The cost-of-living crisis may be dominating headlines, but making products healthier and more sustainable is just as important, says Alessandra Bellini, chief customer officer at Tesco.
At Tesco, we serve millions of customers across the UK each week. We speak to them on a daily basis, getting feedback on everything from carrots to Clubcard.
This feedback and insight is essential to help us make the right decisions across the business, and over the last few years – as we managed the pandemic and supply chain challenges – it has been more important than ever.
Right now, we know that our customers are worried about the cost of a weekly shop, but the last few years have also put emphasis on the importance of a healthy diet and sustainable products.
Our mission is to make Tesco the easiest place to shop for a healthy, more sustainable basket – without compromising on price.
“The starting point must be affordability. With more than eight in 10 people reporting a rise in their cost of living, value is the number one factor that drives choice in our stores”
As we adapt to live with Covid-19, respond to the recent supply chain challenges and face the increased urgency of the climate crisis, it’s vital that we keep making the right calls on behalf of customers, communities, suppliers and farmers.
The starting point must be affordability. With more than eight in 10 people reporting a rise in their cost of living, according to the Office for National Statistics, value is the number one factor that drives choice in our stores and it’s essential that the products we offer are always competitively priced.
But we can’t stop there. With obesity levels rising among adults and children, the health of our nation must also be at the top of our agenda: 86% of customers want to eat more healthily, according to research by IGD, and 77% want Tesco’s help in doing so, according to our subsidiary Dunnhumby.
Our customers tell us it can be hard to change their shopping habits. They struggle for inspiration and confidence in creating a tasty, healthy meal and often believe making the healthy choice is too expensive.
At Tesco, we passionately believe that healthier food should be more accessible to everyone, no matter your budget.
We launched a partnership with Jamie Oliver as our health ambassador in 2018 to provide meal inspiration for easy ways to eat more veg. The 120 recipes we have created together so far inspire around 7 million customers every month.
Going forward, we’ll be using our powerful combination of Aldi Price Match, low everyday prices and Clubcard Prices to ensure that customers get great value, not only on the most popular products but also on the healthiest ones.
We’re working hard with our suppliers, successfully reducing fat, salt and sugars in our own-brand products, without compromising on taste or quality.
Our team of product developers and chefs continually find innovative new ways to make the products we all love healthier.
Since 2018, we have removed 50 billion calories across our range and by 2025, Tesco has committed to remove a further 50 billion calories and increase the proportion of ready meals that include at least one of your five-a-day to 66%.
Product innovation will play a key part in this and help us achieve our overall goal to boost sales of healthy products to 65% as a proportion of total sales – up from 58% today.
Innovation is also key when it comes to sustainability. We’re working closely with suppliers and start-ups to implement innovations into our supply chain to reduce our carbon footprint as swiftly as possible.
“Last year, the UK’s first commercial crop of vertically grown strawberries went on sale in Tesco – an innovation that uses 50% less water and cuts carbon by 90%”
Just this week, we announced our Innovation Connections initiative with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), partnering with our suppliers and sustainability innovators to trial and scale up their ideas in the real world.
Last year, the UK’s first commercial crop of vertically grown strawberries went on sale in Tesco stores – an innovation that uses 50% less water and cuts carbon by 90%.
But there is lots more to come. At Retail Week Live 2022, I will be sharing our latest approach from the partnership with Jamie Oliver to inspire our customers with easy, delicious and great-value recipes, taking some of the stress and guesswork out of whipping up affordable and healthy meals for the family.
I’ll also be talking about how we’re making healthier and more sustainable products easier to find in store and online.
For example, we are introducing new signage and messaging highlighting products that are high in fibre, snacks that are under 100 calories, or drinks that contain no or low alcohol.
Making it easier for our customers to shop for healthy and more sustainable products is so important. If every one of the millions of people who shop with us each week made one switch to a better basket, imagine the positive impact we can have.
As we like to say, every little helps.
Retail Week Live 2022: Time for radical change
Alessandra Bellini, Chief Customer Officer at Tesco, is among the speakers announced for Retail Week Live 2022, which takes place in London on May 24-25.
Join us on May 24-25 when we take Retail Week… Live! 120+ speakers will bring their stories to life on stage. They will reveal the nitty-gritty behind the headlines. They will open themselves up for questioning, not just by our editors but by you, our community.
Day one: Digital Transformation & Innovation with:
- Jo Graham, CIO, Boohoo
- Richard Corbridge, VP & Chief Information Officer, Boots
- Sean Hallows, COO, The Very Group
As well as Levi’s, Shopify and Alibaba.
Day two: People & Planet with:
- Karen Pflug, Chief Sustainability Officer, Ikea
- Alessandra Bellini, Chief Customer Officer & Executive Sponsor for D&I, Tesco
- Richard Walker, Managing Director, Iceland
As well as Ocado Retail, John Lewis & Partners, Nespresso and many more.
Together, our speakers make for a fierce group of leaders who will inspire you, and provide you with the practical tools to deliver radical change.
Register today with your 20% subscriber discount code: RWSUBS20
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