The key to improving your overall health and wellness is making smart choices at meal time. “Food plays a major role in our lives,” Kroger Health President Colleen Lindholz tells Us Weekly. “We believe it’s medicine and can prevent disease before it even starts.”
But eating better can be challenging, so Kroger’s aiming to help Americans with its new Wellness Your Way Initiative, which includes the OptUp app and Wellness Your Way Festival. “Whenever you are on your journey,” adds Lindholz, “we’re there to help you.”
Us: Tell Us about Wellness Your Way.
CL: It’s a platform that we built to help drive customer awareness and engagement to the products and services that we offer at Kroger, and also help customers take a more holistic approach to health care. People are very busy, and our platform simplifies information for our customers and helps them make better food choices, as well as saving them time and money.
Us: How does the OptUp app work?
CL: The OptUp app is a true game changer be-cause it makes it easier for people to make healthier food choices. Basically, the way it works is it evaluates what you put in your cart. It looks at the history [of your purchases] and recommends products that are better for you.
Us: Kroger’s inaugural Wellness Your Way Festival was a huge success this past October. Can you tell Us anything about this year’s festival?
CL: We’re looking to expand. This year, we want to have two festivals, Cincinnati and Denver, versus just one. And then at Kroger, one of our goals is to have the healthiest workforce in America. So we are going to get our own associates involved more this year.
Us: How does the festival reflect Kroger’s vision?
CL: Our mission statement says that we’re going to simplify healthcare by creating solutions that combine health, wellness and nutrition, connecting with the customers on a personal and emotional level. We feel the festival embodies our purpose, vision, mission and really everything that we’re trying to do as a grocer across the country.
With reporting by Marc Lupo
