Tesco will trial a variety of healthy products at checkouts after announcing today it will remove sweets and chocolate from checkouts by December 2014.
When asked by FPJ, Tesco said it didn't know exactly what healthy products will replace sweets. 'We have a job to do with consumer research. We will be implementing healthy products at checkout by the end of December. They will be based on what our customers tell us they want.'
The UK’s largest retailer removed confectionary items from checkouts atlarger stores in 1994, but today’s move increases this to all formats including Tesco Express and Metro.
Consumer research, which prompted the move, found that 65 per cent of customers said removing confectionery from checkouts would help them make healthier choices when shopping.
Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke said: 'We all know how easy it is to be tempted by sugary snacks at the checkout, and we want to help our customers lead healthier lives.”
Katie O'Donovan, of online consumer forum Mumsnet, said it can be “frustrating” to be faced with an array of unhealthy products when at a checkout with a young child. “It’s really positive to see a supermarket responding to the views of their customers and trying to make life that little bit easier,' she said.
The step was announced as part of the second Tesco and Society report, published online today, and which has three primary aims: improving health, reducing food waste and creating opportunities for young people.
A company statement that an additional 63 million portions of fruit and vegetables have been added to Tesco ready meals and soups, as part of the ‘improving health’ aim of Tesco and Society.
