Joining with Partnership for a Healthier America, Aloha, Ricker’s and Core-Mark commit to making sure healthier options are more accessible for customers.
On Thursday, Oct. 20, convenience store chains Aloha Petroleum, operators of Aloha Island Marts, and Ricker Oil Co., operators of Ricker’s convenience stores, and Core-Mark, a leading national food and beverage distributor, announced commitments to the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show in Atlanta.
“We are pleased to welcome three new partners who are making meaningful commitments to make the healthy choice the easy choice,” said Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) President and CEO Lawrence Soler. “Half of the U.S. population visits a convenience store every single day, and they’re looking for healthier options more often, which is also more profitable for business. Each of these new partners is stepping up to ensure both consumers and retailers have access to healthier, more accessible options.”
One of the largest independent gasoline marketers and convenience store operators in the state of Hawaii, Aloha Petroleum is committing to build on its healthier food options in Aloha Island Mart stores, and will continue to make those choices more affordable while supporting healthier options through in-store marketing and promotions. Aloha Petroleum has also made significant commitments to PHA’s FNV and Drink Up marketing initiatives to promote fruit and vegetable consumption and water as a healthier choice.
“We’re so pleased to be the first and only retailer in Hawaii to partner with PHA,” said Aloha Petroleum President and CEO Richard Parry. “We made a commitment last year to provide our customers with healthier meal options on the go through the Choose Healthy Now program. Now, our customers can enjoy fresh salads, whole fruit, sandwiches, yogurt and other high-performance foods and drinks, making it that much easier for them to make good choices.”
Ricker Oil Co., which owns and operates Ricker’s convenience stores in Indiana, has committed to move its convenience stores toward delivering more nutritious options to meet the needs of the children, families and communities they serve. Specific commitments include offering healthier food options at an affordable cost, marketing and promoting healthier food choices, and offering employee benefits such a 50 percent discount on all fresh fruit and vegetables purchases.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be a part of this initiative and to be able to provide Hoosiers with fresh and healthy food options of fruits, vegetables and made-to-order meals at our convenience stores. We have been developing these efforts for a long time and are now eager to join the movement for a healthier America,” said Quinn Ricker, CEO of Ricker Oil Co.
Core-Mark, one of the largest distributors and marketers of fresh and consumer packaged goods in North America, is pleased to join PHA in its commitment to enhance, market and promote the healthier offerings it distributes to over 40,000 retail locations. Core-Mark will modify merchandising sets to incorporate healthier options, and will provide FNV and Drink Up marketing materials to its retail customers free of cost. Core-Mark will also enhance employee wellness offerings by providing only employee giveaways that incentivize healthy eating and physical activity, offering gym membership discounts, and implementing a healthier food catering policy for employee meetings and events.
“Core-Mark is excited to join PHA in its ongoing efforts to help address childhood obesity issues and improve the country’s overall general health through improved nutrition. At Core-Mark, we have worked hard over most of the last decade to bring fresher, healthier solutions to our customers. Our commitment to PHA is to not only continue, but accelerate that commitment, to our retail customers and also work to bring better nutrition and healthier lifestyles to our internal Core-Mark family as well” said Jon Bratta, Core-Mark’s vice president of marketing.
More than 1,000 convenience stores across the country, and two of the largest distributors to c-stores that reach 130,000 retailers, are now offering expanded healthier choices as part of commitments to PHA.
Thursday’s announcement took place at the 2016 NACS Show in Atlanta. More than 23,000 attendees from around the world are at the event, which features four days of general sessions, more than 60 educational sessions and over 1,100 exhibiting companies in a 400,000 net-square-foot expo.
