Grocery Labels for Do-Gooders
A Brooklyn startup rates food products on factors ranging from employee pay to pesticide practices
ILLUSTRATION: LISA HANEY
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In this week’s happy news, I learned that the grocery products stocking my kitchen are systematically destroying society and ruining the planet.
The Greek yogurt has a lousy carbon footprint. The ancient jar of mustard was produced with substandard labor practices. And those innocent-looking carrots? Raised by an evil, chemical-crazed agrimonster.
I know this because I’ve been running my edibles past HowGood, a Brooklyn startup that says it has assembled the world’s largest database rating food products on feel-good factors ranging from employee pay and livestock conditions to pesticide practices and distribution methods.
All in all, it has analyzed more than 140,000 items ranging from eggs to granola bars, says chief executive and co-founder Alexander Gillett. That’s nearly half the 300,000 widely used grocery products found nationwide, he says, and the majority of those found in mainstream supermarkets.
While consumers can research products on the HowGood website or app, the company’s main offering is its in-store labeling program, which marks products with a “Good” “Great” or “Best” tag. Products scoring below the “Good” benchmark aren’t labeled. “Grocers don’t want a red flag saying, ‘Don’t buy this,’” says Mr. Gillett.
Mr. Gillett and I went shopping at the Foodcellar & Co. in Long Island City, one of the first supermarkets to adopt the labels. Starting in the beverage aisle, Mr. Gillett pointed out Naked Juice, a popular but pricey drink billed as healthy and sustainable.
“As a consumer you might instantly go for them based on their marketing expertise,” says Mr. Gillett. “But there’s all these other options with better ratings.”
The cheerful, green HowGood labels dotting the shelves felt reassuring, and that’s the point. What shopper hasn’t stood paralyzed in the poultry section, wondering whether to blow an extra $5 on the supposedly cage-free chicken? I care, but not enough to gamble cash on the mere possibility that the manufacturer’s claims might be valid.
Indeed, there are more than 350 certifications that grocery manufacturers can slap on their labels, says Mr. Gillett, and some merely prove the producer paid a fee and filled out a form.
HowGood, by contrast, says it gathers data from more than 400 watchdog groups and regulatory agencies ranging from the Agriculture Department to single-issue nonprofits like the Non-GMO Project to rate products on more than 60 indicators.
Happily, the top-rated products aren’t always the most expensive. While a popular brand of organic eggs rated “Great” was selling for $3.69 for a half-dozen at Foodcellar, for example, a lesser-known organic brand with a “Best” rating cost half that.
Mr. Gillett says the ratings are meant to help shoppers make better choices within their budget. Many folks can’t afford grass-fed beef that costs twice as much as grain-fed beef, for example. But the price difference between organic and nonorganic produce, grains and beans is much smaller.
Still, the highest-ranked products tend to cost more, and that’s an incentive for grocery stores to adopt the labeling system. Foodcellar co-owner Metin Mangut says it’s hard to decipher how much revenue growth can be attributed to HowGood because the neighborhood population is changing so fast. But performance is strong enough that he plans to use it in the second supermarket he’s opening nearby.
Mr. Gillett says supermarkets using the labels see a 4% increase in spending for each order because it encourages shoppers to buy more of the pricey, top-rated products. Items rated “Best,” for example, see an average sales boost of 31%.
So far, Foodcellar is one of just two supermarkets in the city, and 78 across the country, to adopt the system, which costs grocers about $200 a month for each store. HowGood, with its 15 researchers and analysts, is largely funded by grants and a $2 million venture-capital funding round received last fall.
Somewhat predictably, the company operates out of a Greenpoint loft replete with adorable dogs, an open kitchen and a sunny deck. Employees actually walk the walk. Scoping out the office refrigerator, I found it stocked with organic salsa, locally-produced pickles and natural peanut butter, though I also unearthed a rogue can of Coca-Cola.
“It came with a take-out order!” Mr. Gillett protested.
How do manufacturers feel about the HowGood ratings? I contacted several food makers, including Naked Juice. No one wanted to talk. But Mr. Gillett showed me a thick stack of business cards on his desk. “These are the 26 manufacturers that we’re dealing with now,” he said.
In some cases, the food maker’s P.R. rep calls to insist that a product rated “Great” actually deserves a “Best.” Some companies want to know how to earn a better rating. Some demand to be removed from the system entirely.
The system has its shortcomings. So far, HowGood can’t get the information needed to rate many store brands, such as the Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value line.
Then there’s the fact that the “Good, Great, Best” labeling provides little in the way of specifics.
But that’s also the beauty of the system. Every five minutes not spent puzzling over bacon options at the store could be five minutes at home actually eating bacon. The top-rated brand? La Quercia Pancetta. Just $20 a pound at a supermarket near you.
