Safeway introduces all-natural brand
Safeway Inc. has launched a line of foods with what it calls 100% natural ingredients under the name Open Nature.
The lineup, which will eventually include more than 100 products, has been launched at Safeway stores in the United States. At least some of those products will be available at Canadian Safeway stores in the coming months, company officials said.
The first Open Nature products available in the U.S. are in the meat department, including fresh beef, pork, chicken, chicken sausages, bacon and beef hot dogs. Additional products will be added throughout the year in ice cream, salad dresing, frozen foods and other categories.
Safeway says these products are made from only ingredients that come from natural sources. Meat products also do not contain any added hormones or artificial preservatives and are raised without antibiotics and fed an all-vegetarian diet.
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Open Nature is the third private label line launched by Safeway that focuses on healthy foods. An organics line, O Organics, came out in 2005 and now numbers 470 SKUs. Safeway claims it is the top-selling organic line in the U.S. A healthy private label line, called Eating Right, was issued in 2007 and now encompasses 300 products.
This week Safeway also made another move in the area of healthy eating. It launched an in-store shelf labeling system called Simple Nutrition. It employs green shelf tags that highlight 22 different benefits of products such as gluten free, organic, low-sodium Smart, or made with whole grains.
"Consumers are inundated with conflicting nutrition information and are often skeptical of the nutrition claims on packaging," Safeway's group vice-president, consumer communications and brand marketing, Barbara Walker said.
In a recent survey, Safeway found that 36% of moms said they are wary of claims made on packaging.