Farm Fresh Leads 'Healthy You Challenge'

Supermarkets have the ability and the opportunity to act as neighborhood centers for health & wellness. 

Here's one supermarket that's putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to helping customers eat and shop well. Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy is in the middle of a six-week education program focused on challenging residents in Virginia and North Carolina to develop better eating habits and healthier lifestyles.

The just launched recently,  in mid-February, registered dietitians provided by PromoPoint Marketing, in Tampa, Fla., and Farm Fresh pharmacists were on hand to conduct weigh-ins, answered nutritional and health-related questions, host healthy eating tours and work one-on-one with consumers to set wellness goals for a six-week period, that  concluded at the end of March. 

Participants can consult weekly with the chain’s health personnel to gain insights on how to achieve their wellness goals through lifestyle changes and receive weekly newsletters featuring nutritional advice, healthy eating tips, goal-tracking tools and coupons.

And for a little financial incentive, customers at the Virginia Beach-based chain’s 41 stores who complete the Healthy You Challenge and show proof of at least four weigh-ins will earn $10 gift cards to the supermarket. 

With this idea, Farm Fresh is setting an example for all retailers. As we have suggested before, supermarkets have the ability and the opportunity to act as neighborhood centers for health & wellness.  The goal should be to serve the people that shop there, not only in its most basic role of a retailer, but as a neighborhood resource for health.  Just as Farm Fresh is showing us, supermarkets should offer structured and practical support for it’s' customers when it comes to their health and the health of their families.