Healthy Snack Shop for Seniors

The core of opening a healthy snack store for the elderly that can sustainably make profits and is popular with the elderly in the surrounding area has never been to "only sell food without additives", but to accurately match the three invisible pain points of the elderly's "nutrition needs, craving relief needs, and social needs" while avoiding the three common pitfalls of "pseudo-health marketing", "homogeneous product selection" and "breaking away from the elderly consumption scene".

In the community commercial street below my home, two elderly snack shops opened at the same time last year, less than 50 meters away from each other. At first glance, they sold products such as yam chips, dried sweet potatoes, and nut crisps. However, one store lasted for three months and then posted a transfer notice. The other store now opens at 8:30 every morning. The tasting table at the door is always crowded with uncles and aunts carrying vegetable baskets. Last week, I helped my mother grab two packs of low-sucrose steamed pumpkin cakes that had just been restocked.

Speaking of which, those working on this track in the industry are actually divided into two groups, and they have been arguing for a long time without reaching a conclusion. One group is the "Ultimate Health Party", which advocates that all products have zero sugar, zero salt and zero additives, and even xylitol is not allowed. I have accompanied my friends to inspect samples of this type of brand before, and the sweet potatoes without additives were so dry that it made my teeth sore for ten minutes, not to mention that most of them have gums. Elderly people with atrophic or missing teeth will have their teeth filled after two bites, and finally they can only be left at home to collect dust. This type of store basically suffers from "the repurchase rate cannot increase" - after all, no one wants to spend money to suffer. Health is healthy, but snacks must first be delicious. The other group is the "price-performance party", which takes the route of large portions and low prices. It seems to be half the price of ordinary snacks in supermarkets. In fact, many products secretly add maltodextrin and preservatives, and they change the packaging to say "for the elderly." At first, the elderly bought more for cheap, and their blood sugar spiked or they suffered acid reflux.

To put it bluntly, the store downstairs that is viable does not go to these two extremes. The first thing you feel when you enter his store is that it is comfortable. All the labels are in size 3 bold boldface, which can be seen clearly by the elderly without reading glasses. The categories are not "puffed food" or "candied products" at all. The big stickers directly posted: "Can be eaten by people with diabetes", "Choose this one if you have trouble with teeth", "Calcium supplement snacks", "You can also eat with your grandchildren", which are more effective than any fancy marketing. The tasting table at the door is always equipped with warm tasting products. The forks have thick handles, so that the old people's fingers may not be flexible enough to hold them. In summer, ice is not put there, for fear that the old people will have stomach problems after eating them.

Some people have made suggestions to the boss before, saying that since it is called a healthy snack shop, all sugary products should be removed from the shelves, so that the elderly will not trouble you if they eat it. Some people say that it is okay to add less sugar, which is better than the elderly secretly buying high-sugar biscuits from the canteen. The boss's approach is very practical. He prints the ingredient list of each product directly next to the price tag, and directly marks the added ingredients with a red pen: "This product is added with 1.5% crystallized fructose. Uncles and aunts with unstable blood sugar should use it with caution." "A small amount of salt is added. Aunts with high blood pressure should not consume more than 2 sachets a day." All The maximum amount of sugar added to the product does not exceed 2%, which is stricter than the national standard for low-sugar foods, but it is not completely omitted - he said that if it is not added at all, the sweet potatoes will be so hard that they can knock out teeth after drying. Add a little less fructose, the glycemic index is not high, and the taste is soft. The elderly like to eat it, and there is no burden.

Last week I went shopping with my mother, and happened to meet Grandma Zhang upstairs who was trying to choose snacks for her husband who had just finished chemotherapy. The boss did not promote expensive protein powders or nutritional supplements, so he gave me two bags of unsweetened steamed dried apples and two boxes of very finely ground yam and jujube cakes. He said, "This There is no strange smell, and it does not irritate your teeth. My uncle has just finished the treatment and is not nauseated after eating. You can take two bags back and try again. If you eat well, come back. If not, I will refund your money." Later, Grandma Zhang not only became a regular customer herself, but also invited several family members of patients to come over, saying that this store is honest and does not fool people.

We who are engaged in community retail all know that the repurchase rate of elderly customers is more than three times that of young customers. As long as you don’t lie to them, they can bring you half of the community’s business. Many people who open snack shops for the elderly always like to put on airs and tell people "This one has no additives and that one can supplement calcium". To put it bluntly, they treat the elderly as "leeks" who don't understand anything, or they treat the elderly as "patients" who can't eat anything. They are not allowed to eat this or touch that. In fact, the old man has lived his whole life, and what delicious food has he not eaten? The more you preach, the more disgusted he will be. Instead of letting him take a bite, spread out the ingredients list for him, clearly explain the good and bad, and leave the choice to him.

When I chatted with the boss last time, he said that after buying something, aunties often take out the food and give it to the old sisters during square dancing, saying, "This is the one my girl often buys for me. It is available in the store downstairs. It is very healthy and does not raise sugar." In fact, how can there be any perfect healthy snacks for the elderly? It's just that you treat the old man as a normal person, take care of his body and his greed, and let him have face after buying it. How can this business not do well?