Dive Brief:

• Albertsons has added a nutrition insights tool to its Sincerely Health digital platform that measures grocery purchases based on the USDA’s MyPlate serving recommendation guidance, according to a Wednesday press release.
• The feature enables app users to gauge their purchases against MyPlate’s guidance and make nutritional decisions based on their dietary preferences, household size and age group.
• The launch of this tool comes as more grocers are moving customer health and wellness to the forefront, a trend that has accelerated since the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, held in September 2022.

Dive Insight:

Albertsons debuted the Sincerely Health online platform in early February with the goal of boosting loyalty by rewarding consumers for meeting health-related goals and helping them make educated decisions about nutrition, exercise, sleep and self-awareness. 

The new MyPlate-connected tool provides “real-time nutritional information, both at an item and basket level,” Omer Gajial, Albertsons’ chief digital officer and executive vice president of health, said in a statement. Shoppers can also set up nutritional goals, dietary restrictions and access shoppable recipes that match their goals and preferences, according to an informational video by the grocer. 

By connecting the USDA’s MyPlate guidance for consuming the five food groups with an Albertsons customer’s loyalty account and their Sincerely Health profile, the nutrition tool can review an Albertsons shoppers’ recent and future grocery purchases and calculate how much of their food items meet the MyPlate dietary guidance, according to the announcement.  

Shoppers can also see if their baskets are lacking any of the essential food groups — fruit, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy or fortified soy alternatives. 

Customers can earn weekly and monthly rewards for meeting their MyPlate recommendations across each food group. These accumulated points can be redeemed for grocery coupons and discounts on fresh produce, seafood and meat items, according to the press release. 

Sincerely Heath and its newest feature continue Albertsons’ efforts to align with the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. The grocer has pledged to provide 50 million evidence-based nutrition recommendations to digital consumers by 2024 and launch six health campaigns by 2025 that use in-store events and digital platforms to boost awareness of MyPlate guidance. 

Grocers across the country are ramping up their nutrition-focused initiatives. Last fall, Kroger announced the launch of a national Food is Medicine Research Initiative with the Rockefeller Foundation and American Heart Association with the goal of creating tools and evidence to scale “food is medicine” programs.

Kroger’s own food-as-medicine playbook offers telenutrition, food boxes, a nutritional scoring system called OptUp and Welsana, a diabetes prevention program.