Lempert joins Every Day with Rachael Ray

Food Network TV chef, author and magazine publisher Rachael Ray has enlisted a new expert to help her eponymous Every Day With Rachael Ray monthly connect with consumers. The expert is SupermarketGuru.com’s own namesake Phil Lempert. In each issue, he’ll explore one shopper’s grocery receipt and take readers on a fanciful tour of what certain purchases indicate about that household’s buying, food prep and consumption tendencies. Through his expertise in the role of the magazine’s Supermarket Shrink, readers will gain insights into what their shopping carts tell about them and their families or roommates. For instance, in the issue on newsstands now, Lempert takes no shot at a 31-year-old California shopper who buys ice cream at Albertson’s, because he sees the big picture in her total purchases. His take: “She’s in shape. This is a diet for health, not to lose weight. This receipt is well balanced and complete with healthy splurges.” He likes her purchase of crushed tomatoes “to make her own [pasta sauce], which saves money, is healthier and allows her to customize. She likes to use her mind more than her hands….Buying crushed tomatoes for 79 cents each and making her own sauce, versus paying $6 to $8 for jarred sauce is a smart move.”

Food Network TV chef, author and magazine publisher Rachael Ray has enlisted a new expert to help her eponymous Every Day With Rachael Ray monthly connect with consumers.

The expert is SupermarketGuru.com’s own namesake Phil Lempert. In each issue, he’ll explore one shopper’s grocery receipt and take readers on a fanciful tour of what certain purchases indicate about that household’s buying, food prep and consumption tendencies.

Through his expertise in the role of the magazine’s Supermarket Shrink, readers will gain insights into what their shopping carts tell about them and their families or roommates. For instance, in the issue on newsstands now, Lempert takes no shot at a 31-year-old California shopper who buys ice cream at Albertson’s, because he sees the big picture in her total purchases. His take: “She’s in shape. This is a diet for health, not to lose weight. This receipt is well balanced and complete with healthy splurges.”

He likes her purchase of crushed tomatoes “to make her own [pasta sauce], which saves money, is healthier and allows her to customize. She likes to use her mind more than her hands….Buying crushed tomatoes for 79 cents each and making her own sauce, versus paying $6 to $8 for jarred sauce is a smart move.”

It’s good-hearted judgment, with a good measure of advice on selecting wisely, saving money, and staying true to one’s self while shopping in supermarkets filled with traps and temptations.  Lempert’s commentary could help readers feel better about what they leave their supermarkets with at the end of a trip, and gently steer them to wiser choices over the long term.