Post on 07-Aug-2020
IGA Drakeford & Nicholls Promoting healthier choices
“There is increasing public awareness and
response to the obesity epidemic, especially
when it comes to the impact on our kids, and we
wanted to see if we could help make a difference.”
Terry Karkazis - IGA Nicholls and Drakeford Owner
About IGA Nicholls and Drakeford
IGA are a network of independently owned supermarkets who
tailor their ranges and brands to give local customers more of
what they like. IGA proudly support Aussie producers by stocking
ranges of locally made products.
IGA actively participate in the communities around their stores
doing whatever they can to help local schools, surf clubs or
hospitals. Through the IGA Community Chest funds are raised
to support local communities, charities and other worthwhile
causes. To date IGA has put well over $60 million back into
communities across the country.
IGA Drakeford is located in the well-established Tuggeranong
suburb of Kambah, while Nicholls is in one of Canberra’s
relatively new suburbs on the other side of the city. These stores
have different customer demographics and demands which
helped to increase the learnings during the pilot.
Why we wanted to get involved
About Choose Healthier
The Choose Healthier local business pilot project is a
new and innovative way local businesses are tackling the
challenge of obesity in our community and is part of the
ACT Government’s push towards a target of ‘zero growth’
for obesity under the Healthy Weight Initiative.
Rising levels of overweight and obesity represent one of
the ACT’s biggest health challenges, with almost two-thirds
of adults and one in four children in the ACT overweight or
obese.
The ACT Government has partnered with the Canberra
Business Chamber and the ACT Nutrition Support Service
together with local businesses to increase the availability
and promotion of healthier food and drinks particularly
where targeted at children. What we did
The ACT Nutrition Support Service visited both stores and
undertook a comprehensive review against agreed criteria of
the entire product range to determine which product lines were
healthier.
The healthier products identified were promoted with shelf
signage as a healthier choice. This was further reinforced by
targeted messaging in aisles such as:
• Eat vegetables everyday
• Eat fish twice a week
• Choose treats carefully
• Choose wholegrains
• Eat fruit everyday
• Awesome, it’s a great choice
Each store also introduced a free fruit basket for kids. This
initiative saw children choosing a free piece of fruit instead of
purchasing snack foods.
What happened
The IGA's participation in the pilot was well received by
customers who appreciated the guidance to make healthier
choices. When customers saw similar product choices – type
and price – during the pilot we found they were more likely to
choose the option marked as healthier. We saw an upswing in
certain sales within product lines. For example, the wholemeal
and wholegrain varieties of bread sold faster than white. It was
definitely not a revenue loser.
Lessons learnt
IGA supermarkets are well placed to embrace the promotion of
healthier choices. We feel that the concept of influencing consumer
behaviour in store toward healthier choices was successful – this
was mainly due to in-store branding and ticketing. We believe the
adoption of a market-wide Choose Healthier concept, supported by
a consumer education campaign, would have a positive effect on
both consumer behaviour and also business participation, and
encourage widespread uptake of Choose Healthier options.
IGA Nicholls and Drakeford intend to continue offering Choose
Healthier products to their customers and encourage other
supermarkets to join them. By highlighting healthier products
local business can play a role in shaping an environment where
making the healthier choice is the easier choice.
The Choose Healthier pilot project is part of the ACT Government’s Healthy Weight Initiative, supporting a healthy, active and productive community.
“There was a
recognisable change in
customer choices towards
healthier options thanks to
the instore branding
and ticketing”