From The Winter 2004 Issue of Natural Grocery Buyer

Weigh Your Low-Carb Options

Turn America’s obsession with low-carb diets into smart marketing strategies

Lisa Everitt

Everybody’s talking about the low-carb craze. But what are you doing about it?

Are you stacking up on low-carb tortillas and sugar substitutes? Are buyers for your store meeting with sales reps morning, noon and night, contemplating some of the new low-carb products introduced last year?

Or are you bulking up your beef display, freshening your fish selection and promoting produce? If you’re not sure what to do, you’re not alone. The enormity of the low-carb craze has blindsided many shopkeepers. How big is the craze? “Supermarket Guru” Phil Lempert surveyed 1,650 visitors to his Web site and found that an astonishing 74 percent said they’re following a low-carb diet.

Much attention has been paid to the true believers—adorers of Atkins, slaves to South Beach, Protein Power proponents—who wholeheartedly embrace a particular way of eating. But the most profitable path for supermarketers may be to achieve balance between these folks and the vast legions of Americans who simply want to lose weight and eat a healthier diet.

Knowing your consumers, experts say, is key.

The Hartman Group of Bellevue, Wash., found that many consumers—as many as 67 percent of survey respondents—eat low-carb without even realizing it. They don’t use the term, but they will readily tell you they’ve cut out soda or bread. They’re more likely to pick up products that are not marketed specifically as “diet” foods.

The 4 percent of adults who adopt low-carb eating for rapid weight loss are most likely to fall off within three months, the typical attrition rate for any commercial weight-loss plan, the Hartman study found. While they’re on the diet, these consumers buy lots of lower-carb or lower-fat versions of things they’ve eaten all along, like energy bars, cereal or barbecue sauce. These products are the reason that Naples, N.Y.-based Productscan counts more than 800 new low-carb products introduced in the last two years.

More than half of American adults are trying to lose weight, says Joe Marra of The Natural Marketing Institute in Harleysville, Pa. The percentage of folks who claim to be on a low-carb diet in NMI’s studies rose from 17 percent in 2002 to 25 percent in 2003. “I make that roughly 23.3 million men and 28.5 million women,” Marra says. “That’s a lot of people.”

Research on the best combinations of foods for weight loss is being released daily. Meanwhile, still more new products will compete for grocery shelf space and consumer attention. But here are some suggestions from experts that supermarketers can act on now to tap into the current market for anything low-carb.

Ease food-safety fears. With mad cow disease and talk of toxins in farmed salmon hitting the news just in time for the New Year’s resolution season, many people don’t know which foods to trust. Promoting organic meat and wild-caught fish will boost your margins while soothing meat-eaters’ frazzled nerves. Some natural beef providers whose cattle graze on grass, not processed feed that may contain animal byproducts, were quick to alert consumers.

Look beyond high-fat proteins. A low-carb diet doesn’t just mean rib-eye steak with a pat of butter on top, or bacon and eggs every morning. Low-carb plans like the South Beach diet recommend taking it easy on saturated fats, substituting lean meat, fish or vegetable protein. More than 28 percent of Americans consume soyfoods or beverages once a week or more, says the United Soybean Board, with soymilk, tofu and soy burgers the most popular choices. No wonder soy consumption in the United States has grown nearly 61 percent in the last five years, according to Grocery Manufacturer’s of America/IRI Times & Trends.

Sample to boost sales. Today’s “meat analogs” are worlds away from vegetarian products your customers may remember. Demo the soy burgers and breakfast sausage, faux turkey and frozen pasta with vegetarian “chicken.” Get the products into people’s mouths and they will change the way mainstream shoppers think about veggie food. Do you have a tasting panel? Get them tasting the various low-carb offerings, and if something gets a big thumbs-down, don’t stock it. Nothing undermines a dietary change like food that tastes bad.

Paint from a broad palette. When Wild Oats Natural Marketplace started labeling “carb conscious” foods, the result was a startling number of “Counting Carbs?” shelf talkers all over the store. The Boulder, Colo., natural grocery chain flags everything with fewer than 10 carbs per serving, and it would be hard for shoppers not to notice the broad array of choices, from cheese to greens to olive oil to fish to sunflower seeds.

Help shoppers understand. In order to do this, teach your employees. Put out the call among your work force for people who have successfully lost weight by limiting carbs, and turn them into your in-house experts on the subject. Customers with questions about the diet can be directed to knowledgeable employees on the floor. Prepare handouts about healthy low-carb choices to help shoppers fill out their grocery lists. Perhaps copies of the Atkins and South Beach books should live in your break room, along with a selection of newspaper and magazine articles on the subject.

Partner for better health. Does your community medical center offer nutrition lectures, a weight-loss program or exercise classes? Your supermarket could become its retail partner, promoting programs in exchange for a role as the healthy-food provider by setting up displays and doling out discounts.

Promote exercise. Recent studies suggest that very moderate exercise—as little as 30 minutes of walking a day—can keep weight under control. Motivate your customers to boost their exercise habit and remind them that if they work out, they won’t have to cut back on their supermarket purchases at all.

Sidebars:
To Learn More About Protein and Weight Loss