Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice with Keurig Dr Pepper and Stop & Shop
Connecting every family, in every zip code to good food and beverages is no small feat. It requires all of us to come together to change our food system for the better. That’s why PHA partnered with Stop & Shop and Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) on an innovative pilot program to market healthier beverage options in an under-resourced community.
The pilot, which kicked off on August 19, 2022, tested in-store marketing and merchandising strategies to prioritize the placement of KDP’s Better-For-You beverages in a Stop & Shop location in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The Better-For-You beverage brands include Core Hydration, Bai, Evian, Snapple and Polar.
Better for you beverages are here!
“PHA believes that ‘the way it’s always been done’ simply isn’t good enough - it’s what has led to the poor health outcomes so many Americans are facing today,” said Noreen Springstead, President and CEO of PHA. “That’s why we are so excited to share results of this innovative pilot with KDP and Stop & Shop, which is having a real impact on consumers’ choices.”
During the pilot program, beverage sales – and better-for-you beverage sales – increased. Those results were impacted by a store remodel and grand reopening during that same time period, so further testing is needed to determine the precise impact. Sales of Guiding Stars products, which are products that have 1, 2, or 3 stars based on Stop & Shop’s easy-to-use rating system that helps customers make nutritious choices, also showed solid growth at the pilot store. Sales of KDP Guiding Stars products in particular increased significantly, showing that when healthier options are more visible and more heavily promoted - more people will choose them.
“The beverage industry has merchandised with retailers in a specific way for a long while, and it’s not easy to change an entire system overnight,” said Kellie Ebert, Sr. Director of National Accounts. “This pilot was important to KDP to demonstrate that we can offer a broad, well-balanced product portfolio with options that provide nutritional and functional benefits, in addition to reduced sugar and calories to consumers, while also delivering positive results for our business.”
Although further testing is needed, which KDP and Stop & Shop plan to execute, initial pilot results show that innovative thinking around marketing healthy options to consumers has the potential to improve health and reduce diet-related disease. We now have a baseline for how to think bigger and bolder, and to continue to improve health outcomes for Americans everywhere.
Collectively, we can improve affordable access to good food, and grow a healthier, more equitable food system. You can join us on this journey by visiting our Food Equity Action Center, and taking the Food Equity Pledge.