Kroger & Bitewell Revolutionise Nutrition with Digital Score

Kroger Co. has teamed up with Bitewell, the FoodHealth Company, rolling out Bitewell's pioneering nutrition scoring system to Kroger’s patrons. This innovative tool, the FoodHealth Score, gives customers dependable metrics to manage their nutrition.

Kroger Co., known for its motto 'to feed the human spirit', has nearly 420,000 employees working across its subsidiaries and it serves more than 11m customers daily. Kroger has been featured in our Top 10: Largest Food Retail Chains, credited for its broad assortment of food products, focus on locally sourced items and robust digital platforms that facilitate grocery delivery and pickup services.

Boosting customer power with FoodHealth Scores

Kroger Health, a division of The Kroger Co., is a top retail healthcare provider in the United States, serving over 17m patients annually. The Kroger Family of Pharmacies operates more than 2,200 pharmacies across 35 states, supplemented by The Little Clinic, which offers telehealth services in nine states and manages more than 220 physical clinics in eight states. The division employs 24,000 healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered dieticians and technicians.

In a groundbreaking collaboration, Kroger Co. has teamed up with Bitewell, the FoodHealth Company, rolling out Bitewell's pioneering nutrition scoring system to Kroger’s patrons. This innovative tool, the FoodHealth Score, equips customers with dependable metrics to manage mealtime nutrition effectively.

Kroger Co., known for its motto 'to feed the human spirit', boasts nearly 420,000 employees across its subsidiaries. It serves more than 11 million customers daily. Kroger has been featured in our Top 10: Largest Food Retail Chains, credited for its broad assortment of food products, focus on locally sourced items, and robust digital platforms that facilitate grocery delivery and pickup services.

Boosting customer power with FoodHealth Scores

Kroger Health, a division of The Kroger Co., is a top retail healthcare provider in the United States, serving over 17 million patients annually. The Kroger Family of Pharmacies operates more than 2,200 pharmacies across 35 states, supplemented by The Little Clinic, which offers telehealth services in nine states and manages more than 220 physical clinics in eight states. The division employs 24,000 healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered dieticians, and technicians.

Embracing the concept of ‘food as medicine’, the company strives to proactively prevent diseases and promote healthier lifestyles. Similarly, the nutrition technology enterprise Bitewell aims to improve global health through its state-of-the-art FoodHealth Score system.

The Bitewell FoodHealth Score assigns ratings to food products from 1 to 100 based on factors like nutrient density and ingredient quality. Kroger customers can now check the FoodHealth Score of food items while shopping online or via the Kroger app. In-store, a simple scan of the product's barcode allows access to the FoodHealth Score, aiding shoppers in selecting foods that align with their health objectives. Additionally, customers can create a digital account to keep track of the FoodHealth Scores of their previous purchases.

OptUP programme enhanced with Bitewell innovation

Kroger's devotion to advancing 'Food as Medicine' prompted the launch of OptUP in 2017, a colour-coded system to help customers evaluate the nutritional value of their grocery buys and discover healthier alternatives. The OptUP programme has now been enriched with Bitewell's advanced FoodHealth Score and a refined scoring algorithm. The FoodHealth Score utilises sophisticated scientific methods and considers a broader array of nutritional details. This enhancement significantly strengthens the OptUP programme, offering users a more detailed tool for informed nutritional decision-making.

This collaboration between Kroger and Bitewell serves as a blueprint for how digital tools can transform healthcare consumerism. By integrating detailed nutritional data directly into the shopping experience, Kroger and Bitewell are setting new standards in the dietary management space, making it simpler for people to maintain healthy eating habits amid their busy lives.

Kroger Health and bitewell unite for healthier food choices

"We are excited to collaborate with bitewell to make advancements that power the OptUP Nutrition Program," said Laura Brown, Head of Nutrition, Kroger. "This improved resource will help us deliver better access and information to our customers, hopefully leading to improved health outcomes."

Jim Kirby, Chief Commercial Officer at Kroger Health is proud that Kroger and bitewell are united in their desire to improve the nutrition security of millions of people.

"This initiative uses modern technology to give customers the knowledge they need to make better decisions every day,” said Jim. “With this expanded service, Kroger and bitewell are setting a new standard for nutrition transparency, while empowering customers to gradually change the way they eat."

Kroger's dedication to advancing the concept of Food as Medicine led to the introduction of OptUP, back in 2017. This colour-coded initiative was designed to help customers in assessing the nutritional value of their food purchases and spotting healthier options. Now, the OptUP programme has been enhanced with the integration of the bitewell FoodHealth Score and an advanced scoring algorithm. The bitewell FoodHealth Score, which uses advanced scientific methods, takes into account a wider range of nutritional factors. This addition greatly enhances the OptUP programme, offering customers a tool for making the best nutritional choice for them.

"People need help navigating nutrition while they shop for food," added Samantha Citro-Alexander, CEO of bitewell. "We've all been there - standing in front of an aisle wondering 'which of these is actually healthy for me?'." 

The FoodHealth Score can answer that question.

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