Spanish supermarket chain Eroski is seeing a significant increase in sales of products with a favourable Nutri-Score. Shoppers are choosing healthier options within their familiar categories. “The Nutri-Score is part of the solution.”
Positive impact
Two years after the introduction of the Nutri-Score in Spain, supermarket chain Eroski concludes that the label has a positive impact on the composition of a healthier shopping basket. The chain analysed buying behaviour for around 2,000 product references across a range of categories over two years and sees unmistakable shifts in shopper behaviour.
“The results of the analysis show the positive impact of nutrition labelling on the composition of a healthier basket for packaged food products,” says Alejandro Martínez Berriochoa, who is responsible for health and sustainability at Eroski. In particular, products with a Nutri-Score A or B are selling better, while products with a Nutri-Score D or E are declining. Products with a C-score show an almost flat development. The introduction of the Nutri-Score did not have a negative effect on the sales of fresh products that do not carry the label, such as fruit, vegetables or fish.
Up to 15% increase
It is not the case that consumers are making drastic changes in their buying behaviour. The research shows no cannibalisation between categories, but rather shifts within categories. Shoppers do not choose a healthier alternative in another category, but rather a healthier option according to the Nutri-Score within the same family of products. These are shifts of a few percentage points.
For example, sales of the breakfast cereal category as a whole remained stable, but within the category, sales of products with a Nutri-Score A, B and C showed a significant increase of up to 15%. And this at the expense of products with scores D and E, which declined. There was also a similar shift in the soft drinks range: sugary drinks, which have a Nutri-Score D or E, lost ground to the benefit of soft drinks with sweeteners, which have a B-score. In the case of ice creams, products with a C-score won out over products with a D or E.
Part of the solution
Prices and promotions still have a greater influence on sales and determine the composition of a basket even more than the Nutri-Score. But under equal promotional conditions, the impact is clear: the first results show a positive impact on a healthier shopping basket.
“This does not mean that labelling alone can reverse the current less healthy food consumption pattern. The problem needs to be addressed on many other fronts, but the Nutri-Score is part of the solution,” says the retailer. “Transparent information about the nutritional value of food is crucial for consumers. In this sense, Nutri-Score makes it possible to make conscious decisions in a simple and quick way when filling the shopping basket.”
