When it comes to matters of the heart, there is more to February than Valentines Day.

The American people have become more actively engaged in health and wellness best practices in the past couple of decades, and food manufacturers and distributors cannot underestimate the importance of riding this trend. February is American Heart Month, which acts as an exceptional opportunity to revise food labels and stickers to focus on the healthy aspects of products and communicate the availability of these items.

With the right nutrition labels, companies draw consumers to products throughout the year, but heart-healthy items can propel greater sales and boost customer retention throughout February and all year. The trick is to ensure the labels represent the brand, support American Heart Month and inform customers to what heart-healthy ingredients are in the product.

Health food labels labels are in style, meaning manufacturing and distribution companies operating in the food and beverage markets will be vying for the same eyes of customers in the stores. Custom designs help differentiate a product from the competition. Because American Heart Month is a national event with its own themes and efforts for raising awareness about the risk of heart disease and methods to minimize relevant threats, the designs should echo these drivers.

“Heart disease is a leading cause of premature death in the United States, and American Heart Month works to raise awareness and ensure the population knows the severity of the issue,” explains AnneMarie Campbell, director of business development at Lightning Labels, an all-digital label printer in Denver, CO, USA. “Food industry players should take this opportunity to contribute to the cause by adjusting their food and beverage product labels to support efforts to drive down the rate of individuals who fall victim to this disease each year.”