NEW YORK—Sales of healthier items have increased in schools, according to new data released today.
The study comes from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which in 2011 signed an industry agreement with 14 food manufacturers and three GPOs to “develop, produce and market healthier food products for schools at competitive prices,” according to the report. “As part of this agreement, signatories also agreed to submit data to an independent entity to verify progress towards the public commitments.”
The third-party entity, Keybridge, today released preliminary data. Some of the key findings include:
- Total sales of Alliance-compliant products by participating manufacturers grew by 71% between the 2010-2011 school year and the 2012-2013 school year. That represents an increase of $130 million, bringing Alliance-compliant sales to $312 million. During the same time period, sales of non-compliant products decreased 3%.
- Alliance-compliant product sales represented 29% of all school food sales by participating manufacturers during the 2012-2013 school year, a 10-percentage point increase from the 2010-2011 school year.
- Sales of Alliance-compliant grain products (i.e., those that have at least 51% whole grains) grew 465% between the 2010 and 2012 school years. Sales of Alliance-compliant fish, meat and non-meat products grew in the same time period by 33%.
- Participating manufacturers added 127 more Alliance-compliant products to their portfolios in the same time period, representing a 27% increase.
The manufacturers represent 11 of the 25 largest suppliers of foods for school meals. Additional data will be released later, to include information from the 2013-2014 school year. In addition, the report will be updated with information from one manufacturer, which was unable to provide data for sales in the 2012-2013 school year.
