ANDOVER, Md.— Giant Food is helping customers identify products owned by minority based businesses through updated shelf labels. Starting next month, all 164 Giant stores will feature the shelf labels, informing shoppers of products offered by businesses that are Women, Black, Asian-Indian, Hispanic, LGBT, Asian-Pacific, or Veteran owned. Over 3,100 products in Giant stores will feature the updated shelf labels, owned by 218 businesses in Giant’s network of vendor partnerships.

Ira Kress

The new initiative comes as part of Giant’s supplier diversity efforts in developing strong relationships with businesses that offer quality products, excellent customer service and competitive prices to shoppers.

“Giant Food is proud to better highlight our diverse suppliers,” said Ira Kress, president of Giant Food. “We’re committed to making it easier for customers to identify product attributes that are important to them by fostering a diverse and inclusive network of suppliers that reflects the unique backgrounds and experiences of our Giant family, our customers and our communities.”

For customers looking to purchase their groceries online and enjoy the convenience of Giant Pickup or Giant Delivers, these product labels will also be featured on the Giantfood.com website and Giant Food mobile app in 2021. In the new year, Giant will also begin highlighting its diverse partners on a new supplier page on GiantFood.com through storytelling and product spotlights.

The new shelf labels are just one example of Giant’s commitment to giving customers the tools they need to quickly identify products with characteristics that are important to them. In 2017, Giant rolled out the HowGood rating system which identifies products based on factors ranging from ingredient sourcing to labor practices. In 2018, Giant also launched Guiding Stars, the nutrition navigation program that takes the guesswork out of nutrition by decoding product labels into one clear rating.