The annual convention of the nation’s independent supermarket operators is being held this week in Las Vegas, and the consumer survey released every year to mark the occasion has some interesting insights into the mind of the whole health shopper.

The poll, conducted by the National Grocers Association and SupermarketGuru.com, devotes an entire section to “Nutritional Concerns,” and that’s where you see just how many of the nearly 2,500 chief household, mostly female shoppers remain committed to eating healthy despite the tough times.

When asked what concerns them most about the foods they eat, the simple “Desire to be healthy/eat what’s good for us” came in first, at 22%, far outpacing the other choices (fat content received 13%).

That desire is apparently translating into action. A full 27% stated their diets are healthy enough. More important, the number of those who admit shortcomings is falling: “Compared with a year ago, when 68% were critical of the foods they eat at home and away from home, this figure improves markedly to 62%,” the report said.

Fruits and vegetables are the most popular ways of improving diet, according to the survey, with 84% of respondents saying so. Less junk food was second (64%) and fewer fried foods was third (63%). more

Forget 2009. Really. I know it’s February, but the bad news — in the form of studies, annual reports and the like — just keep rolling in.

Case in point: The international product intelligence firm, Mintel, found that last year was dismal for new product introductions in the United States, down 30% from 2008.

“In the last decade, [Mintel] has only tracked occasional, small declines in new product introductions for the U.S. market, never a decline as strong as this,” notes Lynn Dornblaser, the firm’s leading new product expert.

The stats were just as grim in health and wellness. Natural and organic products, which saw large increases in 2008, took a few steps back in 2009 due to their higher price points. Food and drink introductions with an all-natural claim decreased from 15% of all launches in 2008 to 13% in 2009. Organic claims showed a similar decline of 12% to 10% in the same timeframe, according to Mintel.

Well, folks, I am happy to say that 2010 (and this is the part I want to write about) is already shaping up to be interesting, with large and small companies introducing new products or services in the wellness channel. If the first weeks of this year are any indication, I think we’re in pretty good shape.

FOOD: Snyder’s of Hanover, the snack food company, has introduced a line of whole grain, gluten-free, fiber-rich all-natural snacks that also promote the company’s contributions to The Nature Conservancy. There are seven products in the line, called Eatsmart. The products are also available in 100-calorie packs. more

Of the various wellness formats opened by conventional retailers over the past few years, only GreenWise endures. The Publix banner is still above the entrance to three stores, all in Florida. Now we know why.

Fried chicken.

A real eye-opening article from the Tampa Tribune profiles the city’s GreenWise, where Maseratis and Mercedes in the parking lot are no big deal. The neighborhood’s per capita income is among the highest in Hillsborough county, and the store reflects the local affluence, selling eco-detergents, hand-picked olives for $9.99 a pound and $36 bottles of vitamins.

Yet customers have been asking for Tide. The HBC section still has vitamins, but also standard fare like Tylenol.

And finally, in the store’s fresh meals department, where quinoa salad and specially prepared tuna filets are the norm, there is now a fried chicken display, “Right there up front,” the store manager is quoted as saying.

What’s going on? This is supposed to be a store for natural, organic and green products. That’s why you want to go there, as opposed to a regular Publix, right? Several things about this report are revealing. more

The new Health Starts Here program at Whole Foods Market launched at all of the chain’s 289 locations, and marks an interesting juncture in the evolution of the chain.

The retailer states the program is a “deepening of our commitment to healthy eating by providing education and support tools to inspire interest in foods that help improve and maintain health and vitality.”

Yours truly thinks it’s more a case of Whole Foods getting back to basics after a period of fast living; if nothing else, there were some bouts of binge eating that saw the chain more focused on growth than reinforcing its core values.

The recession has changed all of that. Profits dropped, shoppers sought cheaper options and the company’s fabled double-digit expansion ground to a halt. With the truck by the side of the road and the engine smoking, it seemed a good time to take stock of the situation.

To kickstart slumping sales, Whole Foods introduced a number of money-saving promotions and has given its 365 private label a higher profile. That kept enough shoppers coming back, but the chain must have also realized that over the past few years, as it made appeals to more mainstream, casual shoppers, it was alienating its core customer.

This latest initiative should please everyone, because the beauty is that it gives Whole Foods much-needed cache as a destination for weight management and healthy living, while providing a perfect excuse for culling the aisles of products, added during the high-living years, that don’t really — and never did — fit in with its core mission. more

Are you seeing higher prices with every trek to your local market, or is it just me who has noticed prices creeping up over the past year on the “staple” items that I purchase on a regular basis?

I was able to justify these price increases last year when the economy was totally in the tank and the cost to fill my car tank made me shudder in disgust, but fuel prices have come down nearly a dollar since last year, so why hasn’t our food pricing followed the same trend?

Even many of the discount chains are trying to squeeze blood out of turnips by incrementally raising retails, thinking that their savvy customers might not notice. I learned from the master long ago that customers are smart and have a long memory. Now multiply that thought by all of us folks who are doing our best to get by and save money any which way we can: We are on the lookout to save a buck and actually remember the price we paid for a certain item was a year ago.

Case in point: A few weeks back I needed more of my natural liquid dishwashing soap, so I bought a bottle. When I got home to put it away, I noticed that the nearly finished bottle under the sink was marked $2.49 for 25 ounces, and this same size new bottle had cost me $2.99 — that’s a whopping retail increase from one shopping excursion to the next! more

Consumers are looking to stretch their dollars, making it no surprise that coupons have once again become an integral part of the shopping experience. But what may be unexpected is just how strategic consumers are getting when it comes to coupon use.

According to a recent study we conducted as part of our Mambo 2010 Outlook trends survey, 70% of natural and organic (N&O) consumers use coupons when planning their grocery lists. It’s a clear indication that coupons are not only driving brand buying decisions but overall meal planning as well.

Moreover, consumers are going beyond newspaper inserts to supplement their coupon supplies, with two in three actively seeking out grocery coupons online.

In other promotional activity, we found that a whopping 93% of consumers would like better access to coupons for health and wellness products, demonstrating that coupon use has evolved beyond the grocery list.

That finding is supported by similar research from Inmar and The Nielsen Company which found that non-food coupons for general merchandise, household items and personal care drove growth in coupon redemptions up 45% in the third quarter over the same period a year ago. By comparison, food items were up 26% over the same period last year.

Not all coupon savings are going back into consumers’ pockets either. Six in ten N&O consumers reported that they were reinvesting those savings back into healthier food for their families. This is a key reason why health and wellness sales have remained as strong as they have during the past year.

CPG manufacturers and supermarket retailers can take a lot of credit for stimulating consumer interest in healthy eating. They’ve accomplished this during some pretty tough times, yet the latest numbers from Information Resources, Inc. show that demand for natural, organic and better-for-you foods continues to grow.

The chart at right shows some impressive bumps in sales and volume over the past year. Sales of products with any grain claim grew nearly 10% now account for 4% of edibles spending across the grocery, drug, mass merchandise and convenience channels. All natural claims are a factor in 12% of all food spending.

CPG marketers are making it happen by taking a new look at product development, marketing and merchandising. Product extensions have helped put healthful twists on conventional favorites, whether it’s adding whole grains to cereal or removing sodium from frozen dinners, according to the latest IRI Times & Trends report.

Thom Blischok, president of of IRI’s Shopper Marketing and Innovation division, notes that CPG manufacturers and retailers are also exploring merchandising opportunities. Here, successful strategies have included setting up discrete displays or kiosks where better-for-you products are displayed, cross-selling healthier products on packages of “traditional” products and selectively reducing prices. more

It’s a cross between walking a tightrope and throwing caution to the wind when you try to combine savings and celebrations. The supermarket dietitian is one of the many who has to make it work for the benefit of the store and the customer.

The winter holidays are always a good time to bring a health image into play since food tends to be the center of the celebration, whether they take place at home or the office and at school. While the holidays are typically a time when people allow themselves to overindulge, we in the dietitian business have to remember the season is also prime time to help people change eating habits. It’s to our benefit that there is concern for wellness, weight control and food allergies.

Again this year, too, the budget crunch is still a headliner for many, even though the holiday spirit tends to lift the mood a bit. With all of that in mind, here are some approaches that might help you on the tightrope!

• Put the emphasis on quality rather than quantity as you guide customers in celebration menu planning. When budgets are tighter steer customers to showcasing a few excellent items that are holiday favorites rather than the huge buffet that ends up with waste. In the end, the price may be the same but the effect is more dramatic. more

Gift card sales were down 6% last holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Part of that is the recession, but it’s also a sign that the category could use some spicing up — a bit more rum in grandma’s eggnog, if you will.

Philanthropic gift cards, which are all about lending a hand, could be just the ticket. The concept is simple yet different: Organizations offer cards that donate to charity in the recipients name, or that come in preset amounts and the recipient chooses which charity receives the money. The largest organization offering these cards, Network for Good, has processed more than $300 million worth of online gift donations since 2001, and the number of donations they’ve put through for this year has doubled over last year, though — with times being tighter — the dollar amounts are smaller.

So cards like this have been around for a while, but this year could be the year they really take off. Tough economic times means everyone’s a bit more inclined to help others. And the cards seem to tap into the same altruistic vein that has consumers demanding organic, natural and sustainable products.

“I believe there is too much focus on gifts of ‘stuff’ and that a donation gift is often the most appreciated and satisfying gift of all,” wrote Erik Marks, founder of TisBest — which offers online and 100% recycled plastic cards — on the company’s website. more

It’s been a tough year for natural and organic products. Not as tough as it could be — but still tough. To offer just a snapshot: Earlier this year, The Nielsen Company reported that sales growth for organic was 24% in March of 2008, versus just 1% in March of 2009.

I’m reluctant to trust any indication that the clouds are lifting, no matter how hard Bernanke and the stock market try to reassure me. It’s like having a clown show up to a funeral — hey, as long as there are still hiring freezes and closings, I’ll keep my head in the sand, thankyouverymuch.

But I’d be lying down on the job if I didn’t report this, a sign that things might be looking up — for the natural and organic industry. According to a report from RBC Capital Markets, “growth rates in the natural/organic food category appear to have stabilized and might be showing some early signs of re-acceleration.” Re-acceleration would certainly be the right word, since the industry never really went into the red. Any growth from this point would be a revving of the engine.

The report noted that distributors like United Natural Foods, Hain Celestial and SunOpta had been showing promising signs. It also singled out Whole Foods, which has taken a battering lately, particularly in the ledger of public opinion after CEO John Mackey’s health care opus absurdum in the Wall Street Journal. Analyst Edward Aaron wrote that the natural and organic retailer could be back in fighting form in the near future, in part because competitors’ commitment to organics “appears to be wavering in some cases.” Inside sources at Wal-Mart, for one, say that the company isn’t happy with how its organic products have been performing. more