When Hiller’s Markets does something, there are no half steps. If you read CEO Jim Hiller’s blog, A Message From The Helm, you know he posts regularly, on a universe of topics ranging from local food to the love he has for his aging Scottish Deerhound.

The 7-store chain also boasts that it has the largest selection of gluten-free items in its home state of Michigan, and publishes a gluten-free newsletter. Gluten-free foods are clearly marked on the shelf, where customers will find “Celiac Specialty Foods” as well as additional choices among Hiller’s homemade prepared foods.

The same thorough treatment is given to foods for diabetics, vegans and other diet-related categories. More recently, the grocer started stocking more low-salt and salt-free products, also clearly labeled with easy-to-identify tags.

Now, Hiller’s is embarking on an effort that complements the products in the aisle, the signage and labels and the newsletters. The retailer is launching Hiller’s Health Tours. This series of store tours is described as “a new community outreach program, staffed by nutritionists, doctors, food specialists and other medical experts.” MORE…

Looking over some of the latest research on fiber can’t help but conjure the image of Rodney Dangerfield, that pudgy, bug-eyed master of self-deprecation, pulling at his collar as he says his immortal line: “I don’t get no respect!”

Fiber is just that: an important nutrient that gets no respect. Studies have venerated it time and again, linking it to everything from cancer to heart disease and digestive problems. And still, most people think of it as that most boring of nutrients; something their grandmother takes with a glass of water every morning, or that you only need if you’re, um, irregular.

That’s all true of course, though in recent years food manufacturers have undertaken the admirable task of proving that fiber can be so much more. Bread companies tout fiber on their packaging, even going so far as to roll out “double fiber” varieties. Frozen meals, snacks, cereals, cookies and many other shelf-stable products boast being a “good source of fiber”. It’s a classic case of building demand around solid science.

Despite these efforts, consumers still view fiber grudgingly. According to a new study from the research firm Mintel, 27% of them think it has an unpleasant taste, and 25% think it’s only necessary for those suffering digestive problems. Thirty percent say they try to get enough fiber in their diets, but surveys show that nowhere close to that number actually do. MORE…

Here’s one thing we know: The weight-loss products industry is booming.

Here’s one thing we don’t know: How to actually lose weight. According the latest industry snapshot from CPG research firm Packaged Facts, Americans spent $26 billion on weight-loss and weight management products last year — yet the prevalence of obesity in this country over the past ten years increased 48% amongst adults, and 72% amongst children. It’s projected that by the year 2018 obesity-related medical expenses will more than triple from their current rate.

You can’t blame people for not trying. The report states that 39% of adults are working to lose or maintain weight. Nearly three fourths of sales go to diet foods and drinks, while 18% goes to weight loss programs and services like Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem. The bottom 10% belongs to over-the-counter drugs, therapies and (shudder) surgical intervention.

So who’s to blame here, the products or the consumer? Perhaps both. People want their diets to be quick and easy, and companies help them maintain that illusion. There was the carb craze, for one, and now there’s something called the “cookie diet”. Ask any dietitian or nutritionist worth her salt, and she’ll tell you losing weight is hard work, requiring a combination of exercise, planning, and smaller, more wholesome portions.

Nevertheless, we soldier on. The latest trend nowadays, according to the Packaged Facts report, is with food and drinks promoting satiety. These items are supposed to give consumers a feeling of fullness, keeping them from the cravings that cause them to raid the pantry. MORE…

It’s no secret that, when it comes to health and wellness retailing, women rule. Not only are they the ones buying most of the products — they’re also the impassioned voice driving many of the trends we see, from healthy kids’ options to better-for-you snacks and beyond.

So for retailers, it’s good to stay up on the latest consumer polls, like the one our parent company Penton, in concert with women’s lifestyle website iVillage.com, just released.

The results, which come from input submitted by close to 5,000 iVillage readers, aren’t surprising in a broad sense. But they do underscore the growing number of women saying they want to eat healthy, and then putting their ideals into action. Seventy-three percent of respondents, for example, say they read labels closely and are concerned about certain hot-button ingredients, like high-fructose corn syrup. And 50% say they look for specific health attributes like “low sodium” or “high in fiber” as opposed to general claims like “natural” and “organic”.

Here are a few other findings:

- 71% want to buy healthful products from mainstream grocers.

- 57% believe organic food is better for them.

- Only 26%, however, say they’ll go out of their way to purchase it.

- 39% say time is the biggest obstacle to healthful eating, followed by willpower and motivation.

The 71% figure should be especially encouraging to our readers. Indeed, that shows just how far supermarkets have come as wellness destinations — and how much further consumers want them to go.

Topco Associates’ pitch for the dormant Wild Oats brand name seems — at first blush — like an odd move. What would a company that already offers a pretty successful private-label natural/organic brand called Full Circle want with a retail name that hasn’t been seen on shelves for three years?

Or, more to the point: Why would Topco want it?

First, the background: The Wild Oats brand name has been for sale since Whole Foods Market acquired Wild Oats in 2007. A messy antitrust battle with federal regulators ensued, and ended only after Whole Foods agreed to sell off 32 Wild Oats units, along with the brand (to date, three stores have actually been sold).

Fast forward three years. According to papers filed with the Federal Trade Commission, Topco and Luberski Inc., a Fullerton, Calif.-based food-product supplier, are both bidding for the Wild Oats rights. A source familiar with Topco tells me that Topco has been interested in the name since the acquisition.

Why? The current thinking is that Topco will position the Wild Oats name as a “better-for-you” brand that complements the existing Full Circle natural/organic line, similar to what Safeway has done with its “O” Organics and Eating Right brands.

Adding a lesser-evil tier will allow retailers who pull from Topco to offer an additional line, with different price points and product attributes, to mainstream customers who might otherwise simply buy conventional products if given only a natural/organic option. MORE…

The FDA has sent out warning letters to 17 food manufacturers claiming that certain products violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The development follows last October’s statement by FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg urging companies to review their nutrition claims.

Yesterday’s letters serve as a reminder that the agency is serious about holding manufacturers accountable for the promises they make to their customers. The vast majority of companies making health claims have been careful to include studies, research findings and other data supporting their claims on their websites, or otherwise make them available to consumers.

Even so, the FDA is saying companies continue to overreach, or neglect to balance their claims with statements that point out other nutritional aspects that are not so healthy.

For example, many of the manufacturers on this most recent list were cited for making claims such as “0 grams of trans fat” – a statement that, in and of itself, is accurate. However, many of these products contain significant amounts of saturated (bad) fats, or cholesterol, or sodium. FDA regulations state that if these nutritional elements exceed a certain amount, then manufacturers must include an ancillary notice next to any front-panel health declarations that directs the consumer to the Nutrition Facts panel.

There, they’ll see that the product does not have any trans fats as stated but, Wow, it’s loaded with saturated fat, cholesterol or sodium. No thanks, I’ll pass. MORE…

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…

Dieting is an American way of life. A new survey from Catalina Marketing founds that weight management has a “strong influence” on the grocery purchases of 56% of American shoppers and at least “some influence” on the purchases of another one-third.

Even more striking is the fact that four out of 10 shoppers followed some type of diet in the past year.

Yet, food products promoting themselves as diet-friendly or waistline-smart don’t necessarily fly off the shelves. In large part, that’s because as a group, dieters are a diverse bunch. The study found there are different types of dieters, different goals and different levels of willingness to spend on diet-related products.

For instance, those following name-brand diets or lifestyles spend more than $3,400 on groceries per year, while those who focus simply on low-fat foods, regardless of brand, spend just over $800.

Catalina researchers queried more than 4,000 shoppers and used their answers to create six shopper segments: Low-Fat & Fit, Carb Conscious, Calorie-Conscious, Unconcerned Families, Healthy Habits and Devoted Dieters. Some of the insights for each include:

Low-Fat & Fit (11 million shoppers): This group reports the lowest level of concern managing or losing weight with 41% “very concerned.” Thirty-two percent of this segment says weight-management has a strong influence on the type of groceries they buy. MORE…

A lot is being made of New York City’s move to limit sodium in foods sold in the five boroughs. This latest initiative — the city has already banned trans fats and requires restaurants to post calorie counts — seeks to prod manufacturers and restaurant kitchens to cut back on the salt.

The official goal is to reduce the amount of sodium in packaged food and foodservice by an average of 25% over the next five years. This is only a suggestion. There’s no law or regulation taking effect here. In effect, the city is asking companies to join in a voluntary campaign to reduce the amount of sodium city consumers are taking in.

That’s all good stuff, but published reports point out that the big packaged food companies have been quietly removing sodium from products like soup and prepared foods for some time now. Perhaps the most progressive company on this front has been Campbell Soup Co. ConAgra is also working on it, as is Progresso, Unilever, Sara Lee and other big brand-name food makers.

Have you ever tried a low-sodium version of a product? Did you buy it again? I recall trying a low-salt version of a vegetable juice I really liked, and I thought I was drinking liquid cardboard. What I ended up doing was cutting the regular version with water in the belief that I was at least diluting the sodium content. MORE…

More than 1.5 billion Americans visited food web sites this year. It’s a tremendous number, with huge implications for the food industry. The statistic, from a poll conducted by our friends at Allrecipes.com, notes that these consumers went through 11 billion pages of food-focused content — everything from recipes to discussion boards to coupon offers.

While that’s an impressive (even intimidating) number, the real hook for retailers comes from another stat. The Allrecipes.com survey found that 43% of home cooks with smart phones “used the device while grocery shopping to look up recipes, create grocery lists, conduct price comparisons and look up coupons.” We’ve reported on retailers that have implemented pretty extensive online coupon programs to take advantage of this trend.

To get a glimpse of the extent of consumer use, Allrecipes determined that page views of its site from a mobile device increased five times the rate of other devices — desktop, laptop and the like — in the past 16 months. In November alone, Allrecipes,com received more than 1 million visits from mobile devices. That’s a lot of people on the move, who still need and want access to information and offers.

Against this rose-pixeled picture, however, we have another report indicating that the industry itself has lagged in applying many consumer-friendly concepts to B-to-B applications, frustrating clients and trade customers. Technomic Inc., which tracks foodservice and restaurants, found wide-ranging complaints within the industry centered on the lack of specific product information, organization and assistance on a majority of vendor websites. MORE…