Walmart, Kroger and Ahold Delhaize influence access to healthy diets in the US, but pricing, marketing and private label strategies often favor less nutritious options, Access to Nutrition initiative’s (ATNi) recent US Retail Assessment reveals.
For CPG brands, the findings “highlight opportunities to enhance their role in promoting healthier and more equitable diets,” according to the report.
Private label products still skew unhealthy
ATNi highlights concerns about the nutritional quality of private label products which remain modest, averaging a Health Star Rating (HSR) of 2.7 out of 5. ATNi applied the HSR system consistently across retailers in six countries – US, France, Indonesia, South Africa, The Philippines and Kenya – to enable cross-country comparison. In the US, ATNi assessed the health quality of private label products from Walmart, Kroger and Food Lion.
The Health Star Rating (HSR) system is a voluntary front-of-pack labeling program used in New Zealand and Australia where a higher rating indicates healthfulness. Some multinational companies like Danone and Nestle have relied on the HSR system to assess their nutrition metrics.
Among the US retailers in the report, 45% of Food Lion’s portfolio, 40% of Kroger’s and 39% of Walmart’s meet the threshold for healthier products, according to the report. According to the report, “healthier” products are defined as those with an HSR rating of 3.5 or above out of 5.
Private labels are becoming increasingly significant competitors to branded CPGs, now accounting for roughly 20% of total grocery spending in the US, with even higher shares at individual retailers, according to ATNi. It predicts private label will account for 20–25% of products at Walmart, 35% at Kroger and 45% at Ahold Delhaize USA by 2028.
Despite some reformulation efforts, most private label items remain highly processed, as defined by ATNi’s framework for products high in sugar, salt or saturated fat and containing cosmetic additives, with 88% of Walmart and Kroger products and 84% of Food Lion items classified as such, according to the report.
Healthier food costs more
For CPG brands in nutrition-focused categories, ATNi’s pricing analysis highlights a persistent challenge: healthier products consistently cost more than less nutritious options.
At Walmart, a healthier food basket is roughly 18% pricier, while at Kroger it’s nearly 59% higher. These gaps remain even though retailers promote affordability, especially for fruits and vegetables, showing that the cost difference reflects broader market dynamics rather than specific retailer strategies, per the report.
For low-income households, this structural price gap continues to be a significant barrier to accessing healthier diets, according to ATNi.
Does retailer marketing push less healthy food?
Marketing practices by the retailers in the report show a pattern: promotions overwhelmingly favor less healthy categories, according to the report.
ATNi’s assessment found that US retailers “do not use marketing/promotions to drive sales of healthier products.”
Based on flyer analysis: “Each company allocated less than one fifth of its flyers to healthier products. Food Lion 19%, Kroger 18% and Walmart 10%.”
Meanwhile, “over half of all promotions featured ‘unhealthy’ options,” per ATNi. It found unhealthy options accounted for 54% of promotions at Food Lion and Kroger and 80% at Walmart.
Promoted products leaned heavily toward refined grains, baked goods, sweets, ice cream and sugar-sweetened beverages.
For in-store marketing, the report found that Kroger and Walmart “show no evidence” of strategies to boost merchandising of healthier foods in stores.
Ahold Delhaize USA appears to be the outlier, reporting that its banners use “end-of-aisle displays and checkout areas dedicated to ‘Guiding Stars’ products.”
Guiding Stars is a proprietary nutrition scoring system that rates products from one to three stars based on their overall nutritional profile, including nutrients to limit, nutrients to encourage and artificial ingredients.
Still, ATNi notes that “the frequency and consistency of these practices are not clear.”
A mixed picture for CPG stakeholders
Even as some retailers integrate nutrition into their strategies, ATNi finds major gaps between their commitments and equitable food environments.
The report challenges retailers to go beyond simply making healthier products available, calling for changes in pricing, marketing and product reformulation.
For brands trying to tap into healthier retail trends, ATNi sees a clear opportunity: If retailers back up their efforts with solid oversight and transparency, they could make a real impact on public health across the US.
“Major CPG brands should set meaningful targets to increase the healthiness of their sales and products by 2030 – as a proportion of their overall revenue and product portfolios – and monitor and publish annual progress against these targets," said ATNi Executive Director Greg Garrett.
