WHEN LOOKS ARE CRUCIAL
Major retailers are now extremely concerned about monitoring opinion of themselves
on social media and don’t want to be seen out of step with their competitors on issues
of responsibility, GlobalData associate analyst William Grimwade says.
www.foodtechnology.co.nz 21
Over the first two months
of 2018, UK retailers Waitrose,
Tesco, Co-op, Asda,
Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Lidl and
Morrisons - the UK’s seven largest
food retailers - all implemented their
own bans on the sale of energy drinks
to children. This is despite the lack of
any formal direction or regulation from
the UK government. In March, Boots
became the first non-supermarket
retailer to join them. Specifically, this
means banning the sale of products
with a caffeine content of more than
150mg per litre to under-16s. The
fact this potentially profit-limiting step
has been taken without government
regulation or a call for retailers to take
voluntary action is unusual, but emphasises
the importance large retail chains
place on maintaining a responsible
brand. Major retailers have become
extremely concerned about monitoring
opinion of themselves on social media,
and the highly competitive nature of
British supermarket retailing means
retailers do not want to be seen to be
out of step with their competitors on
issues like this. The National Association
of Schoolmasters Union of
Women Teachers (NASUWT) has gone
as far as attributing some cases of
poor behaviour of children in schools
to high energy drink consumption. The
#NotforChildren campaign has become
prominent on social media among
a variety of stakeholders, including
health concerned celebrity chef Jamie
Oliver and the charity Action on Sugar.
Retailers and energy drinks producers
are also likely to suffer from the introduction
of the sugar tax in the UK. The
vast majority of energy drink brands
rely on sugar, as well as caffeine and
other additives, to allow them to give
the consumer the energy rush their
brand depends on. This means that
they will be unable to reduce sugar
content and their prices in independent
retailers which are still selling them
to under 16s will be forced upwards,
compounding the effect of the supermarket
ban.
COVER STORY
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