Retailers warn over deadlines for government anti-obesity drive

British retailers have warned that they will not be ready in time to meet a target of the government’s anti obesity drive in pushing chocolates, sweets and other unhealthy snacks to the backs of stores next year.

Industry representatives have told ministers that it will take at least 18 months “to refit and adjust hundreds of stores across their estates” once new regulations to restrict promotion of unhealthy products in store entrances, aisle ends and checkouts have been confirmed.

The rules will also cover websites of the big food retailers, banning them from promoting such snacks prominently on landing pages and where customers view their shopping basket or proceed to payment.

A letter seen by the FT to public health minister Jo Churchill and small-business minister Paul Scully from Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, expressed concern that insufficient time had been given to a recent consultation process “for the sake of laying legislation next month”.

The retail industry is concerned about the ongoing impact of the pandemic on their outlets. Social distancing is likely to be in place in shops for at least the rest of the year, while non-essential retail will only reopen in April.

The BRC letter, sent this week, pointed to the impact of coronavirus restrictions on tradespeople needing to undertake the necessary shop refurbishments.

Officials say that store layouts can encourage impulse purchasing of unhealthy products, and in particular that promotional offers of products in prominent selling locations can increase the risk of obesity and long-term health conditions. Location promotions often lead to ‘pester power’ from children.

Many retailers voluntarily replaced sweets displayed in store checkout areas with healthier snacks in 2014, but that has not stopped lobby groups pressing them to do more.

Last week, Tesco said it would increase the proportion of sales from “healthier” products to 65 per cent of the total after pressure from Share Action, which has tabled a motion on the subject at the supermarket group’s annual meeting.

The BRC letter said that retailers recognised their responsibility in tackling obesity and were committed to working with the government on the regulations.

But it added that retailers need “an adjustment period which recognises the considerable work required to refit and reconfigure stores . . . they will also need to redesign websites, a process which requires extensive work on their algorithms, to ensure compliance”. 

The Department of Health and Social Care did not respond to requests for comment.

A further consultation on enforcement of the rules was published at the end of 2020. The BRC said the industry was then given “only seven weeks to respond instead of the usual 12”.

It added that the “hasty consultation process undermines the ability for government and stakeholders to develop good regulation”.

The plan to bring regulations into force in April 2022 meant a much shorter timeframe than previous relevant adjustment periods, such as the levy on the soft drinks industry, the BRC said.

The BRC asked Churchill for a meeting to discuss the concerns, saying that it had been in contact with her office to set up a virtual meeting since the start of this year.

The rules will apply to stores bigger than 2,000 sq ft. In an impact assessment carried out by the government into the curbs, retailers faced one-off costs of more than £45m, mostly from in-store planning and arrangements, alongside changes to IT systems. The government estimated that it would mean a net loss of £190m per year for the industry in sales.

Additional reporting by Jonathan Eley