Tesco today announces that it will continue with its voluntary commitment not to sell HFSS products through volume-led promotions*, as part of its ongoing plans to help customers eat more healthily.
Following the Government announcement that restrictions on multibuy deals on foods high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) are to be delayed further until 2025, Tesco confirms that it will continue to keep volume-led promotions on HFSS products off its shelves*. This will support its commitment to make Tesco the easiest place for customers to shop for affordable, healthy, sustainable food.
While Tesco will continue to offer value on products across the entire store, this move means customers will not have to purchase more HFSS products than they need to access great value.
With household budgets stretched, it’s more important than ever that Tesco invests in competitive prices. In response, Tesco has further increased Aldi Price Match to around 700 products, price-locked over 1,000 products at Low Everyday Prices and extended Clubcard Prices to over 8,000 lines.
In addition, we’ve made it even easier for customers to access healthy and affordable food through our Better Baskets campaign, which helps remove price as a barrier to making healthier, more sustainable choices. The majority of products highlighted as part of the Better Basket’s promotion will be at Clubcard Prices, Low Everyday Prices or in Aldi Price Match.
Today’s announcement is part of Tesco’s wider commitment to support customers to lead healthier and more sustainable lives and achieve the goal to boost sales of healthy products to 65% as a proportion of total sales by 2025. It is consistent with the work Tesco has been doing for many years, including Reformulation of its Own Brand ranges which has contributed to the removal of 71 billion calories to date, putting us well on track to delivering our 100 billion calorie reduction ambition by 2025.
Tesco Group Chief Product Officer Ashwin Prasad said: “ Tesco will continue to offer great value on products across the entire store, so customers won’t have to purchase more food than they need to access great value. Our mission is to make Tesco the easiest place to shop for a healthy, more sustainable basket – while keeping the cost of the weekly shop in check. We know that customers want to eat a more healthy, sustainable diet, but without having to stretch the weekly shopping budget and we are really proud to be leading the way in maintaining our commitment”
Cancer Research UK’s Chief Executive, Michelle Mitchell, said: “We welcome the news that, despite further delays from the UK Government, Tesco has made the commitment to continue to push ahead with restrictions on HFSS price promotions in their stores. Our research shows that many people intend to make healthier choices when they shop, but they struggle to do so in practice. The wider research is clear that multi-buy promotions can increase the total amount of household food and drink purchased by around 20%. We hope that the UK Government and other supermarkets will follow suit and make decisions that will make a positive contribution towards people’s health and wallets. Obesity causes 13 different types of cancer, so we need to see bold action to improve the nation’s health.”
John Maingay, Director of Policy at the British Heart Foundation said: “We warmly welcome Tesco’s ongoing commitment to restrict multi-buy promotions of unhealthy products in their stores, despite Government further delaying regulations to mandate this across the retail sector. This shows bold industry leadership on Tesco’s part and firm commitment to helping their customers enjoy healthier diets and lives. We hope others in the sector will follow their lead in demonstrating corporate responsibility to drive better health and reduce chronic disease in the population.”
Chris Askew OBE is Chief Executive of Diabetes UK. He said: “We are pleased to see that Tesco is reaffirming its commitment to limiting their sale of multi-buy promotions on unhealthy products in store and online. This is a vital approach to help people make healthier choices, while the Government further delays regulations which would make sure this is the case across the sector. We hope that, until these regulations come into force, more retailers will follow Tesco’s example in making their customers’ health a priority.”
Elaine Hindal, Chief Executive, British Nutrition Foundation said: “As the cost-of-living crisis continues, it’s more important than ever to help people access a healthy and sustainable diet that provides the nutrients we all need. We welcome today’s announcement that Tesco will not promote foods high in fat, salt or sugar through volume-led promotions, and applaud its decision to make healthier, sustainable foods more affordable through targeted pricing”.
James Toop, CEO of Bite Back 2030, a youth activist movement fighting for a fairer food system, said: “We are delighted that Tesco is leading the way in proving you don’t need to heavily promote junk food to offer value to customers. We’re in the midst of a global epidemic of food related ill health – children will be the ones paying the greatest price. What young people really want is for healthy food to be affordable to everyone.”
