The drive for healthier eating has complicated buyers’ jobs. Fiona McLelland explains how
H igh levels of salt, fat, sugar and other nutritional undesirables have all been in the firing line as the grocery industry does its best to show a responsible attitude towards the nation’s health before legislation is forced upon it.
There has been a frenzy of activity in the run up to next week’s long-awaited decision from the Food Standards Agency on nutritional labelling. Whether it is the dreaded multiple traffic lights system or the GDA-based signposting scheme that finds favour, buyers now realise that health plays a key role in their decision-making processes.
“Health is a key customer driver, and we look to supply products that meet these needs,” says one buyer. “Products are showing an improved performance on the standard versions, and this has to be a positive step for customer choice.”
Much of the focus has been on ready meals. Waitrose and Marks and Spencer have been to the fore in reducing the salt content of ready meals and have been busy promoting the health credentials of their foods, while Sainsbury, Tesco and Asda have been busy doing their bit too.
The trend hasn’t made the buyer’s role any easier. “It has been very time-consuming and it is very hard to make sure that products maintain their flavour when you take out salt and sugar,” says one buyer. “But there is a demand for clean ingredients and everyone is trying really hard to keep up with the trend.”
Health has shot up the agenda particularly when it comes to new product development, says another buyer. “When you are working on a new product, you are even more aware of the nutritional content. It is far easier to start with a newer product than try to reduce the number of additives and e-numbers in an existing line.”
As the consumer has become more educated, it has not been as easy for retailers to pass off certain products as healthy. Customers know that reduced-fat biscuits with heaps more sugar are hardly a healthier option, and that a close inspection of sodium levels on some ‘healthy’ products can reveal a different story.
As the consumer questions the ‘healthy’ tagline more and more, buyers agree that they will have to focus harder on ingredients and respond quickly to trends.
One buyer who initially placed soft fruit bars in the fresh produce area has now moved the bars, which have a high sugar content, to the snacking area to protect sales as shoppers will not expect them to be healthy.
Meanwhile, some buyers are worried about the implications of any imposed traffic-light labelling scheme. “The traffic-light system is very controversial as what has been suggested by the FSA will mean a sea of red for many categories, such as ready meals, pizzas and chilled breads,” says one.
Another adds: “Retailers recognise the need to inform customers about the nutritional values of food but the traffic-light system is seen as difficult and costly to implement. It is, however, highlighting the need for healthier processed meals and it is the retailer’s responsibility to offer well-balanced products.”
But another buyer believes that traffic lights could help sales. He says: “Clearly the press coverage that these issues have received in the past has had a detrimental effect on sales, but the traffic-light labelling scenario may well fill the consumer with more confidence, which could possibly increase sales of many products.”
Another buyer is already getting more out of her job from the satisfaction of providing customers with healthier choices.
She says: “Buyers have to take responsibility for the nutritional content of the food we put out on shelf. Consumers are grown up and make their own decisions about what they buy and eat.
“But if we only sell fatty ready meals, it is a lot harder for people to choose health. When you have made the effort to improve the nutritional value of your customers’ diets, you can go home happy.”
H igh levels of salt, fat, sugar and other nutritional undesirables have all been in the firing line as the grocery industry does its best to show a responsible attitude towards the nation’s health before legislation is forced upon it.
There has been a frenzy of activity in the run up to next week’s long-awaited decision from the Food Standards Agency on nutritional labelling. Whether it is the dreaded multiple traffic lights system or the GDA-based signposting scheme that finds favour, buyers now realise that health plays a key role in their decision-making processes.
“Health is a key customer driver, and we look to supply products that meet these needs,” says one buyer. “Products are showing an improved performance on the standard versions, and this has to be a positive step for customer choice.”
Much of the focus has been on ready meals. Waitrose and Marks and Spencer have been to the fore in reducing the salt content of ready meals and have been busy promoting the health credentials of their foods, while Sainsbury, Tesco and Asda have been busy doing their bit too.
The trend hasn’t made the buyer’s role any easier. “It has been very time-consuming and it is very hard to make sure that products maintain their flavour when you take out salt and sugar,” says one buyer. “But there is a demand for clean ingredients and everyone is trying really hard to keep up with the trend.”
Health has shot up the agenda particularly when it comes to new product development, says another buyer. “When you are working on a new product, you are even more aware of the nutritional content. It is far easier to start with a newer product than try to reduce the number of additives and e-numbers in an existing line.”
As the consumer has become more educated, it has not been as easy for retailers to pass off certain products as healthy. Customers know that reduced-fat biscuits with heaps more sugar are hardly a healthier option, and that a close inspection of sodium levels on some ‘healthy’ products can reveal a different story.
As the consumer questions the ‘healthy’ tagline more and more, buyers agree that they will have to focus harder on ingredients and respond quickly to trends.
One buyer who initially placed soft fruit bars in the fresh produce area has now moved the bars, which have a high sugar content, to the snacking area to protect sales as shoppers will not expect them to be healthy.
Meanwhile, some buyers are worried about the implications of any imposed traffic-light labelling scheme. “The traffic-light system is very controversial as what has been suggested by the FSA will mean a sea of red for many categories, such as ready meals, pizzas and chilled breads,” says one.
Another adds: “Retailers recognise the need to inform customers about the nutritional values of food but the traffic-light system is seen as difficult and costly to implement. It is, however, highlighting the need for healthier processed meals and it is the retailer’s responsibility to offer well-balanced products.”
But another buyer believes that traffic lights could help sales. He says: “Clearly the press coverage that these issues have received in the past has had a detrimental effect on sales, but the traffic-light labelling scenario may well fill the consumer with more confidence, which could possibly increase sales of many products.”
Another buyer is already getting more out of her job from the satisfaction of providing customers with healthier choices.
She says: “Buyers have to take responsibility for the nutritional content of the food we put out on shelf. Consumers are grown up and make their own decisions about what they buy and eat.
“But if we only sell fatty ready meals, it is a lot harder for people to choose health. When you have made the effort to improve the nutritional value of your customers’ diets, you can go home happy.”
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