the Guiding Stars system is already in place in 164 Hannaford Supermarkets throughout the Northeast and 106 Sweetbay stores in Florida. And it will be implemented in Food Lion stores next year.
   If the licensing is successful, the program could be rolled out to stores other than Delhaize Group’s Hannaford, Sweetbay and Food Lion.
   “With obesity, and related diseases, continuing to be a serious problem, Hannaford is committed to being a part of the broader public health solution,” Ronald Hodge, Hannaford’s CEO and president, said Thursday in a statement.
   Other supermarkets, along with vendors and health care groups, are interested in using Hannaford’s program because it would be too costly to “reinvent that wheel,” said Caren Epstein, a spokeswoman for Scarboroughbased Hannaford.
   Epstein declined to say how much money was invested in Guiding Stars, other than to say it was “in the millions.” That doesn’t include the time and effort put into the program and setting up an advisory panel with experts from across the country.
   The program, introduced in Hannaford stores in September 2006, rates food items with zero to three stars based on nutritional value.
   Under the program, vitamins, minerals, fiber and whole grains earn more stars. Added sodium, trans fats, saturated fats and cholesterol mean fewer, or no, stars. Hannaford is seeking a patent for the formula, which is a secret for now.
   Hannaford reports faster sales growth for items that receive stars, indicating the program is steering shoppers to healthier products.
   The idea of the Guiding Stars came from shoppers who were frustrated and confused by available nutritional information.
   As it stands, the system consists of signs and shelf tags in the stores, in addition to an advertising campaign, collateral materials, training materials, a Web site and community outreach, the spokeswoman said.
   There’s also interest by at least some vendors in having the Guiding Stars placed on the products themselves, similar to the heartcheck symbol on products receiving the American Heart Association’s seal of approval, she said.
   Interest from outsiders has picked up since the first year results were released in September, said Mark Doiron, Hannaford senior vice president.