Revealed: Shoppers are split on confectionery till bans

This article is part of our Confectionery Report 2015

The removal of sweets and chocolate from supermarket checkouts and other prominent parts of stores isn’t as popular with shoppers as the anti-sugar lobby might suggest, according to a new study for The Grocer. 

Consumers are split on the question of whether supermarkets should remove so-called guilt lanes from their outlets, a step Tesco took last year in banning confectionery from its tills. Just over half of shoppers (53%) agree with such moves, 47% disagree, according to poll of 2,000 consumers by Harris Interacive. 

There is significant support for the display of confectionery in other prominent places in store, such as the end of aisles, with 77% saying confectionery should not be banned from other prominent locations in store.What’s more, 53% of people believe chocolate and sweets can be enjoyed as part of a healthy balanced diet. 

Only 44% of shoppers think fruit based products such as Urban Fruit, Bear and Fruit Bowl provide a healthy alternative to confectionery and 39% of those polled say they are concerned about the amount of sugar such products contain. A third of parents say they don’t give such products to their children. 

For more information, download the full report here.