When former PM Rishi Sunak announced the already much-delayed ban on bogofs (and other multibuy promotions) was to be shunted even further into the Westminster long grass, many people thought that was it for one of the most talked-about interventions in public health.
What The Sun newspaper called the “bonkers ban on buy one get one free offers” was cast into the wilderness. Not for the first time either, with Sunak saying it was not fair for the government to restrict the options available at a time when food prices were putting households under the cosh (no change on that front).
However, in an unexpected twist of fate it appears that the Labour government, which has not shied away from other ’Nanny State’ interventions, has finally put paid to the multibuy ban. (Its companion piece, the ban on HFSS promotions in prime locations in supermarkets and other food retail outlets, is also likely to be scrapped.)
As The Grocer revealed this week the government’s much talked about 10-year plan for the NHS incudes a proposal to axe the restrictions, as part of a move to usher in what health secretary Wes Streeting describes as “smarter regulation.”
NHS ‘smarter regulation’
So instead we have incoming plans for mandatory reporting on the healthiness of products as well as the promise of government improvement targets and potential fines for supermarkets that miss them.
On the way out, however, could be one of the most hotly disputed health interventions of recent years. The junk food promotion ban has seen long battles between the food industry and ministers, as well as a series of ‘will they won’t they’ moments in its rollercoaster history of regulation.
Indeed, only last week Labour announced it would be pushing ahead with the promotions ban on multibuys in October, after Sunak’s delay, meaning that after the locations ban in October 2023 the full suite of promotions restrictions would finally come into force.
But then came the bombshell, as Labour set out plans to do away with both policies.
“The previous government legislated to introduce restrictions on the volume price promotions retailers can offer, including a ban on buy-one-get-one-free deals on unhealthy food. These measures will come into force on 1 October 2025,” says the report.
“By introducing smarter regulation, focused on outcomes, we expect to be able to repeal legislation restricting volume price promotions and aisle placement.”
While the detail remains scarce, the plan seems to be that instead of relying on clumsy, hard-to-enforce Westminster interventions, more will be achieved by giving businesses the freedom to work out how best to achieve the new health targets, through reformulation, incentives or layout changes.
Jumping the gun
But campaign groups are now up in arms at the prospect of removing the main existing legal framework to protect shoppers from a flood of HFSS products, even with the prospect of mandatory health targets.
Action on Sugar accused ministers of “jumping the gun” and said it was foolhardy to consider phasing out the promotions ban before any of the new proposals had even got off the ground.
Katherine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance says the promotions ban has created a level playing field, which the food industry “had consistently failed to do”. She urges ministers to think again by keeping a “belt and braces approach”.
What happens, campaigners rightly question, if the promotions legislation is repealed, only for a future government (Reform perhaps?) to do away with Nanny State targets on improving what Brits eat?
Meanwhile legal experts warned that the changes would make it virtually impossible for companies preparing for the introduction of the long delayed bogof ban to plan their approach.
Certainly, given the massive rows between industry and the previous government over the promotions crackdown, it does seem incongruous for Labour to be looking to repeal the legislation. In Scotland, the SNP government has just announced it will be following Westminster’s lead by bringing in location and multibuy restrictions, as it ditches its even more draconian plans for a total ban on HFSS promos.
However, others in the industry suggest the demise of the bogof ban and location restrictions is unlikely to happen any time soon.
“I don’t think we will see the promotions ban being repealed for years and even then only if something drastic happens on sales,” says one source.
We may find out more in the next few weeks. Defra and the Food Strategy Advisory Board (FSAB) are believed to be preparing to lay out a more detailed schedule for where they will go next on the obesity strategy.
The industry will be watching closely, waiting for Labour to add more flesh to the bones of its seemingly bold plans.
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