Facts & Figures

31% more
kids eat more fruits and vegetables when promoted by a Sesame Street character.

18 to 34 year-olds
say having quality food options is especially important.

NACS is collaborating with the eat brighter!™ (www.pma.com/eatbrighter) program to help convenience retailers sell more fruits and vegetables to kids with the help of Sesame Street characters.

Through the eat brighter! program, retailers, suppliers and distributors can promote fresh fruits and vegetables by choosing from nine popular Sesame Street character images like Big Bird and Elmo—all royalty-free—on signage at various places throughout the store or at the fuel island.

“This program could yield enormous benefits for convenience stores and their suppliers. Our own consumer data show that 60% of consumers are more likely to make purchases of snacks that are supported by credible health and nutrition groups. And Sesame Street, which celebrates its 50^th anniversary in 2019 through a variety of high-profile events, is one of the most recognized and respected brands in the world,” said NACS Vice President of Strategic Industry Initiatives Jeff Lenard.

Participating NACS retailer or supplier members simply pay a one-time administrative fee for royalty-free images to be used on packaging and marketing materials of fresh fruit and vegetables—a multimillion-dollar opportunity for a fraction of the cost.

The program has already proved successful: Suppliers using the materials report produce sales increased 5.3%. Another study shows that kids also eat 31% more fruits and vegetables when they are promoted by a Sesame Street character.

NACS research shows that consumers want to see more healthy choices in convenience stores. Having quality food options is especially important to consumers ages 18-34, and they are the parents of kids in the eat brighter! target age range of 2-5 years old.

The eat brighter! program is a partnership among the Produce Marketing Association; Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street; and the Partnership for a Healthier America. More information on the program is available at www.convenience.org/eatbrighter.

NACS Named PHA Partner of the Year

NACS has been named the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) Partner of the Year, an award accepted by NACS President and CEO Henry Armour on April 2 in Chicago at PHA’s 2019 Summit: Accelerating a Healthier Future.

In 2017, NACS became the first retail-focused association to make a commitment with PHA. Elements of the original commitment include:

• A web-based nutrition resource (convenience.org/calculator) to help convenience stores identify products as being healthier options and assist them in defining their better-for-you sets.
• Drink Up marketing materials (convenience.org/drinkup) customized for NACS members that encourage convenience store customers to stay hydrated and drink water.
• Engaging small-format stores (i.e., corner stores and bodegas) at Corner Store Forums held at the PHA Summit and the NACS Show.
• Providing healthier catering options and emphasizing wellness at NACS events.

NACS continues to elevate its resources and community-focused initiatives to help NACS members raise customer awareness that healthier options are available in the more than 153,000 convenience stores across the United States.

The PHA Partner of the Year Award is presented to a partner that demonstrates how it is executing key strategies with and beyond its PHA commitments, including focusing on those populations disproportionately impacted by obesity; doing well while doing good; using an innovative approach to address childhood obesity and other chronic diseases; or creating a ripple effect within its respective industry. Five finalists were selected for the award, including the Produce Marketing Association and McLane Company Inc.

“This award recognizes both the efforts of our industry to make the healthy choice the convenient choice and the power of PHA to provide the connections and resources to make a difference in communities,” said Armour. “Convenience stores serve 165 million Americans per day, and most customers are in and out of our stores with their food and beverage purchases in about three minutes. That is why it’s so important for retailers to provide cues that can help their customers make healthier choices.”

The partnership with PHA and other nutrition-focused groups has helped share new ideas and insights in how convenience retailers can offer a greater variety of healthy options, and NACS research confirms this progress:

• More than two in five NACS retail members (41%) said they stocked more fresh fruit and vegetables over the first six months of 2018, and 24% stocked more cut fruits and vegetables.
• Convenience stores have expanded their selection of health bars (45% of retailers surveyed say they stocked more), nuts/trail mix (35% stocked more) and packaged salads (37% stocked more). This follows similar increases in 2016 and 2017, making the increase cumulative.
• More than half of all NACS retail members (54%) said they sold salads in 2017, a 10-point increase from 2013.

Consumers also have noticed these changes in stores. One in three (32%) consumers said convenience stores offered more prepared foods, and 19% said they noticed healthier options like salads on store shelves, according to a 2017 NACS consumer survey.

“We now sell a quarter of a billion dollars of fruit, which today is as popular of a snack in our stores as popcorn or pretzels. Water sales are $4 billion, a healthy increase from just a few years ago,” said Armour. “And one in six dollars is spent on prepared food in stores. With the help of PHA, convenience stores are redefining what it means to be a great community partner, and we continue to bring this message to our entire NACS membership.”