In a continued effort to help shoppers eat healthier, UK supermarket Tesco announced it will not sell foods high in fat, salt or sugar in volume-led promotions.
Though the Government announced it will not restrict multi-buy deals of so-called HHFS until at least 2025, Tesco is still committed to trying to promote “affordable, healthy, sustainable food” for its customers.
Tesco says its goal is to have healthy products, including fresh fruits and vegetables, be 65% of each shopper’s basket by 2025.
“We welcome the news that, despite further delays from the UK Government, Tesco has made the commitment to continue to push ahead with restrictions on HFSS price promotions in their stores,” Cancer Research UK’s Chief Executive, Michelle Mitchell, said: “Our research shows that many people intend to make healthier choices when they shop, but they struggle to do so in practice.
“The wider research is clear that multi-buy promotions can increase the total amount of household food and drink purchased by around 20%. We hope that the UK Government and other supermarkets will follow suit and make decisions that will make a positive contribution towards people’s health and wallets. Obesity causes 13 different types of cancer, so we need to see bold action to improve the nation’s health.”
Tesco has tried to help tackle obesity by adjusting the calorie counts on its own-brand ranges. In all, it hopes to cuts 100 billion calories from those offerings by 2025.
“Our mission is to make Tesco the easiest place to shop for a healthy, more sustainable basket – while keeping the cost of the weekly shop in check,” Tesco Group Chief Product Officer Ashwin Prasad said. “We know that customers want to eat a more healthy, sustainable diet, but without having to stretch the weekly shopping budget and we are really proud to be leading the way in maintaining our commitment.”
Part of the goal to assist customers is trying to be more affordable. Tesco’s Better Baskets campaign aims to achieve that by combining healthier items with better prices through Clubcard, Low Everyday Prices and Aldi Price Match promotions.
“We are delighted that Tesco is leading the way in proving you don’t need to heavily promote junk food to offer value to customers,” said James Toop, CEO of Bite Back 2030, a youth activist movement fighting for a fairer food system. “We’re in the midst of a global epidemic of food related ill health – children will be the ones paying the greatest price. What young people really want is for healthy food to be affordable to everyone.”
