NuVal to be in 1,200 Stores by End of Year

Braintree, Mass. -- Cincinnati-based The Kroger Co. is one of the latest in a number of grocery store chains to partner with NuVal LLC, which will place NuVal scores on the shelf tags of 25 Lexington, Ky.-area Kroger stores as part of the supermarket's "Health Matters at Kroger" initiative.Kroger joins Price Chopper, Hy-Vee, United Supermarkets, Meijer and Brookshire's in providing NuVal's nutritional value system to their customers, with Festival Foods said to be signing on in August. Serving as the self-proclaimed "GPS of the grocery store," NuVal continues to grow, with execs expecting to have the system in nearly 1,200 stores by the end of 2010.Formed in 2008, NuVal was developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts. Other similar labeling programs include Supervalu's nutrition iQ, Ahold USA's Healthy Ideas, the American Heart Association's heart-check mark, and Delhaize America's Guiding Stars (see chart at right). The Smart Choices Program, which unlike these was developed with guidance from major food manufacturers, postponed its operations in Oct. 2009 amidst criticism for deeming products like Froot Loops and mayonnaise "Smart Choices.""More consumers are making grocery lists, but they are still making the final decisions at the point of purchase," according to Annette Maggi, senior director of nutrition at NuVal."Everyone is looking to eat healthier," she says. "Providing an easy-to-use tool to make those important choices in the grocery store aisle is our goal. We have great stories from consumers who have completely changed their purchasing habits based on our scores."NuVal offers its own proprietary food scoring system based on its Overall Nutrition Quality Index (ONQI). Products are scored using a 1 to 100 scoring system, with less nutritional foods receiving lower scores. The system analyzes more than 30 food factors and ingredients to tally the score. When new products launch or UPC codes change, NuVal is notified either by the retailer or manufacturer, or will pick up the additional products during its annual audit process.Known by its signature double hexagon logo, the NuVal score is listed on shelf tags near the store's regular price tags. Stores can also decide to use various in-store signage elements such as overheads, brochures and counter signs to educate their shoppers on the new rating program. NuVal also conducts associate training along with various community outreach programs to educate consumers.Loyalty card programs are helping to gauge if NuVal is having an impact on individual stores' sales figures, with more comprehensive data scheduled for release last month. Yet, most retailers claim they are looking at a much bigger picture than the one at the cash register."There is no doubt it was a costly investment for us," says Maureen Murphy, manager of consumer trends, nutrition and lifestyles at Price Chopper, Schenectady, N.Y. "But it was never about making money. Instead, it was about educating our customers. We are more interested in collecting data on the products NuVal has scored for us in our stores, and seeing if people are indeed making quantifiable changes."Price Chopper recently completed a full rollout of the NuVal system in all of its 119 stores, including scoring on more than 14,000 different food products."Consumers view the supermarket as a trusted source," says Murphy, who has been with Price Chopper for the past 28 years. "We had been looking into similar programs for many years but never could find one that was right for us and our consumers. Once NuVal came along, our president loved it, especially because it was an independent party that was utilizing a science-based formula to come up with the scores."Not only are consumers making changes based on the NuVal system, but so are food manufacturers. "We are seeing many manufacturers reformulating their products and improving the quality of their food in response to NuVal's scoring system," says Murphy.