Campaigners' price cut challenge to Morrisons: "give more than peas a chance"

Shockingly, frozen peas were the only fruit or vegetable making the list of almost 200 products newly promoted by the supermarket as at "everyday low prices". Instead, the "cupboard essentials” that Morrisons have cut the price of include 10 bottles of alcohol, 9 varieties of frozen pizza, 7 types of confectionery and cookies, 3 added sugar aloe vera drinks and 2 kinds of cake sprinkles.

Analysis of Morrisons' 200 ‘new low price’ cuts (1):

• frozen peas were the only fruit or vegetable included in recent price cuts
• over 25% of the discounted food and soft drinks are classified as “less healthy”
• campaigners' challenge to Morrisons: give more than peas a chance
• further pressure on Government to include food promotion within Responsibility Deal

Malcolm Clark, co-ordinator of the Children's Food Campaign, said:

"No wonder Morrisons refused our request to see their official list of 200 price cuts.(6) The health profile of the food on offer is skewed towards products high in saturated fat and sugar, and that would be classified as 'less healthy' and unable to be advertised on children's TV.”

“This supermarket is often cited as one of the worst offenders for marketing sweets and chocolates at the checkout and they clearly want to fill your cupboard with junk. Their latest promotional activity only confirms how far Morrisons still has to go in offering parents a helping hand in encouraging healthy eating for all the family. The supermarket should start by doing more to promote fruit and veg and go junk free at all its checkouts.”

"Our findings only reinforce the need for the Department of Health to include food promotion in any new version of its public health Responsibility Deal.  The Government should look at ways of ensuring all companies sign up to rebalance their promotions and make healthy, sustainable food more available and affordable. We are also calling for the Government to introduce tougher rules restricting marketing of less healthy food to children on TV and online, to tackle the promotion of products that lead to obesity and related health problems.”

Ends

For further information (including copies of the full analysis and screenshots) and interviews, please contact:

Malcolm Clark
0203 5596 777 or 07733322148
malcolm@sustainweb.org

Notes

1. On 8 June 2015, Morrisons announced that it would be cutting the price of 200 “cupboard essentials”  (The Grocer)
2. The Children’s Food Campaign has analysed the products on offer on Morrisons’ website on their ‘Every Day Low Prices’ webpage on 15-16 June 2015.
3. On that webpage, the Children’s Food Campaign could identify 194 products listed as “new low price” or otherwise clearly marked as part of that new price cut promotion.  There were also about 25 items (mainly suncream, plus follow on milk, coffee and sausages) at the bottom of that page that it was not clear whether these formed part of the promotion or not, and thus have been discounted from the analysis.
4. Out of 194 identified “new low price” price cuts:
   - Only 1 is on a fruit or vegetable – a bag of Birds Eye frozen peas
   - 50 are on non-food items (kitchen towels, pet food, medicines, sanitary products
   - 10 are on alcoholic drinks (including champagne, bucks fizz and bottled beers)
    

     Of the 134 price cuts on food and non-alcoholic drinks:

   • 10% are on confectionery, cakes, cookies, sugar and hot chocolate
   • 13% are on ready meals and other processed foods, almost all of which are high in fat and/or saturated fat and would be ‘red’ under the new front of pack nutrition labelling scheme.
   • Only 6 of the 29 dairy items are marketed as lower or low fat options.
5. Children’s Food Campaign contacted Morrisons on 10 June 2015 to ask for the full list of 200 products. The press office refused to give CFC the official list, citing “commercial confidentiality” – even though there is a section on their website  
6. The Children’s Food Campaign aims to improve young people’s health and well-being through better food – and food teaching – in schools and by protecting children from junk food marketing.  The Campaign is supported by over 150 national organisations and co-ordinated by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.  www.childrensfood.org.uk
7. The Children's Food Campaign is funded by the British Heart Foundation to help the BHF reduce the number of overweight and obese children in the UK www.bhf.org.uk
8. Further information on the Junk Free Checkouts campaign can be found at www.junkfreecheckouts.org