Dive Brief:
- Ahold Delhaize aims to offer deeper insights to suppliers on health and nutrition trends through its recently expanded partnership with Circana, according to a Wednesday announcement.
- The grocer is expanding access to the nutritional labeling program Guiding Stars’ data within Circana’s Attribute Marketplace, allowing suppliers to develop and promote healthier products, per the press release.
- This announcement comes as healthy eating remains top of mind for consumers and as grocers continue to promote themselves as health and wellness destinations.
Dive Insight:
Further aligning Circana’s analytics technology with Guiding Stars’ science-based food rating system is an example of how Ahold Delhaize continues to refine its health and wellness initiatives to serve both suppliers and customers.
The Guiding Stars system awards one, two or three stars to food products based on their nutritional criteria to help shoppers more easily identify nutritious options. The ratings are based on a patented algorithm, and the program is guided by an independent Scientific Advisory Panel, the announcement stated.
Circana’s expanded collaboration with Ahold Delhaize will give suppliers who participate in the data firm’s Attribute Marketplace access to aggregated Guiding Stars data so they can analyze trends in “star-earning foods and beverages,” identify category opportunities and develop “innovation pipelines” that align with consumer preferences, according to the announcement.
“Through our work with Circana and Guiding Stars, we’re empowering suppliers with actionable insights that support informed decisions and shared accountability in helping customers live healthier lives,” Keith Nicks, Ahold Delhaize USA’s chief commercial and digital officer, said in a statement.
FMI — The Food Industry Association said in its The Power of Health and Well-Being in the Food Industry report last month that eating well is serving as a guidepost for “virtually everything about [consumer] choices.” The report added that grocery shoppers see healthy foods as investments that pay off and transcend ongoing economic pressures.
