ShopRite Adds In-Store Dietitian to Staff

Since joining the staff of ShopRite of Hillsborough in August, Rachel Simpers, RD, has been helping customers, store associates and members of the community “make eating healthy even easier.”

As the in-store Registered Dietitian, Simpers offers customers free nutritional information and guidance to help influence better food choices.

Her goal, she said enthusiastically, is to “spread any kind of health and wellness information” and create a health and wellness program inside and outside of ShopRite.

Currently based at a desk adjacent to the Pharmacy Department, though there are plans for an enclosed office, Simpers describes herself as “a moving entity,” often seen roaming the aisles, answering customers’ nutrition questions and providing health and wellness information and tips.

Among the frequently discussed topics, she noted, are carbohydrate counting, organic vs. non-organic foods and ways to lower sodium and cholesterol.

As part of the Live Right with ShopRite program and using the entire Nelson’s Corner store as a resource, Simpers conducts grocery shopping tours, healthy cooking classes, pantry makeovers and demonstrates how customers can prepare meals that will help them stay healthy, providing them with recipes and shopping lists. A recent demonstration featured bean and cheese quesadillas as an example of how to prepare “Dinner in a Dash.”

The September schedule of programs includes the following: Fuel for School: Lunch Ideas; free cholesterol screenings, Right for Tonight Recipe, Store Tour to Reduce Cholesterol, Dinner in a Dash, Snacking Smart, From Label to Table, Smart Sweet Treats and Ask the Dietitian sessions. Click here for a full schedule of health events.

Simpers also is available for free nutritional (including weight-loss) consultations for individuals and families by appointment and will be sharing her knowledge with the community at presentations at the library, before Cub Scout groups and the Mom’s Club.

A Flemington resident who earned a bachelor’s degree in nutritional sciences from Rutgers University, Simpers spent 1,200 hours in a Dietetic Internship with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. That internship included working with the store’s corporate dietitian.

“We are pleased to welcome Rachel to the ShopRite team and are delighted to provide the Hillsborough community with this unique new service,” said James Sumas, chairman of Village Super Market, Inc., which owns and operates the ShopRite of Hillsborough. “Having a dietitian in the store is just another way that we go above and beyond to provide value and service to our customers and associates.”

Simpers is one of more than 25 Registered Dietitians who service ShopRite stores in New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland.

To make an appointment with Simpers for a consultation, call 908-359-7400 or contact Simpers at Rachel.simpers@wakefern.com.