Walmart Unveils Great-For-You Icon

SHARE:

Email

Print

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

February 7, 2012

Walmart has revealed its new Great For You icon that will appear on some store brands, building on the retailer’s pledge to help shoppers make healthier food choices.

The icon will initially appear on select Walmart Great Value and Marketside items, as well as on fresh and packaged fruits and vegetables at Walmart U.S. stores nationwide this spring. The retailer said it is an effort to implement a transparent, summary icon for its private label products backed by rigorous nutrition criteria. The rollout comes one year after Walmart pledged to develop a front-of-pack label.

"Walmart moms are telling us they want to make healthier choices for their families, but need help deciphering all the claims and information already displayed on products," said Andrea Thomas, senior vice president of sustainability at Walmart. "Our Great For You icon provides customers with an easy way to quickly identify healthier food choices. As they continue to balance busy schedules and tight budgets, this simple tool encourages families to have a healthier diet."

The icon was unveiled in Washington, D.C. this week. Items with the Great For You icon must meet rigorous nutrition criteria informed by the latest nutrition science and authoritative guidance from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Institute of Medicine (IOM), and were developed in consultation with food and nutrition experts from the public and private sectors as well as leading health organizations.

The science-based criteria use a two-step process: Step one focuses on encouraging people to eat more fruits, vegetables, fiber-rich whole grains, low-fat dairy, nuts and seeds and lean meats. Examples of these items include brown rice, 1 percent milk, raw almonds and 93 percent lean ground beef. Step two limits the amount of total, trans and saturated fats, sodium and added sugars that can be found in items such as sweetened oatmeal, granola bars, flavored yogurt and frozen meals.

The criteria have undergone an extensive evaluation process using thousands of grocery items to help ensure that only nutritious items in each grocery category receive the "Great For You" icon. One evaluation compared Walmart's criteria with what people in America commonly consume using the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of more than 4,000 food items.

The icon will also be made available to national brand products that qualify and can be complementary to other nutrition labeling systems used by the food industry.

The "Great For You" icon is part of an initiative Walmart launched in 2011 to make food healthier, and healthier food more affordable. The initiative includes reformulating packaged foods to reduce sodium and added sugars and eliminate industrially produced fats by 2015; making healthier food more affordable by providing savings on produce and reducing the price premium on better-for-you food items; developing solutions for food deserts; and increasing charitable support for nutrition education programs.

Over the past year, Walmart has been working with private label brands and national brand suppliers to make progress on its goals that includes reformulating thousands of private label packaged food items by 2015.

To date, Walmart reports progress toward that goal by:

• Reduce sodium and added sugars in 165 food items;
• 15 percent sodium reduction in Great Value ketchup;
• An average of 15 percent sodium reduction in Great Value canned vegetables, including corn, green beans and carrots; and
• More than 70 percent sodium reduction in fresh steaks, roasts and other muscle cuts of beef.

Thomas added: "These reductions are a clear sign of how we can make meaningful changes to the food we sell by making simple modifications to the products in our stores. We can significantly reduce sodium and sugar without having to sacrifice quality and taste."

Read These Related Articles:

• Waitrose Launches New Design and Extends it Love Life Store Brands Line
• Associated Wholesale Grocers Adds Nutrition Keys on Private Label Products
• Walmart Vows to Make Great Value Line Healthier
• Private Label Manufacturers Concerned About Front-of-Pack Labeling

Most Read

Guest Columns

Grocery Aisle Innovation Key to Retailer and Consumer Cost Savings

Retailers are redesigning the aisle, appealing to environmentally friendly consumers and capitalizing on market trends to make their private label brands more competitive.

Source: Tetra Pak Inc.

How to Develop a Private Label Expression Aligned with Retail Brand Strategy

By creating private label as a marketing tool rather than just a price alternative, retailers gain the opportunity to tell a complete brand story while simultaneously boosting customer loyalty.

Source: CBX

Using the Store Banner to Endorse Private Label Architecture

Although the economic downturn accelerated private label growth in Europe, there was another key driver -- retailers started to brand their stores.

Source: IPLC

See All Guest Columns »

Press Releases