Last rites? Supermarkets’ annual Easter egg bonanza to end
From the Easter eggs towers by the entrance to the ad hoc bins filled with Lindt Gold Bunnies and Creme Eggs near the checkout, it takes serious willpower to resist buying chocolate in the supermarket at this time of year.
This potent cocktail of prime retail space, extra displays and deals will spur Britons to spend some £370m on calorie-laden treats for the long weekend. But this Easter will be a last supper for supermarkets and their suppliers ahead of a clampdown on how foods that are high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) are sold in England.
In the autumn new laws, part of the government’s anti-obesity strategy, will prohibit thousands of unhealthy products, including chocolate bars, biscuits and crisps being sold from these lucrative pitches.
Volume deals such as “buy one get one free” or “3 for 2” on HFSS products will also be banned in what the retail analyst Bryan Roberts describes as the “most significant change to supermarket operations and economics since they were invented”.
“There is a reason snacks and confectionery are called impulse foods,” says Roberts. “They are not often on someone’s shopping list but people have got into the habit of picking them up. They rely on visibility for a lot of their sales and that is being taken away. This has big financial implications for retailers and suppliers.”
But the government is staring at one of the worst obesity rates in Europe, with two in three UK adults officially overweight or obese in an escalating crisis that costs the NHS £6bn a year and wider society £27bn. The pandemic has also recorded worsening childhood obesity levels in England.
In its guidance for retailers, published this month, the government says the promotional environment in supermarkets was part of the
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