From the Easter egg towers to the entrance to the ad hoc bins filled with Lindt Gold Bunnies and Creme Eggs near the checkout, it takes a lot of willpower to oppose buying chocolate at the supermarket at this time of year.
This powerful cocktail of first-class retail space, additional displays and deals will make Britons spend around £ 370 million on high-calorie treats for the long weekend. But this Easter will be the last dinner for supermarkets and their suppliers before the suppression of how foods high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) are sold in England.
In the fall, new laws, part of the government’s anti-obesity strategy, will ban the sale of thousands of unhealthy products, including chocolate bars, biscuits and chips from these lucrative playgrounds.
Volume deals such as “buy one, get one for free” or “3 for 2” for HFSS products will also be banned in what retail analyst Brian Roberts describes as “the most significant change in supermarket operations and economy since have been invented ‘.
Cadbury Egg Cream. Photo: Radharc Images / Alamy
“There’s a reason snacks and pastries are called impulse foods,” says Roberts. “They’re not often on someone’s shopping list, but people have a habit of taking them. They rely on visibility for much of their sales and this is taken away. This has major financial implications for retailers and suppliers. “
But the government is facing one of the worst levels of obesity in Europe, with two in three adults in the UK officially overweight or obese in an escalating crisis that costs the NHS £ 6 billion a year and society 27 billion pounds. The pandemic has also registered a deterioration in childhood obesity in England.
In its guidelines for retailers published this month, the government says the promotional environment in supermarkets is part of the problem. He “does not always meet his guidelines for healthy eating” and “makes it difficult for families to make healthier choices when shopping.”
Voluntary retailers’ programs have been “very limited and unsuccessful” in changing the shopping environment, it said. The government’s ban on advertising junk food online and before 9pm on television is due to take effect next year.
At a time when rising living costs weigh on households, these volume rebates may seem like a way to save money, but the evidence contradicts them. They encourage people to buy and eat more than they intend.
Figures from data firm IRI give an indication of how vulnerable buyers are to these retail tricks. According to him, large-scale changes could lead to a drop in HFSS food sales – a long list that will include products including chips, pastries, chocolate, cakes, chips, biscuits, pizza and ice cream – by £ 1.7 billion a year. Analysts say half of all chocolate is sold on sale.
HFSS refers to foods that have four or more points and beverages that have one or more points in a table of nutrient indicators developed by the Food Standards Agency. Points are awarded for energy, saturated fat, sugar and sodium per 100 g and deducted for things like fiber and protein.
The golden bunny of Lindt & Spruengli. Photo: Winfried Rothermel / AP
This means that not all products in a given category will be affected, and producers can reformulate the products to avoid sanctions – something that happened quickly before the 2018 sugar tax.
So what does this shake mean for the weekly store? A look to the future can be seen in the tests conducted by Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
At the Tesco Extra store in Royston, Hertfordshire, instead of chocolate, shoppers were greeted with a promotion for garden compost and a “club card” deal for big whiskey and gin (alcohol is not affected by the new rules). Buyers have to go on an Easter egg hunt if they want to buy one.
At the most important ends of the trail, the usual selection of chocolate, chips and soft drinks has been replaced by deals for tea, coffee, canned fruits and vegetables and food spice kits – not to mention calorie-free options such as toilet roll and detergent .
Buyers are also given tips on healthy eating while shopping. In the breakfast cereal trail, a sign highlights “low sugar” options, such as Weetabix. Elsewhere, they are told that canned beans and vegetables are a “source of protein.” There is even hope for chips fans in a section labeled “under 100 calories.”
Tesco aims to increase its sales of health products, as a ratio of total sales, from 58% today to 65% by 2025. When it reports a doubling of pre-tax profits to more than £ 2 billion this week, CEO Ken Murphy said he was in “good shape” before the new legislation. “We really know how we will resell our stores,” he said, adding that we will work with suppliers to reformulate products and make them healthier.
The forthcoming changes are opposed to the food industry at a time when many companies are struggling with rising costs. Karen Bates, chief executive of the Food and Beverage Federation, said she was concerned that by implementing these measures, the government is now “only increasing food price inflation”.
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The rules apply to retailers with more than 50 employees and stores larger than 2,000 square feet (186 square meters). Promotions such as “50% off” or “save £ 1” are still allowed, leaving companies little room to move.
Ignacio Vazquez, senior manager of health markets at ShareAction, who is campaigning to get registered companies, including Tesco and Unilever, to sell healthier food, said the impact of the new rules will depend on companies following the “spirit” and not a letter of the law.
“Companies make decisions that affect the products we buy and influence our choices,” he said. “This legislation seeks to encourage companies to do things differently so that consumers are encouraged to buy healthier products instead of spending more money on junk food.
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