Front-of-store fruit and veg boosts sales and healthier diets

Placing fruit and vegetables near supermarket entrances can improve sales and diet quality, new research shows.

The study found the placement led to thousands more fruit and vegetables being bought at each store every month.

The results have now been published in the journal PLOS Medicine. Professor Christina Vogel at City St George’s, University of London and the University of Southampton was lead author.

Her research is part of the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre's nutrition, lifestyle and metabolism theme.

Bucking the trend

The WRAPPED study was carried out between March 2018 and May 2022. This coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis.

During this time, the UK population's fruit and vegetable purchasing and intake declined. Household purchasing of fruit fell by 7.2 percent and of vegetables by 5.3 percent. On average, households were buying fewer than four portions per day for the whole family.

The study was conducted in 36 stores of a discount supermarket chain in England. Half introduced the new layout, with fruit and vegetables near the entrance. The other half kept their existing layout for comparison.

The researchers found a big difference in fruit and vegetable sales in the group with the new layout. Compared to predicted sales without the change, they sold the equivalent of around 2,525 extra portions per store each week.

Calling for change

The researchers are now calling on the Government to account for these results in their regulations. They say this could boost fruit and vegetable sales and improve the nation’s diet.

They recommend making it a requirement for fruit and veg to be positioned near entrances in all large food stores. They also suggest limiting unhealthy foods at checkouts, aisle-ends and entrances.

The study was led by researchers from the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre at the University of Southampton with the Centre for Food Policy at City St George’s, alongside others.

Professor Vogel said: “The food industry and the public are trapped in a ‘junk food cycle’, where unhealthy foods are cheap to make, profitable to market, appealing to eat and affordable to buy.

“To counter this, our study shows that placing fruit and vegetables at the entrances of discount supermarkets increased fresh fruit and vegetable sales.”

The study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Professor Adam Briggs is Director of NIHR's Public Health Research Programme.

He said: “Poor diet remains a leading cause of ill health and inequalities in the UK and tackling this requires action across a range of policy areas.

“WRAPPED's promising results show how small changes in our supermarket layouts can impact our shopping habits and encourage healthier diets that can help prevent obesity and diet-related disease.

“It’s a great example of how carefully involving retailers in research can help deliver practical real-world insights.”