Lidl is to ditch all packaging designs deemed “attractive to children” from its least healthy own-brand products by the middle of the year.
The supermarket announced that any product deemed as least healthy according to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Nutrient Profiling Model or the Food Standards Agency (FSA) 2004/05 Nutrient Profiling Model, alongside any breakfast cereal, cannot be marketed in a way that appeals to children, with only the healthiest of products being targeted at them.
As such, the discounter is going further than new UK legislation set to restrict the advertising of less healthy to children from October. Lidl will eliminate design elements, such as 3D or animated shapes, brightly coloured patterns, or playful product names that do not reflect the items themselves. For example, Lidl’s popular gummy bears will transition from its bright, cartoon-adorned packaging to a simpler, more product-focused design that emphasises its fruit flavours.
Lidl had already removed cartoon characters from its breakfast cereals and then expended this to all ‘less healthy’ products aimed at children.
Rebecca Tobi, senior business and investor engagement manager at the Food Foundation, welcomed the move. “Despite the critical importance of good nutrition for children, commercial foods high in sugar and salt are often heavily marketed towards children, making it impossibly hard for families to navigate their way through the supermarket aisles without falling victim to pester power,” she said.
Earlier this month, Lidl GB announced a fibre strategy that spans its entire product offering, setting out two key targets: by 2026, it plans to increase the tonnage of total fibre sold by 20%; and by 2030, boost the volume of wholegrains it sells to 25% of total grains.
This month the supermarket’s expanded plant-based range has also been rolled out nationally as it targets 25% of its total protein sales to come from these products by 2030 (from a baseline of 14% in 2021). Globally, it has committed to increase the share of plant-based food sales by 20% by the end of the decade.
A new climate plan, published in October, has also reportedly “heaped pressure” on its rivals’ net-zero roadmaps.
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