Frans Muller shares his strategies for helping supermarket shoppers make affordable healthy choices
For years I’ve been urging big food and restaurant companies to take the lead on helping consumers be healthier, by making better-for-you foods more available, affordable and convenient. In this post-Covid era — when people feel heavier, sicker and more ready to make a change than ever – I’m glad to learn that grocery store company Ahold Delhaize is doing all three. I hope this top-10 global supermarket chain will inspire other food companies and retailers to seize this opportunity.
I spoke recently with Ahold Delhaize CEO Frans Muller on how he is changing his company. The Netherlands-based grocer – owner of chains as Stop and Shop, Giant Food, Food Lion, Fresh Direct, The Giant Company and Hannaford in the US – has over 400,000 employees and serves 54 million shoppers each week, so they have a huge impact. And the company has been forthright in public statements and its 2020 annual report about the need to help consumers eat healthier, at a time when their own margins are under attack from discounters.
Muller believes that a healthier future for the company lies in making healthier foods more available, affordable and convenient. “Covid amplified the vulnerability of those with obesity and diabetes to serious illness,” he told me. “We need to take an active role in helping people eat healthier foods at affordable prices.”
The company is adding more plant-based choices, and its Hannaford stores even have nutritionists on hand to guide consumers who are new to this type of eating. The largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, Albert Heijn, has doubled the number of vegan products this year. The Delhaize stores in Belgium saw a 20% rise in plant-based volume recently. Muller believes that “a balanced diet that includes significant plant-based products can make a difference.” Along with adding more plant-based foods, the company has also banished cigarettes from its Hannaford and Giant Food Company stores in the US.
Educating consumers is another key part of their plan. Since 2006 Ahold Delhaize’s US stores have used “Guiding Stars,” a nutritional labeling program that helps people make more informed choices. The program was recently made even better, with the healthier foods now labeled as “good,” “better” or “best.” The grocer has made a commitment to the Partnership for a Healthier America that by June 2025 more than half (54%) of their private label brands would bear these Guiding Stars on the label. This alliance with PHA represents the largest pledge to boost healthier food sales and transparency by a U.S. grocery retailer, Ahold Delhaize noted back in February. As part of this commitment, the company will also disclose publicly the percentage of total store food sales generated from all products it sells, both private and national brands, that achieve one, two, or three stars through the Guiding Stars program.
Ahold Delhaize has adopted a similar program, called Nutri-Score, which has been introduced in Belgium, Serbia and Romania and will soon arrive in The Netherlands. Nutri-Score uses an A, B, C, D, E system to rank products that are healthier. The company’s goal is to augment the number of top-ranked A and B products sold. By 2025, all Ahold Delhaize brands will provide science-based nutritional navigation systems for customers, such as Nutri-Score and Guiding Stars, in stores and online.
Along with educating shoppers, Ahold is also overcoming perhaps the biggest hurdle: making healthier foods more affordable. In October 2020 the company introduced its SuperPlus program in Belgium to offer rewards and discounts on healthy and sustainable products. The new “Superplus Card” gives customers automatic savings of 5% to 15% on more than 5,000 products with a Nutri-Score of A or B. With this program, Delhaize is giving a clear sign that it is doing everything it can to help customers develop healthier eating habits through a more balanced diet, whatever their budget.
Muller says the program is already having results. While official numbers are not out yet, he shared with me that “In the eight months since the introduction, customers who are using the SuperPlus loyalty program are buying more A & B products than we saw before.”
Finally, the company is also making healthier eating more convenient, overcoming a key barrier for time-stressed consumers. For example, they will offer a vegetable three different ways – for example, a head of cauliflower, a package of cut cauliflower, and as part of a precooked meal – all within the same aisle. Ready-made soups have been a hot seller. And Muller told me the company is testing adding “better-for-you” products at grocery checkout locations to help young families make healthier choices on the run.
Along with this push for better shopper health, I should mention that Ahold Delhaize is also upping its game on sustainability and taking a much broader view of who matters, beyond stockholders. It is not only developing relationships with organic farmers, but also investing in mainstream farmers who are using sustainable practices to improve soil health and control pests. “Farmers are interested and so are consumers,” Muller said. And it’s also giving employees more paid sick days and developing partnerships with food banks in their communities.
Here are a few lessons that other grocers can learn from Ahold Delhaize:
- Selling affordable healthier products is good for business. Shoppers want to eat better but are often confronted with high prices. This practice has been debunked by Ahold, and other chains should adopt programs like SuperPlus to satisfy both consumer demand for better-for-you products while contributing to sales growth.
- Help your shoppers find healthier foods. Labeling initiatives such as Guiding Stars and NutriScore aid customers in identifying foods and beverages that are healthier without denigrating all other items. This approach is right on target as almost two-thirds of consumers either currently buy healthy foods or aspire to eat healthier.
- Make a hard commitment. Supermarket chains need to step up and make serious commitments to sell healthier foods – if for any reason, because it’s good for business. The market has tacked towards healthier (and sustainable) foods and is not coming back. Telling your shoppers that you are committed to making their lives better will cement their patronage of your stores.
I’m encouraged to see this multinational grocer commit to health and sustainability in such a big way. These efforts are not only good for their shoppers but also for differentiating their business. We need more grocers to follow Ahold’s lead.