There is "strong concern from supermarkets" about the Welsh Government's plans to limit promotions on high fat, sugar and salt foods. It is hoped the plans will help to tackle Wales' growing obesity crisis.
The Welsh Government announced on Tuesday that it is planning on introducing new legislation which would ban certain foods from the following areas: meal deals, volume promotion, and temporary promotions. The plans will also prevent certain foods from being displayed in certain places in a super market, such as the end of aisles, island bins and near the checkouts. You can read about the plans and the reasons behind them in detail here.
An industry body representing supermarkets said it was the "wrong time to do it" with inflation at a massive high, saying it would force up the cost for consumers.
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Sara Jones, head of the Welsh Retail Consortium, said: "All we know is it is the wrong time to do it. You've got inflation at an 18 year high. The profit margins for supermarkets are really tiny right now. There is huge amounts of cost in running stores. It is just the wrong time to do it because retailers are doing everything they can to absorb rising prices for customers. But when you get this cumulative effect of government policy, it has an impact and damage to the shopping basket and the costs."
The Welsh Retail Consortium represents the "big six" supermarkets, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Aldi and Lidl. In a statement released by the WRC on Tuesday, Sara said: "Promotions within categories allow retailers and brands to compete to attract customers, improving competition and keeping prices down. Promotions also allow for local suppliers to be achieve consumer attention, helping bolster the performance of the Welsh Food and Drink Industry across UK-wide retailers’ stores. These restrictions will not only impact on consumer choice, price and availability but may hinder the success of the Welsh producers for years to come." You can find out what our readers think of the plans here.
Explaining the costs facing supermarkets right now, Sara told WalesOnline that next year when the deposit return scheme is introduced (which will see customers pay a levy for a plastic container which will be refunded when the item is returned to a shop), it will cost retailers a lot of money to implement it. This is supported by retailers, but is just one example of having to make changes to a store to comply with government legislation. Sara said retailers constantly try and absorb these extra costs and keep them away from consumers, but it is inevitable it will have a knock-on effect.
"What we're saying is if you add all these things together, undoubtedly there's no scope, absorbing these costs and it is going to fall back to consumers at a time when it's just not possible for them to absorb that themselves."
Sara said retailers are already doing a lot of voluntary work in this area over the last few years, citing work on labelling and reformulation of products. She said: "They totally recognise that they need to support consumers to make healthier," but some of the legislation is misdirected.
There are three main areas of concern from WRC: temporary price reductions, meal deals and free standing aisles. "That's where you might get seasonal products as part of a promotion." In terms of meal deals, supermarkets are concerned about removing items from their inclusion, Sara said this will "ultimately just restrict the affordability options", adding: "If an individual wants to purchase a can of Coke as part of a meal deal they'll now just go and do it anyway but won't have that cost saving."
Sara continued: "Fresh fruit and vegetables are heavily price promoted and often the very first thing shoppers see when entering food retailing stores. The availability of healthy snack alternatives has risen considerably, and the quantity of fruits and vegetables in products like sandwiches and ready meals has increased. Our industry has led the way on reformulating products to reduce salt, sugar, and fat from products. We’ve pioneered traffic light labelling and clear energy information on products and signage to help consumers understand products and make informed choices."
Opposition parties to the Labour Government have also voiced concerns. A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: “Plaid Cymru supports measures that focus on making it easier to choose healthy lifestyle options. In a cost of living crisis, when too many families are struggling to put food on the table at all, this shouldn’t be about preventing discounts on food. Being able to put some food on the table is better than there being no food on the table at all.
“It’s so important to find the balance between taking steps that could prevent poor future health rather than measures that involve the government restricting what we can do when too many households are already facing unreasonable squeeze on their budgets.”
Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Mental Health, James Evans MS said: “Obesity is a pressing issue across the Western world that is a costly drain on the limited resources of our precious Welsh NHS and it is a shame that is has taken the Welsh Government this long to address the problem. However, during the cost of living pressures we are all facing, we need cast iron assurances from the Welsh Labour Government that they do not intend to ban meal deals and that any new regulations will not increase the average weekly cost for shoppers.
“To address obesity, we need a whole Government approach to tackle the issue, with educating children about food, teaching physical education and funding for sports clubs at the heart of a cross-departmental strategy.
“The Welsh Conservatives believe the role of government is to educate, advise and to encourage better eating behaviours. It is very disappointing that due to Labour mismanagement drastic steps now need to be taken to reduce obesity in Wales.”
