Co-op soft drinks range reset puts squeeze on sugar

The Co-op is overhauling its soft drinks aisles to put greater emphasis on healthy drinks while cutting shelf space and promotions for higher-sugar varieties.

In a five-pronged attack on sugary drinks (see box), it also plans to roll out full bays dedicated to sugar-free drinks in 226 stores, where space allows.

The retailer said it would increase the number of healthy options in its kids and cordial ranges as well as giving them more shelf space. As a result, the percentage of healthier options in the Co-op kids soft drink range would increase from 68% to 80% by the end of 2017.

Meanwhile, the number of own-brand and branded cordials in its range classed as healthy - meaning they have no added sugar, are sugar-free or low sugar - will increase from the current 81.5% to 90% within the same timescale.

The shelf space for healthier soft drinks, including cordials and flavoured waters, will also continue to grow on top of the 20% increase they have already had.

The final two ‘touchpoints’ of the reset are to give equal prominence to healthier drinks variants within off-shelf promotions “wherever possible”, and an education and communication pledge to provide more and better information to help customers make more informed choices.

All parts of the Co-op soft drinks reset will be launched within the next 18 months. A spokeswoman said it was also continuing to look at how labelling could help customers notice and understand nutritional information to make healthier choices.

Co-op head of food policy Cathryn Higgs said the retailer was committed to playing its part in tackling childhood obesity with clear nutritional labelling and by changing the content of its products.

It comes on top of the retailer’s continuing work to cut sugar in own-brand products, particularly those often consumed by children such as yoghurts and cereals and soft drinks.

In the 18 months to April, the Co-op said it cut four billion calories and 250 million teaspoons of sugar from its shelves through reformulation.

Last October, it relaunched Co-op fruit juice drinks for children to include no added sugar, and cut sugar in the entire range by 73%.

It also cut 23% of sugar from its low-fat yoghurts last September, slashed 13% of sugar in cereals in January this year and reduced sugar by up to 17% in flavoured milks in May. In addition it reformulated the Co-op High Juice Cordials range in July 2014, when it cut sugar by 92% and removed “almost 100 million teaspoons of sugar and 1.5 billion calories” from shelves across grocery.

The Co-op said other ongoing policies included avoiding adding sugar to savoury processed products where the customer would not normally do so, and not allowing an increase in sugar or salt in a reformulated product but instead having a starting point of cutting their content.