Supermarket layouts, pricing strategies and shopping environments are worsening the obesity epidemic. This is according to UK research published by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) and weight-loss organization Slimming World. Thirty-six percent of shoppers impulse buy unhealthy products on a special offer, and 20 percent say supermarkets cause them to go off track when attempting to lose weight. These findings precede the UK government’s expected response to the consultation on layout and price promotions and have helped People’s Supermarket in London to updat its floorplan.

“Supermarkets are designed to sell products at a profit. They are carefully arranged to sell more of a certain product by wher it is located, its price and its sensory cues. Many manufacturers pay a high price for their products to be positioned in prominent locations,” Louisa Mason, Policy & Communications Executive at RSPH, tells. 

“We hope that the findings encourage retailers and manufacturers to reconsider wher food is positioned in the supermarket. At a policy level, we recommended business rate reductions for supermarkets who adopt key principles to take health seriously.” 

A primary element of the report, dubbed Health on the Shelf, examined the typical layout of small supermarkets. Unhealthy products like confectionery and crisps are placed in prominent locations such as the end of aisles and around the checkout. Forty-three percent of food and drink products in noticeable areas were filled with sugar, and 70 percent were products that contribute significantly to children’s sugar and calorie intake.

Fruit and vegetables are typically located towards the front of the supermarket, so that consumers feel a boost from selecting healthy items first, before choosing less-healthy items further into the store. Dairy and other essentials are at the back, to force consumers to pass tempting items on their way. Free samples of unhealthy and processed products also encourage impulse buys. Ultimately, more food is bought, which generates more waste, with the UK having 7.1 metric tons of household food waste in 2015. 

Price promotions such as Buy One Get One Free ultimately lead the average person to consume an extra 17,000 calories annually, the report notes. Other forms of promoting foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) include using discount coupons, which increase overall HFSS food sales and unplanned purchases. A quarter of women say that the offers on unhealthy food and drinks caused them to gain weight. 

While discounts and offers may be seen as a money-saving method, they are often at the expense of healthier choices. The research suggests that if HFSS items are cheaper than healthier produce, there will be a pull towards unhealthy choices. 

Health on the Shelf includes a set of recommendations pertaining to food allocation and positioning, shopper experience, labeling and branding, and education. Key points include:

Greater allocation of shelf space to healthier products, based on the Government’s Eatwell Guide.
The introduction of a healthy rewards scheme.
Provision of recipe cards and cooking demonstrations on how to use ingredients to create healthy meals.
Business rate reductions for supermarkets and retailers who take health seriously by adopting key principles.
Explore introducing a healthy rating scheme, similar to the FSA’s Food Hygiene Rating Scheme “scores on the doors,” based on the proportion of healthy and unhealthy products stocked.  

The report also details a proposed new floorplan, with sections like alcohol, crisps, frozen food and bakery giving way to more fruits and vegetables. This increased stocking of perishables would likely take a financial toll on supermarkets. 

“I don’t know how expensive it will be to have an increased number of perishables – of course, supermarkets are businesses, but it is a step in the right direction for the health of their customers,” Mason says. 

Shoppers’ behavior
The report also includes the results of a public polling of 2,084 UK adults about how supermarkets are contributing to obesity. Forty-two percent disagree that supermarkets are doing enough to tackle obesity, with only 37 percent saying they enjoy the supermarket experience. Fifty percent agreed that there are more unhealthy than healthy products on the shelves. These findings are in line with those revealed by a recent Spoon Guru survey earlier this month which found that less than 30 percent of UK and US shoppers believe that grocery retailers are doing enough to help promote healthy eating.

With UK adult obesity rates expected to increase 73 percent by 2050, it is vital that steps are taken to help people make healthier choices. “Obesity is a multifaceted issue that goes far beyond just diet and exercise. It is driven by the environment, biology, socioeconomic factors and psychological factors. It is important we tackle all of the drivers of obesity because there is no single silver bullet to solving the problem. We must take a multifaceted approach in order to be effective, such as changing the obesogenic environment,” notes Mason. 

Parents were especially concerned about the effect of supermarket marketing on children, with 75 percent agreeing that supermarkets should do more to promote healthy food and drink to children. Additionally, 73 percent said that cartoon characters are often used on unhealthy products such as confectionery, sugary yogurts, breakfast cereal and cakes, and 69 percent said that unhealthy products are often at their child’s eye-level and therefore within easy sight.

Applying the “Nudge” system
RSPH and Slimming World have launched a new layout in light of their findings at “The People’s Supermarket,” which was opened by chef Arthur Potts-Dawson in 2011. The store’s new iteration, dubbed “Nudge,” will feature:

Nudge points to encourage customers to reconsider their purchases, for example, by swapping to a low-fat version.
Layout and shelf allocation based on what constitutes a balanced diet according to the Eatwell guide.
Knowledgeable and friendly staff with basic nutritional training.
Free samples of cheap and nutritious food and live cookery demonstrations made at the onsite kitchen, with accompanying recipe cards.
“Nudge at The People’s Supermarket is open for the next week at the discretion of the owner. At our launch on Friday the shop was very busy, and we hope that continues,” Mason concludes.