Why Global Retailers Are Replacing ‘Junk Food’ With Healthy Snacks

US retail chain Target has been making headlines with new wellness initiatives that will affect both staff and customers. As well as announcing that more than 300,000 of its employees will be kitted out with a Fitbit, The New York Times has also reported that the discount-store will be actively replacing candy bars and other ‘junk food’ at the checkout, with healthier alternatives like granola bars. 

Under new CEO Brian Cornell, the move positions the retailer as a global leader in its response to wellness as an increasingly more popular lifestyle choice.

“This is really becoming a lifestyle. It’s not a trend,” Cornell told The New York Times. “What you’re looking at is retailers beginning to catch up to the consumer who has already changed,” he added. Target will include the popular KIND bars, a brand currently planning its launch into the UK market, as part of the revamped impulse checkout offering.

Cornell also acknowledges that health foods offer higher profit margins for retailers and bring in new customers. It certainly speaks to millennials who are becoming more and more aware of the impact of diet on health.

Supermarket chains in Britain are responding in equal measure, with more healthy snack food lines being added to grocery aisles after the success of products like Nakd Bars and Ella’s Kitchen range for children. A number of these same retailers also cleverly positioning nuts, trail mix bags and fresh fruit at the checkout.

British start-up Propercorn, now stocked in Tesco and Waitrose, having also attributed part of their rapid growth to the positioning of their product alongside alternatives like crisps. The product placement strategy has given Propercorn access to a wider audience, allowing consumers to opt for a healthier option without having to venture to a dedicated health food section. It has also put the young company in a healthy position financially, with revenue forecasts of £17m this year.

But will consumers in both the US and Britain really forego chocolate bars and sweet treats for these alternatives? Time (and sales figures) will tell.

“There’s both a huge business opportunity here and a bit of a moral imperative,” said Christina Hennington, Target’s SVP of merchandising, as quoted in Fortune. “Our ultimate goal is to improve the health of the nation,” she states.

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