Eat Right–Live Well! Supermarket Intervention Impact on Sales of Healthy Foods in a Low-Income Neighborhood

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate a multifaceted supermarket intervention promoting healthier alternatives to commonly purchased foods. DesignSales of 385 foods promoted between July and October, 2012 in the Eat Right–Live Well! intervention supermarket were compared with sales in a control supermarket. SettingTwo supermarkets in geographically separate, low-income, urban neighborhoods. ParticipantsOne control and 1 intervention supermarket. InterventionProduct labeling, employee training, community outreach, and in-store promotions, including taste tests. Main Outcome MeasuresNumber of items sold; absolute and percent differences in sales. AnalysisDifference-in-difference analyses compared absolute and percent changes between stores and over time within stores. Sub-analyses examined taste-tested items and specific food categories, and promoted items labeled with high fidelity. ResultsComparing pre- and postintervention periods, within-store difference-in-differences for promoted products in the intervention store (25,776 items; 23.1%) was more favorable than the control (9,429 items; 6.6%). The decrease in taste-tested items' sales was smaller in the intervention store (946 items; 5.5%) than the control store (14,666 items; 26.6%). Increased sales of foods labeled with high fidelity were greater in the intervention store (25,414 items; 28.0%) than the control store (7,306 items; 6.3%). Conclusions and ImplicationsStore-based interventions, particularly high-fidelity labeling, can increase promoted food sales.