Engaging with wholesalers and convenience stores to drive uptake of healthier options

In brief

This report looks at the learnings and insights from our Good Food Retail pilot, which pioneered a new way of improving healthier options in wholesale. It details the approach we took and preliminary results from the interventions launched by Bestway, the UK’s largest independent wholesale cash and carry. The trial focused on the creation a healthier choices range selected from existing products which were subject to a number of intervention tactics to encourage retailers to purchase more of these healthier options.

It has allowed us to gain more insight into retailer behaviour and what are the effective ways to engage with wholesalers.

Executive summary

We’re working with Rice Marketing to support wholesalers to drive up their sales of healthier products into local convenience stores, and with convenience stores to drive up their sales of healthier products to the public.

Together, we ran an initial pilot in Bestway wholesale depot, Croydon, to demonstrate how simple and practical changes to positioning, pricing, and marketing can help influence retailers to purchase healthier options. Building off this tested approach, there’s room for scale across other wholesalers to stem the flow of unhealthy products across the boroughs.

We also ran an initial pilot with convenience stores, which resulted in an increased range of healthier items available in store and an uplift in sales of healthier products. It emphasised that small and simple changes can have a significant impact on purchasing behaviour.

Our aim is to expand this approach and tap into a network of local convenience stores to make a case for the commercial benefit in changing what is stocked in store. We will test a range of levers, from promotion to merchandising, to impact the uplift of healthier products locally. Like wholesalers, we want to show that promoting health is not just good for people but also good for profit.