Total Pageviews

Tuesday 21 January 2014

Lidl bans sweets at the checkout

Lidl has banned sweets and chocolate bars from the checkout at all 600 of its UK stores after surveying parents about the "pester power" of their children.
The discount supermarket said racks of sweets had been replaced with dried and fresh fruit, oatcakes and juices, following a trial of these healthier options at checkouts last year.
Lidl customer research showed that seven out of 10 customers would choose a sweet-free checkout over the traditional one laden with chocolate bars. In a survey for the supermarket, 68% of parents said they were pestered by their children for chocolate at the checkout, and 66% gave in some or all of the time.
One in six parents told the supermarket they spend £20-40 a month on supermarket snacks, while a similar number said they had used the offer of a "treat" as a reward for good behaviour during the shopping trip.
The supermarket claims it is the first UK supermarket to have removed sweets from all its checkouts. Although Tesco and Sainsbury's have removed sweets from counters at their larger outlets, they continue to be sold at the checkouts in convenience stores.
Ronny Gottschlich, managing director, Lidl UK, said: "We know how difficult it can be to say no to pester power, so by removing sweets and chocolates from our tills we can make it easier for parents to reward children in healthier ways."
The ban comes after a National Obesity Forum report showed that previous estimates that half the UK population will be obese by 2050 had understated the problem.
More on this story here.

All the best Jan

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Will the mother still need encouragement to buy fruit for her child. Parents ideas on healthy eating may need re-valuating.Fruit must be better than a sweet bar.

Margret

Anonymous said...

"66% gave in some or all of the time."

One must ask : Who is the parent or adult here?

Kate

Anonymous said...

Juice is hardly ideal.
Parents need to wake up and say "No" when their little darlings have temper tantrums because they cannot have what they want.
If some parents cannot bear their children screaming the I suggest they do not take them shopping.

SC said...

People opting for the change means well. However I do not think oatcakes and juice are that different from a candy bar and soda.