Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco Chief Executive contribution to Food, Science and Technology
The food industry has advanced more on voluntary labelling in the last few years than for many decades before and as anyone who has followed the debate over the past few years will know, food labelling is a controversial subject and it is also one that is very close to my heart.
Our decision to use GDA (Guideline Daily Amount) signpost labelling at Tesco was not one that was taken easily - in fact we made this decision after looking long and hard at the alternatives and as with anything that Tesco does most importantly after consulting with our customers.
I recognise that better labelling, and healthier food, will not alone fix all of the UK’s / Britain’s public health challenges. Busier working lives, and more sedentary leisure pursuits, are also a serious challenge to public health in Britain/UK.
At Tesco we have over 22 years experience of engaging with customers on health -providing healthy products and nutrition information and that experience has built our health strategy. Importantly this strategy is led at board level which is vital in order to ensure it remains high up on our agenda.
Not only does our health strategy involve labelling, but initiatives such as our pledge to get two million people active by the 2012 Olympics, after all being healthy isn’t just about the foods that you eat.
We are also investing in a range of events including Race for Life and Sports for Schools and Clubs which has already seen us give away the equivalent of 50,000 coaching sessions. We will also introduce others such as “Go Ride” for kids, five national “Bike Active” events and three “Great Walk” events for those less keen to break into a sweat.
Our customers have been telling us for a number of years that they want us to help them make healthier choices about the products that they buy and this includes clearer nutritional labelling, helping them make sense of the complex information we provide on the back of pack.
It was in response to this and because we couldn’t change the legally defined back of pack information that we developed front-of-pack nutritional signposts – using the system of Guideline Daily Amounts - based on extensive customer research into a variety of different systems which we started in 2003.
Guideline Daily Amount’s were developed by the Institute Of Grocery Distribution (IGD), based on government guidance to help provide consumers with a benchmark for what a healthy diet should be.
We have used these numbers to underpin our front of pack labelling by giving the calories, sugar, fat, saturates and salt in a serving, as well as how much of a typical adults GDA they provide. We also make sure that we give the nutritional information for a common sense portion size. This helps customers understand exactly what is in the food that they are eating by providing the facts in a way which reflects the reality of how much customers eat.
Importantly customers see GDA signposts as transparent and honest as they give them the facts about a food and enable them to compare products within a category or based on their own “rule of thumb” for what is a lot of a nutrient
I myself use GDA’s daily to help me make decisions about what I choose to eat. For example I changed my sandwich choices at lunchtime to choose a lower salt one - and whilst my Chicken Salad Sandwich has 19% of the GDA for salt – I think that’s ok based on the fact it is a meal and on what I eat for the rest of the day.
We have now completed the roll out of GDA signposts across all eligible 6,500 of our own label products. This was no mean feat and not only involved a financial investment, but also extra resource from a technical perspective.
Because our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We have continued to listen to them and respond. This is why it is so important to understand what customers are saying now about GDA labels and how they are using them.
And the feedback that they have given has been really positive. Customers say that
‘You can see at a glance what you are interested in’ and they really like the fact that they get the ‘real information’ about what the food contains.
They say GDA signposting enables them to compare products quickly and easily. It also enables them to look at individual nutrients and make an informed choice about whether it is something that they choose to eat, ideal if someone wants to focus on a particular nutrient such as fat or sugar. It’s not just customer response that has been positive, independent consumer research carried out by TNS in October 2006 found that customers really like the system.
And the adoption of GDA signposts by a number of leading suppliers and other retailers makes it easier than ever for customers to compare nutritional content of products across different brands.
Nor is this just limited to the UK. Tesco GDA signposts are on 300 pan-European products in our stores in Central Europe, Asia and the European Food Manufacturers Association (the CIAA) has recommended that its members adopt GDA signpost labelling across the EU.
We have also added GDA signposts to our Grocery Home Shopping and we have seen a massive 51% increase in visits to the product information pages
Our sales analysis clearly shows that customers have used the labels to make healthier choices with shifts away from products high in salt and fat to healthier alternatives. For example we have seen sales of lower fat and ready meals increased when GDA signposts were added outselling higher fat and salt alternatives by more than 7%
These are not marginal changes. In my experience, a shift in the market of this size over such a short period is extraordinary.
And bear in mind that these are still early days, so this has huge implications not just for health and nutrition, but also for the food industry.
I believe it also tells us that you are much more likely to bring about major behavioural change if you harness the power of consumption rather than fight it.
In turn this increased demand for healthier options is also accelerating product improvement and healthier new product development.
For example, analysis of sales of frozen ready meals over a 12 month period shows that the average ready meal purchased today contains lower levels of salt, saturates and fat than before GDA labels were applied. This illustrates the important link between the transparency of GDA labels, customer purchase decisions and product reformulation.
There may be different front of pack systems, but it is important to look at the evidence in real life rather than pursue a less tested model. I believe our system works and is honest and transparent and as it continues to go on more and more products across all categories it will be used by more customers than anything else.
Time will tell if we can have a true impact on our customers health but if we listen to what customers are telling us, we can achieve far more in the field of health and nutrition than we will ever achieve by regulation.
