HONOLULU – Hawaii First Lady Dawn Ige honored Aloha Petroleum as the first retail business in Hawaii to adopt the Department of Health’s Choose Healthy Now project. Choose Healthy Now increases consumer access to healthy food and beverages by labeling healthier items at the point-of-decision. 

Ige is championing the project because she sees the need for easier access to healthy options for Hawaii’s residents. “In today’s society, convenience foods are often the unhealthy ones. It’s nice to see a business taking a stand to actively promote and make the healthier options accessible,” she said. “We encourage other Hawaii businesses to join us in this effort.” 

Aloha Petroleum is piloting the program at its Aloha Island Mart Kahala and Waianae locations and plans to eventually expand to locations statewide. The pilot stores now feature a “Green (“Go!”) section of 17 healthy items.

“We are very pleased to partner with the First Lady and the Department of Health on this initiative,” said Aloha Petroleum President and CEO Richard Parry. “One of our key goals is to provide healthy options for our customers, and to demonstrate to them that you can buy healthy items in a convenience store. Choose Healthy Now will make it that much easier for our customers to make good choices.”

Choose Healthy Now began as a partnership between the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Ho’opono Vending Program. The initiative launched in May 2014 with six snack shops in state and federal government buildings on Oahu, and is expanding to an additional 12 sites by January 2016. Ho’opono vendors have begun labeling all food and drinks as healthy, moderately healthy or less healthy utilizing green (Go!), yellow (“Slow”) and red (“Uh-oh”) stickers, respectively.

Aloha Petroleum will promote the healthiest green (Go!) items in its stores and plans to use written materials, posters and other resources to inform customers of their options. The adoption of the Choose Healthy Now project by Aloha Petroleum is expected to simplify and facilitate healthier food and beverage choices.

“This program is about giving people better access to healthier options,” said Dr. Virginia Pressler, state director of health. “With rising obesity and chronic disease rates, and skyrocketing health care costs to match, we need to work together to make the healthy choice the easiest, most-appealing choice. For people making lifestyle changes, the convenience of these labeled healthy food options can make the difference for staying on track.”

Learn more about offering healthier options in your stores through NACS reFresh resources.