Ahold gases up sales with health initiatives, Rx-fuel reward points

One supermarket operator is literally driving customers to its pharmacies.

Customers at Royal Ahold’s Giant-Landover stores can earn one Gas Rewards point for every dollar spent on purchases in Giant pharmacies in Maryland, most of Virginia, Delaware and Washington, D.C. With the program, for example, a $20 pharmaceutical co-pay earns 20 points and a $50 pharmacy purchase earns 50 points. For every 100 Gas Rewards points earned, shoppers save 10 cents off every gallon of gas bought at Giant and participating Shell gas stations.

Ahold chains also offer a number of health-and-wellness programs. In September 2010, Giant-Carlisle and Martin’s Food Markets launched Passport to Nutrition, a Web-based program designed to educate children, parents and teachers on nutrition and healthy lifestyles, including lessons that cover the food pyramid and physical activity, food labels and portion control and how to eat a balanced diet.

Giant-Landover is supporting the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington’s “Physical, Healthy & Driven” program, designed to help children integrate physical fitness and healthy eating into their daily routines. The YMCA will take its PHD on the Move mobile playground to several Giant-Landover locations. The two also are creating a Healthy Snack campaign to educate families about the risks of snacking.