Safeway promotes Eating Right with new initiative

Safeway has been launching multiple merchandising initiatives to help it maintain the momentum the company has enjoyed from its Lifestyles store rollout, and the effort now includes a new wellness brand dubbed Eating Right.

Speaking at the Merrill Lynch 30th Annual Retailing Leaders Conference, Melissa Plaisance, Safeway’s senior vp of finance, said, “The Eating Right line is a unique brand proposition that we’ll be introducing in the second quarter of this year. It will be across multiple categories, providing dietary solutions to our shopper. This line will combine great taste with nutritional advocacy. It features a unique nutritional icon system. There are little bubbles that will say ‘high-end protein,’ ‘low fat’ or ‘fat free’ and make it very easy for customers to find the type of dietary solution they are looking for.”

She noted that the line’s packaging is designed to be consistent “across categories, so it will be very recognizable,” adding that Eating Right “really targets the health- and diet-driven consumer.”

Perishables and private label have been key to Safeway’s strategy of developing a better-quality proposition that differentiates it from other conventional supermarket companies. In private label, Safeway is paring brands to 10 core names. In wellness, that includes O Organics, which launched last year and did $160 million in sales in its initial annum. Eating Right will be a complementary wellness program that responds to consumer interest—which Safeway observed in its market research—in superior nutrition in conventional as well as natural food assortments.