It’s been reported that the government wants supermarkets and food makers to put more effort into promoting healthier products. Wouldn’t it be nice if multibuy promotions weren’t just for pizzas, pies and pop?
It’s the great British summer (well, it was the other day), which can only mean one thing. No, not the gentle patter of rain on the window, or the sight of wall-to-wall umbrellas at Wimbledon. I mean the return of the British strawberry.
I’m a great lover of this odd-shaped red berry. There’s nothing quite like wandering the shops taking in that distinctive scent. To me, the strawberry is summer. And with the strawberry comes the plethora of mulitbuys and BOGOFs. Luckily my husband is also a fan, so buying more than one pack at a time is no great hardship, and they don’t have time to go off!
However, I know from reading previous Convos on the subject that many of you are not fans of the supermarket promotion. Having lived on my own and without a decent freezer for many years, multibuys used to make me want to tell supermarkets to BOGOF!
A taste for healthy promotions
The thing that bugs me the most is how hard it is to find healthy foods, beyond just fruit ‘n’ veg, on promotion. And since I don’t live close to a market, I’m at the mercy of the supermarkets and their prices and promotions, which makes it hard to keep down the cost of eating healthily.
This is something Which? research shows others struggle with. In our A Taste for Change report, we found that nine out of 10 of us want to eat more healthily, but struggle to do so, whether due to inconsistent labelling or high prices.
Thankfully the government is working on plans for supermarkets and retailers to develop more responsible promotions that help shoppers opt for healthier foods. And it was today revealed by the Daily Telegraph that this could involve shops being asked to spend more of their marketing budgets promoting healthy food, rather than pushing unhealthy multibuys.
Our own research shows that few retailers have policies balancing healthy and less healthy foods in promotions. This is something we think should change and so it’s right that the government is planning to look at this. Ultimately, the food industry should be doing more to help people make healthier choices through promotions.
How many promotions have you seen for healthy foods in your local supermarket?
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