hops
Healthy Options At Point Of Sale
the HOPS Team
HOPS is a youth led, community driven, health advocacy project.
What is Healthy retail?
a campaign to ADVOCATE FOR minimum nutrition standards
for snacks & beverages sold at checkout and To keep
sodas in the soda aisle.
- Fresh & Dried Fruit
and veggies
- Nuts
- Water
- Whole grains
- 100% juice
- And more!
Why focus on healthy retail?
Healthy retail is
good for both
customers and
businesses
The majority of
food purchases come
from grocery stores
Product placement
is a powerful
retail marketing
technique
Paid product
placement
prompts
impulse buys
1 2 3 4
● Lack of local FOOD stores that have convenient food & DRINKS that are also healthy
● Growing NUMBER of health issues in the community
○ Heart disease, Diabetes, cavities, and cancer
● Sugary beverages are found in 30 places in an average store Why do we need It?
Richmond Community Assessment
33 food stores assessed
Checkouts at grocery and corner stores, pharmacies,
department stores, and more
5 Focus Groups
Participants in the virtual
focus groups were all residents of Richmond
8 key interviews
With local health providers, educators, food service
professionals, etc
3 Retailer Interviews
Local grocery and convenience store
owners were interviewed and asked about their
store CHECKOUT ASSESSMENT HIGHLIGHTS
overall, 60% OF BEVERAGES AT CHECKOUT are UNHEALTHY
compared to only 17% healthy
and 16% ‘other’. These are not very nutritional,
but have low to no added sugar. They are
mostly alcohol and coffee.
Similarly, 65% OF FOOD SOLD IS UNHEALTHY
28% are in between, like gum, trail mix, bread, and
fresh or hot prepared foods.
while only 6% of food
present is healthy, and
CANDY MAKES UP 40% OF ALL FOOD
sold at checkout, and 25% of all
products at checkout, including
beverages and non-food
merchandise!
NON-FOOD MERCHANDISE like:
beauty,
And electronics
Bath,
home goods,
Make up 28% OF PRODUCTS AT
CHECKOUT
Focus Group & Key interview findings
● Unanimous support for healthy checkout
● Main motivations were
○ targeted marketing at children
○ Diet related long term health effects on youth
○ Lack of access in low income neighborhoods to quality foods
○ many leave richmond to grocery shop
○ Desire to support local farmers in their purchases
Retailer Interview findings
● Full support for healthy checkout
● Main Concerns
○ lack of demand
○ short shelf life of produce
○ Customers have the choice to eat healthy
survey of 562 richmond voters
● 77% support for the policy
● 73% low income shoppers support
● parents especially concerned for youth
Keeping soda in the soda aisle
National survey
of people would SWITCH
from their regular
grocery store to one
that stocks sugary
beverages in only
one place;
of SNAP participants
say they’d purchase
fewer sugary
beverages if they were
offered in only one place
in the store, and
of parents who shop
with their kids agree.
58%
82%
36%
77%
of parents who
shop with their
kids agree.
Healthy retail suggestions
Fully Stock checkouts with nutritious snacks:
● Foods with
○ 5 or less grams of added sugar per serving
○ 200 mg or less of sodium per serving
● Beverages
○ No added sugar
○ No added sweeteners
○ List of qualifying items
● Exemptions for Pre-prepared, homemade
foods
Healthy retail suggestions:
Keep Soda in the soda aisle
● Sugar sweetened beverages in or on end cap of
one drink aisle only
● No sugary drinks in freestanding displays
Enforcement
● Environmental health department
○ Integrate into annual inspections
● Large retail stores >4000 sq ft first
○ 11 stores
● small stores phased in 6 months later
○ 84 stores
What impact will healthy retail have?
● Give access to nutritious food and drinks
● Exposure to a greater variety of produce and healthy snacks ● Make it easier for kids to make healthier choices
● Begin to change snacking norms
● Help positively influence
public health
“It would encourage my son to choose
healthier snacks when we're checking out
instead of asking for candy! And, although I'm a
fairly healthy shopper I definitely fall victim to
items at the checkout lane.” -Resident
THank you