Source: Bryan Roberts via Twitter

Photos hit social media this week of new aisles stocked with healthier options from key suppliers 

Tesco and Sainsbury’s are giving shoppers a glimpse of what their entire store estates might look like once the coming HFSS restrictions kick in.

Tesco has quietly been rolling out healthier aisle end fixtures across some of its stores, and introducing new ‘under 100 calories’ bays across a range of categories. 

Photos hit social media this week of new aisles at its Leicester Beaumont Leys store, stocked with healthier options from key suppliers, such as Hula Hoops’ Puft snacks,  Haribo sweets, as well as Kellogg’s and Nestlé cereals, many of which have been brought under the HFSS threshold over recent years.

Big fizzy pop brands are conspiculously absent from the drinks aisle ends, which are shown to be stocking SKUs from the likes of Coco Cabana, Cawston Press and Nakéd, as well as own label juices. 

Not all of the products stocked are currently HFSS-compliant, however, such as Hula Hoops Puft. A KP spokeswoman said the supplier had “a strong plan for reformulation” across its portfolio but did not reveal whether this would include Puft snacks.

Retail analyst Bryan Roberts tweeted the switch-up had led to “some quirky ends” stocked with toilet roll, kitchen towel and cleaning products in unusual places such as at the end of the BWS aisle, where crisps would usuallly sit. 

A Tesco spokeswoman told The Grocer: “We welcome the government’s ongoing focus on obesity and are working closely with them to understand the detail of the new legislation and to make sure we can implement the changes effectively and communicate the changes to customers.

“This process is ongoing and forms part of our wider strategic approach to healthy and sustainable diets, and the work we are doing to deliver against our health commitments.”

Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, appears to have launched similar trials across a swathe of stores, with pictures surfacing of stores with their ends completely removed and promo bays added to aisles instead.

The Grocer has approached Sainsbury’s for comment.

The news comes as a recent study by shareholders group ShareAction claimed Sainsbury’s was the only retailer currently geared up for the looming ban, as it had already ceased multibuy promotions of all HFSS products.

Other retailers, said ShareAction, were still relying too heavily on promotions that would be banned under the new rules, with Asda and Morrisons running over 300 of those promotions per week on average. Tesco was running some 120 per week, it said. 

The Grocer is hosting a conference on the HFSS clampdown in March. For more information, visit www.thegrocer-conferences.co.uk.

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