C-store retailers should overcome their caution and do more to promote healthier foods, public health minister Caroline Flint told The ­Grocer this week.

Flint admitted that small retailers often lacked the confidence to experiment with fruit and veg ranges.

"Big supermarkets have a huge amount of money to invest in consumer data and marketing and small shops cannot compete with this.

"They don't have the expertise and knowledge about healthy foods and consumer trends and this feeds into their confidence."

But while there were factors that deterred smaller retailers, such as lack of store space and high wastage levels, many were "perceived" rather than real risks to profitability, Flint said.

"How many obstacles are perceived?" she asked. "Smaller store retailers recognise healthy food is not a fad but is here to stay.

"It's not about stopping selling crisps but how the promotion of healthier products boosts sales and your relationship with customers. Some solutions are easier than you think."

Flint also called on the supermarkets to share customer insight on health with smaller retailers.

The minister was talking a week after the Association of Convenience Stores and British Retail Consortium held a seminar to look at the role of small store players in the health debate.

Executives from convenience chains and independents as well as DH officials attended the event.

ACS spokesman Shane Brennan said that it was a starting point for discussions. "Our view is that there are opportunities if this is handled in the right way. But there are big challenges, such as investment in infrastructure including chillers, in management time and skills and wastage."

He said he was pleased with the constructive view being taken by government and pointed to the example set by the Scottish Executive of investing in helping independent stores put ranges into their stores.