Lidl has called on other UK supermarkets to introduce design changes of fruit and vegetable packaging to make them more appealing to kids.
This follows the success of the discount grocer’s Oaklands Funsize range, which has seen sales increase by more than a third since the specially designed packaging was first rolled out in 2017.
While the collection features fruit and veg with names and cartoon characters such as Banana-Llamas and Tawny Tomatowl, Lidl is to remove cartoon characters on its unhealthy products by Spring 2024 to double down on its efforts to help children eat healthier diets.
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
As a result, over 14 different categories will be impacted such as sweets, chocolate and savoury snacks with at least 30 products getting a new look.
This follows the supermarkets removal of cartoon characters from cereal packaging in 2020 and as research shows that 68% of parents found child friendly characters on unhealthy food and drink packaging made it more difficult to feed their children a healthy diet.
“Our ambition is to make high quality, healthy food accessible to all, and the principal way we achieve this is through our best value prices. But we also recognise that there are other barriers in place, particularly concerning children, and parents are telling us that unhelpful packaging is one of them,” Lidl GB chief commercial officer, Peter de Roos.
He added that this is “simple” for supermarkets to change and its results “show the positive impact that these small changes can make.”
“We hope other supermarkets follow in our footsteps so that, as a sector, we can be confident we’re doing all we can to support parents in helping to improve the diets of the next generation.”
