Major UK supermarket chains ASDA, Waitrose & Partners, and Aldi have joined the Peas Please initiative, pledging to encourage consumers to eat more vegetables.
Peas Please, a campaign launched by the Food Foundation think tank in 2017, hopes to reverse the declining consumption of vegetables throughout the nation.
According to The Food Foundation, 80 percent of adults and 95.5 percent of children aged 11-16 are not eating enough greens. The Peas Please initiative is working to combat this; as announced during the Vegetable Summit last week, it has delivered an additional 4.8 million portions of vegetables to the plates of the nation since its launch last October.
Joining the fight for a healthier nation, Waitrose has committed to recommending other vegetables every time a customer puts a vegetable in their online basket. “We believe there are few things more important than the food we eat,” said the supermarket’s nutrition manager Moira Howie, according to Talking Retail. “That’s why we’re committed to encouraging shoppers to incorporate a rainbow of veg into their and their family’s diets.”
According to Food Foundation, a “meagre” 1.2 percent of food advertising spend goes on veg, however, Aldi has pledged to run twelve dedicated TV campaigns to highlight promotions on fruit and veg.
The discount chain will also position vegetable offerings in higher footfall areas of its stores, improving their visibility. Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying at Aldi UK, explained, “Our new store layout dedicates more space for fresh produce…Working with Peas Please gives us the opportunity to help our customers increase their consumption of fresh vegetables.” She added, “We will also continue our work on developing recipe ideas to share with and inspire customers.”
The initiative already boasts the support of other supermarket giants including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, the Co-Op, and Lidl, all of which backed the scheme last year. Now, shops involved in Peas Please account for 82.7 percent of the UK grocery market share.
With Peas Please now extended until 2022, the organisation is keen to get as many retailers on board as possible and continue its mission to get the UK eating more veg.
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