Kids’ food companies challenge supermarkets ‘awash with HFSS and ultra processed food’

Supermarkets “awash” with HFSS and ultra processed kids food are being targeted by a new collective of food companies who claim much greater innovation is needed in the sector to make childrens’ diets healthier, The Grocer can reveal.

The Kids’ Food and Drink Collective (KFDC) launched this week with nine brands as founder members, all of whom claim to be non HFSS and are committed to minimising the use of UPF ingredients.

The group was formed by Jess Mackenzie, founder of the children’s meal brand Jess Cooks, who criticised what she called the “terrible lack of innovation” by retailers in creating healthy kids’ food, which she said meant many young people were beginning life on diet of fish fingers and chicken nuggets.

“Kids’ food is absolutely awash with junk,” Mackenzie (pictured centre) told The Grocer. “I challenge anyone to try to find kids meals in the big retailers that are not mostly HFSS.

“We are here to try to start a dialogue with retailers about how we can bring desperately needed innovation to this category.”

Companies that have signed up to the collective include Freddie’s Farm, a dried fruit kids’ snack firm, which in 2022 won the Channel 4 TV Show Aldi’s Next Big Thing, and now has listings in Aldi, Tesco, Ocado and Amazon.

It also includes SnackZilla, a healthier snack brand which was backed by a six figure sum from Warburtons in 2022 as part of its Batch Ventures bakery innovation fund.

Read more:

• What does the junk food ad ban mean for marketeers?

• Calories and salt slashed in typical basket claim food bosses

But Mackenzie claims such support for heathier food innovators was still very much the exception rather than the rule and warned healthier brands were finding it impossible to compete with major brands who, she claimed, were continuing to rely on HFSS foods for the bulk of kids’ meals.

“We realise that it’s an impossible mission for us to compete with these brands on the same fixture, so we are considering whether we can almost launch a new sector for healthy children’s food that will hopefully grow as parents realise there are alternatives out there.

“Being able to compete on price is a big problem when it comes to both retailers and parents’ expectations, but maybe in the future we can persuade supermarkets that in order to make children’s food healthier they can reduce their margins for innovative companies.

“What is out there at the moment is really terrible and we have to change that culture. We hope we can start a debate with supermarkets, we aren’t just here to bash them.”

Freddie’s Farm co founder Laurie Fermor added: “Parents are trying to do their best and make the right choices but there is so much cleverly marketed rubbish on supermarket shelves.

“Being part of the Kids’ Food and Drink Collective will drive change in an area that desperately needs it and help give the nation’s children the best possible start in life.”

The move by the companies comes as survey results today suggest England may have begun to turn the tide on rising obesity for the first time in two decades.

The latest NHS figures show the number of children who are overweight has fallen to the lowest level since 2000, while obesity rates in adults have remained stable for the past five years.

The data from the annual NHS health survey indicates a trend of growing obesity – which has been continuing since records began in 1993 – is levelling off, which experts believe affects not only the impact of public health measures such as the sugar tax, but also growing consumer fears over HFSS and ultra-processed foods changing diets.

Read more:

• Darzi report could push Labour to regulate beyond HFSS

• Ultra-processed foods concerns are changing shopper behaviour

The stats show around one in seven children (15%) aged between two and 15 were obese in 2022 – similar to 2019 (16%). Meanwhile 64% of adults were overweight or obese in 2022, including three in 10 (29%) who were obese, with more men (67%) classified as overweight or obese than women (61%).

However, obesity prevalence was highest among adults and children living in the most deprived areas.

Barbara Crowther, children’s food campaign manager for Sustain, said the figures were welcome but still showed alarming rates of obesity – especially in the poorest areas of the country.

“The government has committed to the healthiest-ever generation of children – this new data reveals the scale of this challenge, especially for children living in areas of high deprivation, where the risk of being overweight or obese is twice as high compared to children from higher income backgrounds.

“This shows how important our child poverty strategy is for improving children’s health, and the vital role of other policies such as ensuring healthy school food for all, restricting unhealthy marketing practices and incentivising companies to make healthy products more affordable than unhealthy ones.”

Today, mayors in the North East, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and the West Midlands announced a ban on unhealthy food promotions on Metro and bus services in response to the crisis, in a campaign backed by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.