Label Insight, Topco Associates team up for transparency

Chicago-based Label Insight, which provides a data platform for consumer packaged goods covering more than 80 percent of top-selling food, pet and personal care items in the U.S., has signed a multi-year deal with Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Topco Associates LLC, a provider of business solutions for its food industry member-owners and customers. Topco National Brands represents the second-largest food retailer group in the U.S., with more than 13,000 geographically dispersed stores operating in all 50 states. Its 49 members include retailers, wholesalers, food service companies and pharmacies such as Hy-Vee, SpartanNash, Giant Eagle, Big Y and K-VA-T Food Stores.

Under the agreement, Label Insight will provide high-quality product images alongside product attribute data to better inform Topco stakeholders about the nutrient and ingredient composition of all Topco-procured private brand products, according to a press release. The agreement includes all product categories such as food, beverage, baby, pet and cosmetics. Label Insight will also power SmartLabel pages for all Topco brand products.

Topco will become the first customer for Label Insight Capture, a newly launched service providing marketing, planogram and 360-degree product presentation images. At the same time, Label Insight will map each of Topco’s products’ high-order attribute data to its corresponding images. High-order attribute data is an enhanced, more detailed version of conventional attributes, specifically designed to meet the increasing consumer demand for better product information and transparency, according to Label Insight.

To access high-order attribute data, Topco will license Label Insight SPECs covering allergens and intolerances, specialty diets, sustainability and minimally processed products. Topco member-owners and customers will be able to view data, search and filter using SPECs and attributes, as well as drill down to product-specific pages to view data and claims from the product package.

“We are excited to be working with Topco to deliver the industry’s only image and data solution for its transparency programs,” said Paul Schaut, CEO of Label Insight. “As the largest food retailer in the U.S., Topco is leading the way in providing their member-owners the tools to better understand the products their customers use and consume, and communicate those insights and attributes to their customers.”

‎Randy Skoda, president and CEO of ‎Topco, said Topco is committed to providing an unparalleled experience to both its member-owners and their customers through Topco’s Product Transparency Initiative.

“Being able to share granular and meaningful attribute data from Label Insight will give our members the ability to meet the varied health, wellness, lifestyle and sustainability concerns of their shoppers,” he said in a statement.