Lidl store front

Source: Lidl

Lidl has claimed to be the first supermarket to introduce fruit & veg packaging aimed at children

Supermarkets need to make fruit & veg packaging more appealing to children, according to Lidl.

The discounter today called on other supermarkets to follow its example, as it revealed sales of its Oaklands Funsize fruit range increased by more than a third after it introduced specially designed packaging in 2017.

Lidl claims to be the first supermarket to introduce fruit & veg packaging aimed at children. The move is intended to help parents encourage their kids to eat five portions of fruit & veg a day.

The kid-focused packaging makes use of cartoon characters and quirky names such as Banana-Llamas and Tawny Tomatowl.

Lidl has also committed to removing cartoon characters from all unhealthy products by spring 2024. More than 30 products will get a redesign across 14 categories including sweets, chocolates and savoury snacks. It comes after Lidl removed cartoon characters from cereal packaging in 2020, with Asda and Aldi following suit soon afterwards.

“Our ambition is to make high-quality, healthy food accessible to all, and the principal way we achieve this is through our best value prices,” said Lidl GB chief commercial officer Peter de Roos.

“But we also recognise that there are other barriers in place, particularly concerning children, and parents are telling us that unhelpful packaging is one of them.

“This is something that’s so simple for us supermarkets to change, and our results show the positive impact these small changes can make.

“We hope other supermarkets follow in our footsteps so that, as a sector, we can be confident we’re doing all we can to support parents in helping to improve the diets of the next generation.”