A new report released today (3 June) by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) is aiming to show how the organisation's major food retailing members are battling to help improve the health of consumers and fight obesity.
The catalogue, entitled 'British Retailing: A Commitment to Health', outlines how retailers including Asda, The Co-operative Group, Marks and Spencer, McDonald's, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose are responding to consumer demand for a greater range of healthy options and are driving changes in customer purchasing habits.
Included in the report is an overview of shoppers' attitudes to healthy eating, case studies on labelling at some of the major players in the retail market, a focus on portion sizes and a guide to what BRC members consider when planning a health-driven marketing campaign.
Reformulation, increasing the consumption of healthy foods and healthy eating messages are also covered in the study, which is the third of its kind in six years and the first for three years.
'This report is a comprehensive guide to how BRC members offer a healthier range,' said BRC director general Stephen Robertson at the launch event in London. 'It highlights how to help consumers stay healthy without admonishing them or diminishing their choice. The fact that retailers are competing on health issues shows how important this area is to shoppers.'
He added that the obesity challenge facing the UK is both 'serious and deep-rooted', and that making a real difference required more than targets, labelling rules or promotion bans.
Also speaking at the launch of the BRC report was UK Minister for Public Health Dawn Primarolo, who said that everyone recognised what was at stake when it came to healthy eating, and that the BRC members' actions to help consumers make healthy choices had been 'fantastic'.
'It is great to see big supermarkets promoting fruit and vegetables, and showing people that eating healthily can be affordable,' she said. 'The proportion of consumers seeking out more fruit and vegetables, food with lower salt and with lower fat has grown, and the report shows that BRC members have played an important role and will continue to lead the way in the future.'
Mr Robertson concluded: 'UK retailers have been Europe's leaders on health and nutrition for years. 'This report shows that they continue to drive the agenda forward and challenge other countries to catch up.'
The full report can be downloaded here
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