Low-Carb Goes High-Profile at Retail

Some call it a fad, others call it a lifestyle. But no matter how you look at it, the low-carb craze is exerting a powerful influence on retailers. An increasing number of food chains are developing extensive and long-term merchandising plans for low-carb products, which would seem to indicate that they don't anticipate the trend to go away any time soon. Take 7-Eleven, for instance, which this month added "Better Choices, Better Year" merchandising units across all 5,800 U.S. stores. The initiative cross-merchandises approximately 50 "healthy" SKUs from vendors including Atkins Nutritionals, Unilever's Slim-Fast, and Metabolife.Is low-carb on the verge of making the jump from flavor of the month to permanent category? Sheer numbers would support that conclusion: Atkins Nutrionals claim 25 million Americans are using the Atkins diet, and at least 800 low-carb products have been released over the past two years, according to tracking service ProductScan. Leading CPGs are taking drastic steps to reposition their brands as low-carb friendly. The most telling case so far might be Unilever, which last week launched a Carb Options umbrella uniting leading brands including Skippy, Ragu, Lipton and Wish Bone. The packaging for the new line is revealing: the Carb Options logo dominates, and the brand's logo is relegated to the label's lower corner. Unilever is supporting the launch of Carb Options with a mobile marketing tour and a national FSI, among other activity. Robert Norris, category manager for natural, organic, and diet foods at Albertsons, Inc., believes low-carb is here to stay. "Albertsons recognizes that [low-carb diets] have become more than just a fad," he says. "We see this as a lifestyle change for our consumers." Albertsons is testing a distinct low-carb destination center at 250 stores in its Midwest and Rocky Mountain divisions. The centers comprise up to 16 linear feet and are stocked with approximately 80 grocery SKUs and 20 to 25 general merchandise items. All 2,300 Albertsons stores are "definitely dedicating display space" to low-carb products, and have also implemented an in-line program that tags low-carb items, Norris added. (A&P Supermarkets have introduced a similar shelf-tag system.) Elsewhere, Wegmans Food Markets is merchandising low-carb products in a special 12-foot section, and helps consumers figure out what's low-carb and what's not throughout the store by distributing a free aisle-by-aisle guide. For now, retailers are identifying low-carb items based on marketing claims, popular literature, and other sources rather than official dietary information: The Food and Drug Administration is expected to release an official definition of "low-carb" in February.

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