Tesco is launching a campaign to help families to eat more fruit and veg, as Government figures show fewer than 1 in 10 children and 1 in 5 adults eat the recommended five-a-day [1]. This 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.
The campaign will run across Tesco stores and online to help incentivise customers to make healthier choices through gamification, offers and recipe inspiration:
- From 24th July, around 2.5 million customers will be invited to earn personalised Clubcard stamps on fresh fruit and veg, which can be converted into bonus Clubcard points and vouchers to spend in store.
- Customers will also be able to earn extra points through new Clubcard Challenges on frozen fruit and veg, beans and pulses.
- New Clubcard Prices and offers will be available across the summer on fruit, veg and healthy lunchbox snacks, on top of weekly Fresh 5 offers on five-a-day basics.
- A revamped 5-a-day hub on the Tesco Real Food website will provide recipe ideas and inspiration.
In addition, from 4th-17th August, children shopping with their families in Tesco stores will be able to pick up free fruit at checkout. This continues the work of Tesco’s Stronger Starts Fruit & Veg for Schools programme. helping more children across the UK access fruit and veg through schools. Tesco expects to give away over 3.5 million apples over two weeks.
Over the last 12 months, Tesco has 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 found inspiration, accessibility and confidence in cooking were among the biggest barriers, especially for families and young people. This campaign aims to tackle those barriers head on.
Ashwin Prasad, UK CEO, Tesco, said: “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. 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.”
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “Obesity has doubled since the 1990s and costs our NHS £11 billion 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 heathier, and we want to work with them and other businesses to create a level playing field.
“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, 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 continued: “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.”
