Natural foods grocer Wild Oats is launching an in-store program to teach consumers how to age gracefully.

The program, called Eating Well for Healthy Aging, uses a reference guide and signage throughout the store to help shoppers identify foods, supplements and personal-care products that foster health and longevity. Starting next month, Wild Oats will host demonstrations and sampling in its 110 stores, as well as online chats with experts on aging.

Wild Oats sells its 22-page reference guide for $1 in-store and online. The guide is focused on four areas of concern to aging adults: heart, brain, joints and skin. The program targets the fast-growing 50-plus audience.

Wild Oats' private-label brand has gained cachet outside its own shelves. Last month, the grocer cut a deal with mainstream grocer Price Chopper to sell Wild Oats-branded natural foods in Price Chopper's 115 stores in the Northeast. A wide range of Wild Oats goods, from cookies and snacks to cheese and soft drinks, hits Price Chopper's shelves in January.

Boulder, CO-based Wild Oats is a top player in the lucrative natural-foods industry. Its net sales hit $887 million for the first nine months of 2006, up 5.4% over the same period last year. Same-store sales were up only 2.3% percent, after a 3.7% hike last year. In November, Wild Oats announced plans to close eight under-performing stores, mostly Phoenix-area stores that operate under its Harry's Market banner.

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