Retailer launches beans and pulses consumer campaign to help customers eat more fibre alongside £50,000 donation to Bowel Cancer UK
M&S has launched a summer-long campaign with Bowel Cancer UK to encourage customers to eat more fibre and reduce their risk of bowel cancer.
‘Better With Beans’, which runs from 1 July to 31 August, brings together expert advice, recipe inspiration, clearer health messaging and a new glass jar format across key products. As part of the campaign, M&S will also donate £50,000 to Bowel Cancer UK.
The retailer has refreshed its core range of beans and pulses, with seven products also forming part of the retailer’s Dropped & Locked value range.
Prices start from just 55p for chickpeas, green lentils, butter beans and kidney beans, helping customers build more fibre into everyday family meals for less.
The retailer said the campaign responds to the fact that more than 96 per cent of people in the UK are not consuming enough fibre despite evidence linking higher-fibre diets to a reduced risk of bowel cancer.
Grace Ricotti, head of nutrition at M&S Food, said: “Beans and pulses are naturally high in fibre, affordable, versatile and easy to add to everyday meals – but as a nation we still don’t eat enough of them.
“By transforming our range, sharing simple recipe inspiration and partnering with Bowel Cancer UK, we want to make it easier for customers to understand fibre and enjoy more of it, more often.”
The campaign also calls for clearer, more customer-friendly fibre labelling, including permission to use simple language such as “supports gut health” where products meet the relevant nutritional criteria. The retailer says this would help customers better understand the role fibre plays in a healthy diet.
The campaign has been welcomed by The Food Foundation, which said beans and pulses represent one of grocery’s biggest growth opportunities.
