Sainsbury’s has done the most to ramp up its sales of fresh fruit and veg, according to a recognition from the Food Foundation’s Peas Please initiative.
The supermarket was recognised at a ceremony in Leeds today, with the runner-up Henderson Spar in Northern Ireland.
Now in its sixth year, the Peas Please initiative has over 100 pledgers from across the food sector, with more than 90% of retailers having made pledges to promote and encourage people to eat more veg.
Sainsbury’s has renewed a pledge to increase the proportion of its total vegetable sales by 1% of tonnage, and the Food Foundation highlighted schemes including the offer of competitively priced ‘Imperfectly Tasty’ and ‘Greengrocer’ fruit and vegetables
The Food Foundation said this year Lidl had joined the campaign with significant new commitments, while Aldi, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose were “well on the way to meeting their targets”.
Morrisons also recently signed up to the initiative, pledging to support more advertising and promotion of veg both in-store and online,
However, an update last year showed less than a quarter of adults were eating enough vegetables a day, and almost a third of children were eating less than the equivalent of one portion a day.
“We are delighted by the huge growth in industry support for the Peas Please project,” said Food Foundation executive director Anna Taylor. “More and more businesses are recognising they have a crucial role in tackling the poor nutrition crisis which is causing an epidemic of obesity and ill health.”
No comments yet