• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, January 3, 2018

It’s January, the month when vows to eat better crumble faster than a chocolate-chip cookie, so Whole Foods Market is working with two popular diet plans in a campaign called “Feed your resolution.”

The exclusive partnerships with Melissa Hartwig of Whole30 and Michelle Tam of Nom Nom Paleo involve nutrient-rich meal solutions centered on those diets, as well as those that are plant-based and gluten-free.

The Austin, Tex.-based Whole Foods says it carries the largest selection of Whole30 products, and plans to feature product picks from Hartwig, and offer “stress-free navigation” throughout the store. It’s also stocking Nom Nom Paleo’s Magic Mushroom Powder (which turns out to be a spiced salt blend, and not a hallucinogenic.) And it’s offering several recipes from Tam’s cookbook at its hot bars.

The campaign comes at a time when Americans are increasingly inclined to overhaul the way they eat. 

The Hartman Group, a food and beverage market research company based in Bellevue, Wash., reports that in the past 12 months, 44% of consumers have tried some kind of diet, with Millennials the most likely to experiment. A low-carb approach is the most common, at 12%, followed by gluten-free, 11%; dairy or lactose-free, 11%; vegetarian 10%; Weight Watchers, 9%; whole foods diets, such as Whole 30, 9%, and juice cleanse or detox diets, 9%. Of those, gluten-free is the fastest-growing nationally, followed by Weight Watchers, juice cleanses and dairy-free. 

Only 5% have experimented with veganism or paleo. 

The campaign comes at a time when observers are watching Whole Foods closely, looking for signs of new directions and strategies since its acquisition by Amazon. That includes a stepped-up approach to calling out gluten-free products in stores, as it does with products that have a paleo positioning. “While we support this attribute-based shift in merchandising,” writes Karen Short, an analyst who follows the company for Barclays, in a recent note, “we do note that gluten-free positioned products sales have slowed considerably.”