Lidl ditches checkout treats
By Sophie Coughlan on Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Cut-price supermarket chain Lidl is ditching sweets and chocolates from its check-outs later this week in a move that will almost certainly be welcomed by both parents facing ‘pester power’ and struggling January dieters alike.
This well-timed initiative was announced on Monday coinciding with a report from the National Obesity Forum claiming that half of the UK will be obese by 2050. With Lidl ready to roll out ‘Healthy Checkouts’ across 600 stores before the month is out, the discount retailer has put itself at the front of this issue, and predictably landed approving coverage from Sky, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, Metro, and more.
Timely it may be, but Lidl distances itself from any accusations of bandwagon-jumping – A survey by the supermarket last year revealed parents were finding it hard to make their children eat healthily thanks to till-side treats, resulting in Lidl piloting the ‘Healthy Checkouts’ scheme back in December. Instead of the usual chocolate bars, sweets and crisps at check-out, it offered offering fresh fruit, multivitamin juice, nuts and seeds – and customer research revealed that a staggering 70% preferred this sweet-free checkout.
This campaign shows the brand listens to its customers and has an eye for wider lifestyle trends. Over the next week we can expect to see rival supermarkets get drawn into a debate Lidl is now leading, how they respond will be well worth checking out *groan*.