The UK’s largest food retailer unveils new initiative that rewards customers with Clubcard points for purchasing fresh produce, as it aims to address declining fruit and vegetable consumption nationwide
The UK’s largest food retailer Tesco has revamped its 5-a-day campaign and launched a new project designed to drive sales of fruit and vegetables, as it attempts to remove barriers to healthy eating for its customers.
The new campaign gives shoppers the chance to earn personalised stamps on fresh fruit and veg through the group’s Clubcard loyalty scheme – tokens that can then be converted into bonus points and vouchers to spend in store.
Starting today, it will run across all Tesco stores and on a restyled website, using gamification, offers, and recipe inspiration to encourage roughly 2.5mn customers to make healthier dietary choices.
Customers will also be able to earn extra points through a series of new Clubcard Challenges on frozen fruit and veg, beans, and pulses.
In addition, from 4-17 August, children shopping with families in Tesco stores can pick up free fruit at the checkout – an extension of Tesco’s Stronger Starts Fruit & Veg for Schools programme.
Tesco said it expected to give away over 3.5mn apples in just two weeks.
Urgent need
Tesco’s decision to step up its campaign to help families eat more fruit and vegetables comes as government figures show fewer than one in ten children, and one in five adults, currently eat the recommended five portions of fresh produce a day.
Earlier this year, Swedish retailer Ica took similar steps with the launch of Join the Fruit Reboot, after new research depicted a similarly depressing picture in its own country.
The British retailer’s move apparently follows a year-long consultation carried out in communities across the UK, and marks the start of a long-term mission to make healthy eating easier for every household.
Over the last 12 months, Tesco said it had conducted regional health consultations in partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation to understand the hurdles local communities face when it comes to healthy eating.
It said it found inspiration, accessibility and confidence in cooking were among the biggest barriers, especially for families and young people.
Ashwin Prasad, UK CEO at Tesco, said the new five-a-day campaign aimed to tackle those barriers head on.
“We understand that for many, there are barriers that make healthy eating feel hard. We want to help our customers make small changes that amount to big health benefits for themselves and their families,” he commented.
“That’s why we’re setting out to make healthy choices easier every day, starting with new offers and support for families in store this summer. We’re bringing customers new ways to earn Clubcard points and vouchers as a fun and engaging way to help them towards their five-a-day, on top of new and existing great value offers on healthy staples.”
Rising cost
The UK’s health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: “Obesity has doubled since the 1990s and costs our NHS £11bn a year. Unless we curb the rising tide of cost and demand, the NHS risks becoming unsustainable. But we can’t do this alone.
“The declining health of the nation requires a national mission, working with all parts of our society – from industry to influencers – to reverse the decline and make sure that kids today grow up to be part of the healthiest generation ever. Our brilliant supermarkets already do so much work for our communities and are trying to make their stores healthier, and we want to work with them and other businesses to create a level playing field.”
He continued: “I’m grateful to Tesco for picking up the mantle and helping tackle this crisis by making it easier and more affordable for families and kids to eat fresh fruit and veg. Our new healthy food standard – a world first announced in our 10 Year Health Plan – will help us make the shift from sickness to prevention through our Plan for Change, making sure the NHS can be there for us when we need it.”
Elaine Hindal, CEO of the British Nutrition Foundation, said: “The most recent release of the UK National Diet & Nutrition Survey again underlined the need for urgent action to improve access to healthy and sustainable diets.
“Delivering the change we need, at pace and at scale, can only be achieved through effective partnership with all stakeholders. We are proud of our strong partnership with Tesco which, through the recent series of Health Consultations, uncovered new and valuable insights that will inform Tesco’s commitment to healthier diets today and for future generations.”
Prasad added: “The government’s plans to mandate food businesses to report on healthy food sales and take action to increase them are a positive step. We look forward to working with them on the detail of the Healthy Food Standard and its implementation by all relevant food businesses. We’re committed to playing our part, working with the wider food industry and our health charity partners.”
