Food, health, and data: Developing transformative food retailing

Abstract

As a response to industry restructuring, many food retailers are searching for new initiatives through which they can engage themselves further into their customers’ lives. In this endeavor, digitalization allows retailers to integrate additional personalized resources—such as menu-planning guidance, help in tracing product origins and dietary information advice—with their consumers’ everyday processes. At the same time, food healthfulness, consumer health, and wellbeing are growing concerns for consumers, industries, and governments. This suggests a new proactive, transformative role for retailers, arising not only from recognition of the weaknesses of current practices but also from the opportunities of directly engaging more deeply with customers’ lives. This potential new role of the food retailer necessitates an in-depth understanding of its origins, as well as its diverse implications. Consequently, this chapter explores the key elements of transformative food retailing, analyses its potential, and identifies implications for consumers, companies, the academics, and society.