The UK Attitudes Towards HFSS Food and Drink report identifies consumer attitudes towards the impact of HFSS legislation, healthy eating initiatives, store location options for healthy products, and nutritional labelling in the UK. This market report covers the HFSS market size, market forecast, market segmentation and industry trends for the Attitudes Towards HFSS Food and Drink market in the UK.
Current Market Landscape
While many consumers support the ban on volume promotions for unhealthy food, seeing it as a good way to tackle obesity and reducing food waste, the current cost of living crisis means supermarkets will have to be careful about navigating the shift away from such promotions.
The upcoming restrictions will see volume sales in key HFSS categories hit by the loss of impulse sales. Crisps, savoury snacks and chocolate are the products most commonly purchased from end of aisles, signalling that they will be particularly at risk and will require an increase of product visibility in primary aisles.
- 49% of consumers would like to see more food and drink retailers offering healthy foods on price promotion on the end of aisles.
- Promotions on ends of aisles in supermarkets encourage 52% of consumers to make unplanned purchases.
- Only 37% of consumers are in in favour of a ban on volume promotions for unhealthy foods.
Future Market Trends in HFSS Food and Drink
While straight price cuts will still be allowed under the new HFSS restrictions, volumes look set to be hit. The impact on value sales and margins remains to be seen, depending on the brands and retailers’ response, including whether and which price cuts they undertake instead.
With consumers wanting to see more healthy foods on price promotion on the end of aisles, this is in line with consumers generally favouring most strongly initiatives that reward them for making healthier choices. Supermarkets able to pivot promotional activity towards better-for-you choices will win favour.
Read on to discover more details or take a look at all of our UK Food and Foodservice market research
Quickly understand
- Details of upcoming HFSS restrictions and their implications for different product categories.
- Consumer efforts to lose/avoid putting on weight and perceptions of the best ways of doing so.
- Consumer support for healthy eating initiatives, including HFSS food and drink restrictions.
- Behaviours related to HFSS food and drink and products bought from ends of aisles at supermarkets.
- Interest in store location options for healthy, price promoted and new products.
- Attitudes towards the development of healthier versions of foods and nutritional labelling.
Covered in this report
Products: Soft drinks, chocolate, sugar confectionary, cakes, ice cream, ice lollies, frozen yogurt, morning goods (pastries), desserts and puddings, sweet biscuits, breakfast cereals, yogurt, milk drinks, pizza, crisps, savoury snacks, ready meals, meal centres, chips (and similar potato products).
Brands: Fruit-ella, Ricola, Jealous Sweets, Soreen, USN, Ambrosia, Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Light and Free, Müller, Activia, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, Proper Corn, Calbee, Hartley’s, Dr. Oetker, Slimming World, Vita, M&S, Dr. Aloe, Heinz, Cadbury, Walkers, McVitie’s, Pringles, Lindt Lindor, Maltesers, Jacob’s, Galaxy, Cathedral City, Warburtons, Magnum, Weetabix.
Expert analysis from a specialist in the field
This report, written by Richard Caines, a leading analyst in the Food & Drink sector, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight current trends and add expert context to the numbers.
Restrictions on the promotion of HFSS food and drink are due to kick in from October 2022 and will hit the visibility of products under the categories covered. Categories where a very high proportion of products are HFSS, such as chocolate, crisps and cakes, will be hardest hit, especially because of the big impulse element to their purchasing, and shoppers being very promotion-driven. Securing products and promotions extra visibility in primary aisles will be important for brands, as will use of permitted secondary locations such as seasonal and promotional aisles.
Richard Caines
Senior Food & Drink Analyst
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Overview
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Market context
- Topics covered in this Report
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Executive Summary
- The five-year outlook for HFSS food and drink
- Figure 1: Outlook for product categories covered by HFSS food and drink restrictions, 2022-27
- The market
- HFSS food and drink price promotion and store location restrictions to come into place in 2022
- Advertising for HFSS food and drink to face new rules from end of 2022
- Big mountain to climb in tackling obesity
- Companies and brands
- Few sweet treats will qualify as non-HFSS
- Salt content is a key element stopping crisps being non- HFSS
- Breakfast cereals and yogurts well placed to maintain end of aisle presence
- Soft drinks already well prepared for restrictions
- TV accounts for more than half of food advertising spending
- TV and outdoor dominate soft drinks advertising
- The consumer
- Seven in 10 people trying to lose or avoid putting on weight
- Figure 2: Proportion of people trying to lose or avoid putting on weight, 2021
- Three ways of managing weight stand out over others as preferred
- Figure 3: Consumer perceptions of best ways to lose/avoid putting on weight, 2021
- ‘Carrot’ rather than ‘stick’ initiatives most strongly favoured
- Figure 4: Consumer support for selected healthy eating initiatives, 2021
- Promotions have a big influence on shopping behaviour
- Figure 5: Behaviours related to shopping for food and drink, 2021
- Crisps and chocolate to be hit most by HFSS location restrictions
- Figure 6: Types of products bought from ends of aisles at supermarkets in the last 3 months, 2021
- Opportunity for grocers to win favour by highlighting healthier foods
- Figure 7: Interest in different store location options for healthy, price promoted and new products, 2021
- Nutritional labelling checked by six in 10 consumers
- Figure 8: Attitudes towards HFSS food and drink, 2021
- The five-year outlook for HFSS food and drink
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Issues and Insights
- Restrictions on product placement will reduce visibility of brands with large HFSS element in their offer
- End of aisle promotions encourage unplanned purchases
- People not visiting every aisle compounds the problem
- Two main options for minimising impact of changes
- Opportunity to win favour by highlighting healthier foods
- Half would like more end-of-aisle promotions for healthy foods
- Ban on HFSS volume promotions will mean changes to make-up of in-store promotions
- Promotions have a big influence on shopping behaviour
- Volume sales in HFSS categories look set to be hit
- Less than four in 10 consumers support ban on volume promotions
- Extra visibility for promoted brands needed
- HFSS restrictions will mean changes to how advertising budgets are spent for some brands
- TV’s share of food advertising spending likely to fall
- Number of options for changing advertising emphasis
- Need for change varies by food category
- Less change likely to be needed for brands in soft drinks
- HFSS restrictions just one part of initiatives encouraging healthier choices
- ‘Carrot’ rather than ‘stick’ initiatives most welcomed by consumers
- More choice of healthier foods warranted
- Guidance and suggestions on healthy eating widely welcomed
- Strong support for availability of healthier versions
- Positive nutrition a big opportunity for food and drink brands
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Details of HFSS Restrictions
- Background to HFSS measures
- HFSS food and drink price promotion and store location restrictions to come into place in 2022
- Scope of price promotions ban
- Scope of location restrictions
- Product categories covered
- Assessing whether a product is HFSS
- Advertising for HFSS food and drink to face new rules from end of 2022
- Desire to limit children’s exposure to HFSS advertising
- Restrictions extend to on-demand services
- Brand-only advertising and selected media are exempt
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Market Factors
- Big mountain to climb in tackling obesity
- More than two thirds of adults were overweight or obese in 2019
- Figure 9: Prevalence of overweight and obesity in England, by age and gender, 2019
- Putting on weight is a concern for many consumers
- Strong interest in healthy eating
- COVID-19 increases spotlight on health
- Supermarkets committed to increasing healthy food sales
- New targets for salt and calorie reduction in 2020
- On-pack nutrition label consultation proposed, calories counts required in foodservice
- Rising prices will increase barriers to healthy eating
- Rising inflation is putting household finances under pressure in 2022
- An income squeeze will hit efforts to eat healthily
- Mix of promotions set to change in HFSS food and drink
- Figure 10: Consumer concerns about household finances, 2021-22
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Impact of HFSS Restrictions on Different Categories
- Few products in confectionery will qualify as non-HFSS
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- Figure 11: Examples of new launches in sugar confectionery that are non-HFSS, 2021
- Removal from high footfall locations set to hit cake sales
- Figure 12: Examples of new launches in cakes, sweet biscuits and snack bars that are non-HFSS, 2021
- Breakfast cereals well placed to avoid HFSS restrictions
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- Figure 13: Examples of new launches in breakfast cereals that are non-HFSS, 2021
- Yogurts will retain a big presence on end of aisles
- Figure 14: Examples of new launches in yoghurts that are non-HFSS, 2021
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- Figure 15: Examples of new own-label launches in yoghurts that are non-HFSS, 2021
- Salt content makes it difficult for crisps to be non-HFSS
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- Figure 16: Examples of new launches in salty snacks that are non-HFSS, 2021
- Few products in ice cream and desserts will avoid HFSS clampdown
- Figure 17: Examples of new launches in ice cream and desserts that are non-HFSS, 2021
- Ready meals and pizzas is non-HFSS opportunity
- Figure 18: Examples of new launches in pizza and ready meals that are non-HFSS, 2021/22
- Soft drinks already well prepared for restrictions
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- Figure 19: Examples of new launches in soft drinks that are non-HFSS, 2021
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Advertising and Marketing Activity
- TV advertising accounts for more than half of spending
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- Figure 20: Total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on food, by media type, 2018-22
- HFSS product categories feature heavily in TV advertising
- Figure 21: TV advertising expenditure on food, by category, 2018-22
- TV and outdoor dominate soft drinks advertising
- Figure 22: Total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on soft drinks (including sports/energy drinks), by media type, 2018-22
- Big focus on supporting low-sugar/sugar-free variants
- Figure 23: TV advertising expenditure on soft drinks and sports/energy drinks, by category, 2018-22
- Brand-building will be helped by high commitment and trust
- Figure 24: Top ranking of brands operating in the food sector, by commitment (net of “It is a favourite brand” and “I prefer this brand over others”), 2018-20
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- Figure 25: Top ranking of brands operating in the food sector, by agreement with “A brand that I trust”, 2018-20
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Consumer Efforts to Manage Weight and Perceptions of Best Ways of Doing It
- Seven in 10 people trying to lose or avoid putting on weight
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- Figure 26: Proportion of people trying to lose or avoid putting on weight, 2021
- Three ways of managing weight stand out over others as preferred
- Portion-size packs take a back seat under HFSS restrictions
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- Figure 27: Consumer perceptions of best ways to lose/avoid putting on weight, 2021
- Snacks in the firing line both from HFSS and weight watchers
- Many people turn to limiting sugar for weight management
- Only a third favour calorie counting to manage weight
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Support for Healthy Eating Initiatives
- ‘Carrot’ rather than ‘stick’ initiatives most strongly favoured
- More choice of healthier foods warranted
- Figure 28: Consumer support for selected healthy eating initiatives, 2021
- Guidance and suggestions on healthy eating widely welcomed
- Reducing fat/sugar/salt favoured above smaller portion sizes
- Strong support for availability of healthier versions
- Pressure on manufacturers from consumers to offer healthier variants
- Positive nutrition a big opportunity for food and drink brands
- Smaller portion sizes for products divide opinion
- Mixed reactions to upcoming HFSS measures
- Only a fifth against ban on display of unhealthy foods at end of aisles
- Consumers unlikely to miss advertising for unhealthy foods
- Less support for volume promotion restrictions
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Behaviours Related to Shopping for Food and Drink
- Promotions have a big influence on shopping behaviour
- Figure 29: Behaviours related to shopping for food and drink, 2021
- HFSS restrictions will hit volume sales
- People not visiting every supermarket aisle compounds the problem
- Promotions have a big influence on shopping behaviour
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Types of Products Bought from Ends of Aisles at Supermarkets
- Crisps and chocolate to be hit most by HFSS location restrictions
- Figure 30: Types of products bought from ends of aisles at supermarkets in the last 3 months, 2021
- Widest impact on sales to younger shoppers
- Figure 31: Number of different types of products bought from ends of aisles at supermarkets in the last 3 months, by age, 2021
- Two main options for minimising impact of changes
- Crisps and chocolate to be hit most by HFSS location restrictions
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Preferred Store Locations for Healthy, Price Promoted and New Products
- Opportunity to win favour by highlighting healthier foods
- Figure 32: Interest in store location options for healthy, price promoted and new products, 2021
- ‘Virtuous’ aisles need strong signposting
- Highlighting healthy products in aisles also warranted
- Half would like more end-of-aisle promotions for healthy foods, financial incentives appeal to three in five
- Less interest in seeing more price promotions brought together
- Scanning shelves for promotions preferred
- But extra visibility for promoted brands needed
- Opportunity to win favour by highlighting healthier foods
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Attitudes towards HFSS Food and Drink
- Nutritional labelling checked by six in 10 consumers
- Figure 33: Attitudes towards HFSS food and drink, 2021
- Most people think traffic light labelling is a good indicator of healthiness
- But not everyone is focused just on avoiding the negatives
- Mixed feelings on brands associated with unhealthy food/drink sponsoring sport
- Nutritional labelling checked by six in 10 consumers
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Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
- Abbreviations
- Consumer research methodology
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