‘Multibuy offers on non-HFSS products on rise’

Multibuy offers on healthier groceries are on the rise, shows a recent report, suggesting that retailers are increasing the number of non-HFSS products in multibuy and buy-one-get-one-free (BOGOF) deals to push healthy eating in the UK.

According to new data from The Food Foundation, the total proportion of multibuy offers on healthier groceries – like fruit and vegetables – rose in July to 4.2 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively. This was seen across the top five retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons.

 The number of multibuy or bogof deals on products classed as HFSS fell slightly, from 29 per cent in April to 27.3 per cent in July, states the report, adding that the UK’s largest retailer has now set the target of 65 per cent of its sales to come from non-HFSS products by 2025.

Overall, amongst those retailers running multibuy deals, there was a 6 per cent increase in the total number of multibuy deals offered in July compared to April. No deals were found on eggs, and although 11 per cent of deals were on dairy products, half of these offers on dairy are for cheese products (rather than milk or plain yogurt) which are typically high in saturated fat and classified as HFSS, states the report.

A further 17 per cent of deals were on foods where it is not possible to accurately determine the nutrition profile, and so these products could be either HFSS or non HFSS.

While promotions make products cheaper they also tend to encourage people to buy more of the promoted category than expected.

On average multibuy offers increase the amount purchased by 22 per cent. Restrictions on multibuy deals for HFSS foods were supposed to have been brought in this month (October 2023), but earlier this year the Government pushed the implementation of these restrictions back to 2025, citing concerns that it would negatively impact households during the cost of living crisis.