Caitlin Caspi, ScDAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Family Medicine and Community HealthProgram in Health Disparities ResearchUniversity of Minnesota
Melissa N. Laska, PhD, RD (Study PI)Jennifer E. Pelletier, MPHKathleen Lenk, MPHTimothy L. Barnes, PhDLisa Harnack, PhD, RDDarin Erickson, PhDDivision of Epidemiology and Community Health
University of Minnesota
Customer purchases in small,
non-traditional, urban food retailers
Trends in food retail
1. Persistent systematic disparities in healthy food availability a
2. An increasing proportion of food retail takes place outside of supermarkets b
a Larson, Story, Nelson (Laska), AJPM 2009; USDA ERS, 2015 b Stern, Robinson, Ng, Gordon-Larson, Popkin, Health Affairs, 2015
Common, non-traditional, urban food retailers
Corner stores Gas-marts
Dollar stores Pharmacies
Trends in gas-marts
Source: Neilson, 2015
115,000
120,000
125,000
130,000
135,000
140,000
145,000
150,000
155,000
160,000
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nu
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“…convenience stores have continued to evolve from gas stations that happen to sell food to food retailers that happen to sell gas.”
--The Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing (NACS )
Aims
• In these food stores, to examine:
▫ Customer characteristics
▫ Shopping patterns
▫ Nutritional quality of purchases
Stores in Minneapolis affected by the Staple Food Ordinance
Comparable stores in St. Paul
(control site)
PI: M. Laska. NIH R01; CDC U48; Johns Hopkins Global Center for Childhood Obesity
Store sample (n = 106)
• Baseline data from STaple foods Ordinance Evaluation Study (STORE)
▫ Evaluates the impact of a Minneapolis ordinance that sets minimum stocking requirements for healthy food in grocery stores
▫ Focused on small- to mid-sized stores with grocery licenses in Minneapolis, compared with those in St. Paul, where no such policy exists
Store sample
Minneapolis St. Paul
Store sample
Minneapolis St. Paul
Store sample
Corner store (37%)
Gas-mart (35%)
Pharmacy (19%)
Dollar store (8%)
Minneapolis St. Paul
Customer Intercept Interviews (n = 668)
• Teams of 2 data collectors standing outside stores
• Survey duration: 5 minutes
• Participants receive $10 gift card
• Eligibility:
▫ At least 18 years old
▫ English-speaker
▫ Purchased a food or beverage in the store
• Data collected
▫ Food/beverage purchases
▫ Frequency and reasons for shopping at the store
▫ Customer demographics and other characteristics
Analysis
• Descriptive statistics
▫ Customer characteristics
▫ Shopping patterns
▫ Nutrient analysis using Nutritional Data Systems for Research (NDSR)
Food/beverage category
Micro and macronutrients
Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2010)
• Tested for differences between store types
Participant characteristics (n = 668)
• Mean age 40
• 56% male
• Race/ethnicity
▫ 47% white non-Hispanic
▫ 36% black non-Hispanic
▫ 4% Hispanic
▫ 13% Other
Participant shopping behavior
At least once a day
29%
1-6 times a week
44%
Less than once a
week27%
Frequency of shopping at store
Close to home47%
Close to work/
destination29%
Good prices
6%
Other18%
Primary reason for shopping at store
Characteristics of participant purchases
All stores Corner store Gas-mart Dollar store Pharmacy
Median
(25-75%)
Median
(25-75%)P
Number of items
purchased
2.0
(1.0-3.0)
2.0
(1.0-3.0)
2.0
(1.0-3.0)
2.0
(1.0-4.0)
2.0
(1.0-3.0).09
Total amount spent
($)
2.68
(1.49-5.18)
2.49
(1.00-6.25)
2.54
(1.50-4.58)
2.89
(1.40-5.00)
3.48
(1.69-5.99).09
Energy (kcal)534
(253-1282)
528
(246-1434)
508
(253-883)
1266
(421-2993)
551
(264-1893).04
Added Sugars
(% of calories) 39
(11-81)
36
(3.0-81)
37
(13-81)
53
(24-89)
41
(20-73)
.12
<5% of customers purchased other staple foods like cheese/yogurt, poultry/fish, nuts/nut butter
Most common purchases
All storesCorner
store
Gas mart Dollar
storePharmacy p
Percent Percent
Sugar-sweetened
beverage46 47 46 58 36 .03
Grains 18 22 18 25 11 .03
Savory snacks 17 22 14 19 15 .10
Candy 15 9 10 28 28 <.01
Sweet baked goods 13 7 18 15 12 <.01
Vegetables 6 8 3 10 6 .08
Fruit 2 1 3 0 2 .25
HEI score of fast food menus (38-56)b
36 37 35 3340
0
25
50
75
100
All stores Corner store Gas mart Dollar store Pharmacy
HE
I
Healthy Eating Index (HEI) Scores of Small Food Store Purchases
HEI score of grocery purchases (56)a
aVolpe & Okrent, USDA, 2012bHearst et al. , Am J Prev Med, 2013
FV Availability Varies by Store Type
Corner store Gas-mart Dollar store Pharmacy
Availability (% of stores with item in stock)
Fresh
Fruit 79 97 0 14
Vegetable 83 7 0 14
Frozen
Fruit 15 0 25 0
Vegetable 63 7 38 10
Canned
Fruit 54 79 100 80
Vegetable 98 97 100 100
Improving customer purchases
Store features Customer engagement
• Marketing
• Product placement
• Prices and promotions
• Balance of healthy and unhealthy items
• Voicing demand
• Building awareness
Summary
• Shoppers visit non-traditional food stores frequently and for convenience
• Overall nutritional quality of purchases is low
• Purchases are energy dense
• Interventions should address store features and engage customers
• Supported by:
▫ Johns Hopkins Global Obesity Prevention Center (NICHD U54HD070725)
▫ NIDDK (R01DK104348), CDC (U48-DP005022)
• STORE Study team:
▫ Investigators: Melissa Laska, Lisa Harnack, Darin Erickson
▫ Other collaborators: Kristen Klingler, Nora Gordon, Anthony Johnson
▫ Study staff: Jennifer Pelletier, Pamela Carr-Manthe, Stacey Moe
▫ Large team of data collectors and advisory committee
