Food & Health Alliance

There is no doubt that supermarkets have a vital role to play in healthy eating in Scotland. With the ‘big four’ responsible for more than three-quarters of the food market, what they sell and how they sell are critical to changing habits. Asda – which accounts for 16.5% of food sales in Scotland – is certainly taking those responsibilities seriously. For instance, it was the first to introduce combined traffic light and guideline daily amounts (GDA) percentage labelling on all its own products.

But that, of course, is only part of the story. The truth is that, for supermarkets, the bottom line is not health promotion but turnover. This means that ‘red light’ food will continue to retain a prominent place in some aisles. 

In addition, as Asda’s own customer research shows, many barriers to healthy eating are erected by the public themselves. So, for instance, two major factors dissuading customers from buying healthy food is that they think it’s more expensive and will not taste as good.  

According to David Paterson, Asda’s Scottish Affairs Manager, a combination of factors can lie behind people’s failure to eat more healthily. ‘In some cases, it’s a lack of knowledge of cooking skills. In other cases, they don’t know what a healthy diet looks like, though more and more people know about that now. But there’s still a challenge in how to implement that in people’s daily lives.’

So what is Asda doing to counter this?

‘Top of the agenda is better, clearer information,’ says David. In 2007, Asda was the first to introduce a dual labelling system on the front of all its packaging.’ 

Asda has also been in the vanguard of reducing salt content in its foods, reaching the FSA 2010 reduction target two years ahead of schedule and eliminating 400 tonnes of salt in the process. 

In addition, Asda introduced a range of low fat and reduced calorie foods as well as a popular children’s healthy eating range called Good Stuff. ‘Families with young children are one of the most health conscious groups,’ says David. ‘Our research tells us they are extremely keen to get a healthy balanced diet and that’s a big driver for them. Mums want their kids to take healthy food into school but don’t always know what the right things should be.’

Healthier habits

Interestingly, the recession may be playing a part in encouraging healthier habits. Over the last year, the supermarket has noticed a significant shift from ‘frivolous’ to ‘frugal’ behaviour, says David.

This means customers are buying fewer ready meals and, instead, more basic ingredients so they can cook the meals themselves. They’re focusing more on price and value, buying more frozen food, and showing less interest in 2-for-1 deals where food may go to waste.

All this provides a real opportunity to encourage healthier, more sensible eating. ‘But I don’t think it necessarily goes hand in hand,’ David warns. ‘One of the main barriers is a lack of cooking skills.’

Asda is trying to fill this gap through its recipe cards, which give details on a range of healthy family meals, as well as through healthy recipes contained in its in-store magazine.

The next step

The real test, however, is teaching people how to cook in the first place. ‘We are trying to work out how you physically show people within the supermarket how you do these things,’ says David. ‘In many cases, this sort of knowledge is passed on through families but, in some, that simply hasn’t happened. That can be a bit more of a challenge for retailers.’

Asda is looking closely at what it can do in this area and again sees the next generation as key. ‘We’re about to embark on a school project to develop a vegetable garden so children can learn where their food comes from and what a healthy diet looks like. The kids will grow their own veg from scratch, tour a local store to see healthy produce in the supermarket, cook their own vegetables, and involve parents through a community day where they can sell some of their own food.  If it’s successful, we’ll look at rolling it out more widely.’

So are any of Asda’s initiatives having a measurable effect?

David admits it’s early days. Recent promotions on fruit and vegetables have sold ‘fantastically’ while the children’s Good Stuff range is also proving very popular.

He also points out that the customers’ views about healthy eating can be very different from the experts. ‘Many people’s perception of how healthy their diet is will be whether they can fit into a pair of jeans they like or how their weight compares with their peer group. These are things we need to be aware of.’

Supermarkets can only do so much to change this mindset.  ‘Sometimes people believe supermarkets have the power to influence everything our customers buy, but that’s far from the truth,’ he says. ‘Customers drive supermarkets as much as supermarkets drive customers.’

The important point is that you can’t turn things around quickly – it will take time. We must show some leadership, yes, but we can’t leave our customers behind.’

The key is making the healthy eating messages as positive and engaging as possible. ‘We’re looking to help them rather than beat them over the head.’

Having said that, supermarkets have some unique strengths. ‘We do have an insight into how customers think and we’re able to react to trends. We’re able to get some messages out although you have to remember this is a very crowded market place.’

‘Ultimately people go there to buy food,’ he notes, ‘and the more you try and put out a myriad of messages, the greater the danger of diluting them. You do get some initiatives where you do too much and customers simply switch off. We have to be careful to put out the right messages at the right time.’