FlavoRx sweetens pharmacy sales for Kroger

Drug Store News, April 8, 2002 by Diane West

From a 1999 test at 17 Kroger sites in Raleigh, N.C., to more than 700 Kroger pharmacies nationwide today, medicine-flavoring company FlavoRx has helped juice up drug sales and margins for Kroger. FlavoRx, a Bethesda, Md.-based medical flavoring company, devotes itself to making medicines a lot less yucky.

Kenny Kramm, president of FlavoRx, attributed his company's success with Kroger, one of the company's first customers, to solid doctor support. "We did doctor detailing throughout all of North Carolina," Kramm said, "and now patients come in with prescription stickers that say "Flavor with FlavoRx." Springy shelf-talkers, strategically placed near over-the-counter medicines, also help drive the curious to the pharmacy counter.

Kramm suggested that FlavoRx, which now has been used to doctor up more than 8 million prescriptions, offers pharmacies a simple, profitable and humanitarian way to distinguish their services from competitors. Typical prescriptions take about 10 to 15 seconds to flavor and add roughly $4 to the cost.

A Kroger district manager said the chain initially viewed FlavoRx as an advertising vehicle. Now Kroger pharmacies flavor somewhere in the neighborhood of several thousand prescriptions a month. Getting on board early with FlavoRx earned Kroger some loyal customers, the Kroger manager said. "If you get someone to come in for the flavoring once, they'll be back again," one Kroger associate said.

FlavoRx also is working with Ahold, Albertson's, Pathmark and Safeway. Winn-Dixie is set to offer FlavoRx services this month.