28 Oct 2024 Blog: Two years of taking less healthy food out of the spotlight at checkouts, store entrances and end of aisles
October marks the HFSS locations legislation’s 2nd birthday! Time flies when you are taking less healthy food out of the spotlight…In our latest blog, Food Active’s Policy and Advocacy Manager Beth Bradshaw explores how the legislation has had an impact on where foods are promoted in store since it was implemented 2 years ago.
What is the HFSS locations legislation?
The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021[1] was introduced in October 2022, as part of the previous government’s National Obesity Strategy.
The legislation restricts the placement in retail stores and their online equivalents of certain foods and drinks that are high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) or ‘less healthy’ (as defined by the Nutrient Profiling Model)[2]. Locations in-scope include checkouts, end of aisles and store entrances. For online, this includes the homepage, checkout, popup windows and category pages.
The key aim of the policy is to improve our food environment by taking less healthy options out of the spotlight, and instead ensuring healthier food is more easily accessible and more visible in shops, ultimately supporting people to lead healthier lives. The legislation at the time also included restrictions on the promotion of HFSS products by volume (i.e. buy one get one free). However, under the previous Conservative government, this policy was delayed until October 2025. Since taking office in July 2024, the new Labour government have yet to announce their intentions for bringing forward this piece of the legislation.
Does location really matter?
Where food and drink items are placed in store can be a key factor in influencing what we buy, and ultimately it affects sales. Some of the most effective locations in store are known to be the checkout, end of aisles and store entrances[3].
The problem is, the products placed at these effective sales-driving and ultimately consumption-driving locations, are usually not very good for our health. Unfortunately, prior to the policy there was also evidence telling us that this was very much a reality in stores across England: one study found that over 70% of all food and drinks promoted in ‘prime’ locations were products classified as those that ‘contribute significantly to children’s sugar and calorie intake[4].
How have stores adapted to the rules?
Whilst our ‘Location, Location, Location’ report with the Obesity Health Alliance found that the large majority of retailers are adhering to the legislation; this hasn’t stopped retailers from considering other ways they can place less healthy food in the spotlight to customers browsing for their groceries[5].
Below are just a few examples spotted in the supermarkets over the last few months – some have been around for years; some more novel. It is important to note that these examples are not in breach of the rules, nor do we have evidence that other types of marketing have increased since the policy was implemented – however, in our view, they are not acting in the spirit of the policy and still ensure that less healthy products are promoted to consumers.
Digital displays in stores
Digital displays and screens can provide retailers and brands with an opportunity to promote offers or new product launches. According to the Grocer, there has been a major trend towards digital screens in large supermarkets including Tesco and Sainsburys in recent years[6], as it provides supermarkets and suppliers with other new revenue streams following the implementation of the HFSS placement legislation. These boards can display attractive, multiple adverts or promotions in sequence in prominent locations in store – in the two examples below, this is at the end of aisles which is a prohibited zone.
Photos taken by Chloe Higham-Smith and Caroline Cerny.
Photos taken by Robin Ireland.
Floor stickers and in-aisle displays
Floor stickers have been used in retail stores for many years; one supermarket below used these to highlight a price promotion on bags of sweets, and another was accompanied by hanging promotions to complement the sticker to create an eye-catching in-aisle display for Maltesers. These pictures were both taken in the same aisle, with more than three stickers displayed along the sweets and chocolate aisle.
Photos taken by Beth Bradshaw.
Free standing units
Free standing units containing products have also been used by retail stores for years; providing the ability for retailers to offer multiple opportunities to view and purchase foods across different parts of the store. This can include picking up a Terry’s chocolate orange whilst shopping for fruit, and packs of discounted biscuits whilst browsing for bread products. Red Bull go a step further by creating a pop-up free-standing unit which quite simply makes it hard to ignore as you enter the store.
Photos taken by Beth Bradshaw.
Photos taken by Dr Robin Ireland.
Advertising boards
Advertising boards are too a common place across stores, providing another nudge or reminder of a product available in store. The image on the left is a store entrance, where the product being advertised (Flipz Cinnamon Bun flavoured pretzels) would score a staggering 27 points on the Nutrient Profiling Model, classifying it as ‘less healthy’ (the threshold for less healthy is 4). The product itself wouldn’t be able to be placed here, so why is it allowed to be advertised?
Photos taken by Beth Bradshaw.
Two years on, is the policy still fit for purpose?
This policy has been a great first step and there are lots of examples of where the food industry is doing their bit to work towards a healthier environment for customers to shop in.
However, we can see that retailers have many other strategies to ensure less healthy products can still be promoted to consumers.
Given the policy has now been in effect for two years, this is an ample time to consider how the policy can be strengthened and close existing loopholes to ensure maximum impact. This was one of our key recommendations made in the Location, Location, Location report; and we were delighted to see the recent House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee make similar recommendations in their ‘Recipe for Health’ report, published just last week [7].
A review could consider addressing many of the existing loopholes in the legislation in terms of products in-scope (i.e. unpackaged bakery goods and party foods) and businesses in-scope (i.e. the out of home sector is currently exempt; our recent report highlighted that many meal delivery apps strategically place less healthy options at the tops of menus). However, it could also review how retailers have responded to the legislation and whether the policy needs to be expanded to include some of the other visual cues and nudges that are found in stores.
The committee also recommended that local authorities are adequately resourced to support better enforcement of the legislation; something which was another key challenge identified in our Location, Location, Location report last year.
The government are due to respond to this report on the 6th January, and we look forward to seeing whether they prioritise this important legislation.
References
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restricting-promotions-of-products-high-in-fat-sugar-or-salt-by-location-and-by-volume-price
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nutrient-profiling-model
[3] Wilson A, Buckley E, Buckley J and Bogomolva S (2016). Nudging healthier food and beverage choices through salience and priming: Evidence from a systematic review. Food Quality and Preference. 51:47-64
[4] Obesity Health Alliance. (2018). Out of place – the extent of unhealthy items in prime locations [online]. Available at: https://foodactive.org.uk/out-of-place-the-extent-of-unhealthy-food-items-in-prime-locations-in-supermarkets/
[5] https://foodactive.org.uk/location-location-location-exploring-the-impact-and-implementation-of-the-promotion-of-high-in-fat-sugar-and-salt-products-by-locations-legislation-in-england/
[6] https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/news/tesco-quadruples-number-of-digital-screens-in-media-rollout/685819.article
[7] [1] https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ldselect/ldmfdo/19/19.pdf
