P3 Midwestern Regional Grocery Store Chain Canned and Frozen Vegetable Sales

Abstract

<h3>Background</h3> Canned vegetables contain higher sodium, which is associated with chronic disease, and are less expensive. Understanding purchasing patterns of low-income Oklahomans will provide information to guide future health interventions. <h3>Objective</h3> To describe the overall canned and frozen vegetable sales and determine differences in canned and frozen sales by store's shopper income. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> This study was a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of canned and frozen vegetable sales from December 2012 through August 2015 of a Midwestern regional grocery chain (n = 64 stores). Weekly units sold of canned and frozen vegetables were pair-matched by preparation type and averaged across 144 weeks. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) sales were used as a proxy for the store's shopper socioeconomic status (SES; ie, high SNAP sales = lower shopper SES). High SES stores (n = 16, bottom quartile) had 5.7% SNAP sales and low SES stores (n = 16, top quartile) had 14.7% SNAP sales. <h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3> An independent <i>t</i> test was conducted to compare the percentage of canned to frozen units sold between high and low SES stores. All statistical tests were conducted assuming <i>P</i> ≤ 0.05, using SAS 9.4. <h3>Results</h3> Across all stores, 78.7% of canned and frozen vegetable sales were canned and 21.3% were frozen. Green beans were the highest canned sales and mixed vegetables were the highest frozen sales. Canned vegetable sales accounted for significantly more (84%) of total canned and frozen vegetable sales in low SES stores compared to high SES stores (74%) (<i>P</i> < 0.0001, 95% CI: 0.06-0.13). <h3>Conclusion</h3> Low SES stores sell more canned vegetables compared to high SES stores in Oklahoma. These data are representative of Oklahoma sales data and are comparable to national trends. Findings demonstrate a need to understand how individuals living in low SES households make purchasing decisions to improve public health intervention strategies attempting to improve diet quality.