Tesco Removes Sweets, Chocolates from All Checkouts

Move is part of an ongoing effort to help customers live healthier lives.

January 06, 2015

CHESHUNT, England -- Tesco stores in the United Kingdom are no longer selling sweets and chocolates at checkouts, a move that the retailer says will help customers lead healthier lives by reducing “pester power.”

Tesco first removed sweets and chocolates from the checkouts at larger stores in 1994, but the products are now gone from checkouts at all stores, including the 2,000 Tesco Metro and Express convenience stores in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The move comes as new research based on ClubCard data from Tesco reveals that families with young children have, on average, the least healthy shopping baskets. In contrast, older adults are the healthiest shoppers. Tesco research found that nearly two-thirds (65%) of customers said removing confectionery from the checkouts would help them make healthier choices when shopping. Research also showed that 67% of parents told Tesco that having no confectionery near the checkout would help them make healthier choices for their children.

“Our customers told us that removing sweets and chocolates from checkouts would help them make healthier choices, so from today [January 5] our checkouts will be sweet- and chocolate-free zones,” said David Wood, managing director of health and wellness for Tesco, in a press release. “We hope this will make our customer’s lives easier, as taking sweets and chocolates off the checkouts will really help parents with young children.  … The response we’ve had from parents has been overwhelmingly positive, so it’ll be interesting to see if other supermarkets follow our lead and do the same thing.”

Sweets and chocolates have been replaced by a variety of healthier snacks including dried fruit, nuts and cereal bars. Removing sweets and chocolates from checkouts is part of a much wider ongoing effort from Tesco to help its customers live healthier lives.

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