ShopWell Blog

And the Winner Is...

We are happy to announce the winners of the Mix it Up! with ShopWell Sweepstakes!  

First off, we would like to thank everyone for participating in our Sweepstakes.  We had over 5,000 entrants and have continued to have great engaging conversation on our facebook page about food, nutrition, and simple ways to "Trade Up" to healthier grocery options.  For more great tips, make sure to visit our website and download our FREE iphone app. 

And now to the big announcement!

Our GRAND PRIZE WINNER:

Sherry Barnes

Our Second Prize Winner:

Tammi Werner

Our Third Prize Winner:

Mary Silva

Again, thanks to everyone for participating in our sweepstakes.  Make sure to check back here often.  We will be announcing other promotions and events right here on the ShopWell Blog. 

Congrats to our winners! Check out ShopWell!

Spread the Word: ShopWell's iPhone App Now Even Cooler!

We here at ShopWell have exciting news. Our iPhone app just got even cooler. We've added a bunch more features that are sure to please.

See Your Lists: 

Headed to the store and didn't get a chance to print your list? Want to know the name of the bread you traded up to last week? Now you can see all of your lists right in the mobile app for a quick and easy reminder of all of the healthy foods you picked out at home.

Edit Your Profile:

Trying to remember which health goals and nutrition preferences you set? Check out the new profile section where you can review and update all of your ShopWell preferences.

All this and we still have our favorite features like bar code scanning for instant feedback, personalized scoring and highlighting tailored to you, and other foods you might like.

 

Love ShopWell mobile and want to help us spread the word? Share this link.

Your friends can now download and sign up directly in the app. Enter an email and a few preferences and the app is customized to them. Now they can enjoy ShopWell faster, easier, and more personalized to their health goals and nutrition needs.

More To Come:

We are excited about enhancing our mobile app and are adding more features just as soon as we can build'em. Download it here and stay tuned. Even more of ShopWell's fabulous grocery shopping (nutrition education) features will be rolling out soon!

We LOVE your feedback. Love a specific feature and want to see it on our mobile app? Let us know in our Feedback Community.

Start Eating Healthy With Customized Grocery Lists on ShopWell

It's a fact:
1. Everyone
2. Loves
3. Lists!

ShopWell embraces the power of the list by letting you create and customize your own lists of foods.  We've recently updated the Lists feature to make them more powerful and more fun to use.  Check out the latest improvements:

1. Not sure where to start on ShopWell.com?  Here's a list of popular grocery foods to get you going. This list covers the basics (plus some extra treats), featuring common products you might buy at the grocery store.  Customize the list for you by adding your favorite foods and deleting items you don't like.

2. Improve your list and your health by Trading Up to healthier options. Not only does ShopWell show you personalized health scores for each  food item on your list, we also alert you when a healthier alternative is available through Trade Ups.  Look for the "Trade Up" button next to products on your list, and click to find suggestions for healthier choices.  By gradually optimizing your grocery list you can start eating healthier!

3. Once you've signed up for a profile on ShopWell, we'll help you find more foods you'll love by suggesting new lists that match your health profile.  Click on Your Lists & Trade Ups next to the search bar at the top right of the page and check out the Discover Lists section.  Here you'll see several different lists of foods, compiled by registered dietitians, that are recommended for your specific health goals. What a great way to learn about new foods!

4. Share your lists with friends and family.  Make a list of ingredients for your favorite recipe and pass it on to your friends so they can see if the ingredients are right for them too.  Or, send a family member to the grocery store with a list you made on ShopWell, so they know exactly what to bring home.  Want some more ideas? Click here. Lists are easy to share by clicking the Twitter, Facebook, or Email buttons at the top of the list.

5. Not all lists have to be healthy!  Just start by making a list of your favorite foods. Check out ShopWell's founder's list of favorite guilty-pleasure foods.

So what are you waiting for? Make a list on ShopWell today!

Want to Improve Your Grocery List? ShopWell Will Help You Trade Up!

You have asked, and we have answered.  The big question we have been geting is:  "Once I get my grocery list into ShopWell, how do I improve it? What do I do now?"  

Well, now we have the answer!  We have just launched a new "trade up" feature that gives you suggestions on how to improve your shopping list. Pretty cool, huh?  We take the preferences you set on ShopWell around your food related goals and conditions, and suggest new foods to trade up to that better match your profile.  

Here's how to get started:

Step 1.  Create a shopping list on ShopWell (if you have already done this, skip to step 2)

Step 2.  Go to the "Your Lists and Trade Ups" link next to the search box.  Select a list that you have made.  

Step 3.  Click "Trade Up" next to any item that has a trade up available.  You will see a side by side comparison with any product you select.  If you like the suggestion, you can quickly and easily swap the old item with the new item on your list to complete the Trade Up.  

We suggest doing only a few Trade Ups at a time.   

After you successfully trade something up and have changed your list for the better, try another trade up. 

Research has shown that making small changes in behavior over time is more effective than a drastic one time change.    

So what are you waiting for?  Start Trading Up right now!

Eating Healthy Doesn't Need to be Expensive: ShopWell brings you Grocery Coupons Sorted by your Health Needs...Direct to your Loyalty Card

ShopWell is all about personalized nutrition information...but what about personalized savings?  How about mixing the two together?  We are excited to announce the launch of grocery coupons on ShopWell, with a special twist. 

So what what makes these coupons so special?  Instead of just being a list of random grocery coupons, we do the work to sort the coupons based on your health needs.  We take your personalized ShopWell match scores, and use them to sort items the products we find coupons for.  Once you find the coupons that match your health and budget needs, we send you over to CellFire who puts the coupons directly on your loyalty card.  Pretty clever, heh?  

So here is how to get started saving while eating healthy:

1.  Log-in to your ShopWell account.  If you haven't created an account, you can create one here.

2.  If there are coupons available in your area, you will see a banner at the top of the page that looks like this (see below).  Click on "browse coupons" to see your coupons (note that coupons are not available in all areas.  To change your zip code, click here):

3.  If you are interested in getting a weekly update of the newest coupons available in your area, click "email me weekly coupons"

 

4.  Click on a coupon you want, and then click "Get Coupon on Cellfire" to add the coupon to your loyalty card.  Cellfire will take it from there.   

At ShopWell, we are very excited about giving people tools to take action about the foods they buy at the grocery store.  Now, even more than ever, we hope that ShopWell helps you not only shop healthier, but save money while doing it.  Now that's a tasty combination. 

 

Now Share Lists! ShopWell Lists for Your Family, Your Recipes, and even Herschel Walker!

We hope you are getting the New Year off to a great start. We are very excited be announcing our newest feature - Shareable food lists.

We listened to you, our community, to bring this feature front and center. We tried to develop a list that could be used in a variety of ways with the unique ability to share it with others.

So why would you want to use our ShopWell Sharable Lists? Here's Why:

Share Grocery Lists With Family
Want to get that special someone off the couch to get the groceries? Want to get everyone’s picks in before you go to the store? Now you can. Simply create and name your list on ShopWell of the groceries you want to buy and click one button to email the list to someone else to take to the store. The list even includes your personalized ShopWell scores so your designated shopper knows which foods are better for you or your family.

Recipe Lists
Have a set of items you need to get for a favorite recipe? Now you can create and name lists for all the items you need so you have all the ingredients, every time. You can even share the ingredients with a friend. Just send them the recipe in an email and include a link to your recipe ingredients list.

Parties
It is always a challenge to know who is bringing what to a party. With ShopWell's Sharable lists you can create a master list of foods and send it out to all your friends. If there is anything missing, you can easily update the list…and your friends can view it easily online. No more forgetting the mustard!

“Want” and “Don’t Want” Lists Want to collect the foods you love all in one place? How about the foods you hate? Now you can create “Want” and “Don’t Want” lists on ShopWell. You can even share them with your relatives… Maybe your aunt will finally get the hint that you don’t like onions.

Share Your Top 10 Lists With the World
Have your go-to snacks for traveling? Have a list of top 10 foods to eat after a workout? Why not share that info with the world over Email, Facebook, or Twitter.
 
After I had a chance to meet Herschel Walker at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, our Head Dietitian, Marci, for example, made a list of Good Sources of Protein (Non Meat) for Herschel Walker, who has been looking for ways to eat more protein from a variety of sources. She has not only been able to give Herschel some ideas, she can now share this list and more with others over email, Facebook, or Twitter.

I took the time to make my “ShopWell Founder’s Sinful Indulgence’s List”. What is neat is the ability for anyone who views the list to not only laugh at my picks, but to find out how well the items match their health profile. They can even comment on Facebook or Twitter with their remarks.

As you can guess, some of these foods don’t score very high, so eat sparingly ☺. If you have a favorite list, post a link in the comments section below.

Hey, if we get enough great lists, we will feature you and your list on our blog!

Get started building and sharing lists today.

ShopWell On The Go: Mobile App Launched!

You told us you wanted an app, and we listened. The mobile version of ShopWell is now available for the iPhone. Check it out -- it's Free!

ShopWell mobile is the perfect complement to www.shopwell.com, delivering personalized food scores in the store or on the go. You can use the app to scan products, see the nutrition label, ingredient information, and recommended alternative products right on your iPhone.  No need to squint at labels anymore!

Even more exciting--if you’ve already created a profile on the web, you’ll be able to see your own personalized food score for every product you look up.  And if not, you’ll still be able to see food scores for general health.  Either way, you can quickly find out what's in your favorite foods.

Here's a bit more about how the app works:

1. Download it here (It's Free!)

2. Sign in

3. Start Scanning

4. See scores and labels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Check out any alternative products.

To get the most out of the app, we suggest you create a profile of what you want and don’t want in your food.

It's that simple. We hope you enjoy this, and would love to hear your thoughts on how it can improve. Let us know what you think!

 

Personalized Nutrition Labels - A Closer Look

We've just launched a tool that makes ShopWell even more personalized for you-- a Personalized Nutrition Label. Our co-founder Brian does a great job explaining why we've built this tool. Here, we'll show you how it works.

Here's an example of how it works for Cindy, a 35 year old woman....

Cindy loves pizza and searches on ShopWell to find which ones are healthiest for her. When she finds one she likes, she looks at the label. Before personalized labels she would see the same labels as everyone else.

Here's the "before" label - looks familiar right?

 

Now, when she sees one of her favorite foods, she can quickly add a few details about herself right where the label is, and then ShopWell tells her the total recommended daily calories for a woman her age and size.

 

Once she saves her info, ShopWell displays the nutrition label customized for Cindy's target daily calories which are based on her age, weight, height and activity level.

 

 

More Fresh Produce and Meats Now on ShopWell

Are you noticing new items showing up on ShopWell this week?  Browse the site for Fresh Fruit, Fresh Vegetables, Fresh Fish, Beef, Pork, Poultry or Other Meat to see some of our newest additions.  Now you can see nutrition information for fresh produce and meats based on data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

Similar to other products on the site, these new additions display your personalized ShopWell score and highlight the nutrition label according to your criteria.  Learn which meats have the lowest fat content and discover which vegetables best match your personal health needs. 

Start exploring and let us know which of our new products are most intriguing for you.  Or, tell us if we've missed an item that you'd love for us to include.  As you can see, our database continues to grow so please send us your suggestions. 

A Brand New Welcome

You may have noticed that we have a whole new look at www.shopwell.com.  We've redesigned our Welcome Page to be cleaner, clearer and more fun.  Here are some of the newest features of this page:

A simplified value proposition   

Use ShopWell to create a personalized profile and start discovering foods that meet your unique food needs and preferences.  As a result, you eat better.  That's all there is to it!

Direct sign up from the Welcome Page