Walmart and Walgreens Help Spike Fruit and Vegetable Sales in Poorer Areas
Washington D.C.-
By ANUK Staff
3.7.13
Fresh fruit and vegetable sales in poorer areas have spiked following anti-obesity efforts by Walmart and Walgreens, a U.S. report shows.
Pinnacle Foods enjoyed a two-month sales increase for its Birds Eye frozen vegetables last year during a $2 million marketing campaign that took place on the Nickelodeon channel. The vegetable sales were among the actions highlighted in a report today by the Partnership for a Healthier America on government alliances started in 2010 with the food industry.
Wal-Mart has completed 53 of at least 275 stores it promised to build or renovate in or near so-called food deserts –urban areas that aren’t within 1 mile of a grocery store or rural areas at least 10 miles from a store - by July 2016, according to the Partnership report.
Andrea Thomas, Senior Vice President for sustainability at Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, said the Partnership’s data only recorded stores opened by August. As of January, 86 food desert stores were complete, including one in Springfield, Missouri, that Michelle Obama toured last week, Thomas said.“We’re on track and we’re excited about the progress that we’re making,” she said.
Walgreen, the largest U.S. drugstore chain, has added fruits and vegetables to 37 stores in or near food deserts, or 3.7 percent of its commitment, according to the report. Walgreen told the Partnership the company added the foods to 50 stores, including 14 that aren’t near USDA-designated deserts.
“We remain committed to reaching the goal of 1,000 food oasis stores by 2016,” Michael Polzin, a spokesman for the Deerfield, Illinois-based company, said in a phone interview. “It’s not something we can flip a switch on and offer in our stores overnight. It does take some time to develop that supply chain and develop the offering.”
