This myth about supermarkets putting junk food at the front

[SnufkinsSpiritAnimal]

Not here they dont.
And I live in a crap town.

Closest is a large Tesco. As you walk in you meet the pharmacy, baby stuff and greeting cards. Then a massive veg section, fresh meat, dairy. Then frozen, then breads and stuff, nuts, flour, and right to the back - the processed crap.

Our horrible little lidl. Same, huge veg at the doors, then fresh meat, then bakery, then dairy, most procesed crap at the back with frozen and booze.

Asda, same. Although the fresh bakery is pushed to the back with the processed goods.

Sainsbury's, massive veg as you walk in, dairy, fresh meat, etc. All packaged stuff towards the very back end.

M&S, same. Crap is at the back with booze.

Booths - huge veg and salad at front, although the ultra processed stuff here is next line along!
So Booths is dicing with it, really, possibly urges consumers to the back for fresh meat and dairy as they care about you getting your steps in

Whenever I read about UPF's online, both the UK and US always complain that the bad stuff is intentionally put at the front. Well, no. Even Tesco removed the tiny 'on the go' choc shelf from the front and slapped it at the back.

I'm not complaining, its a good thing!
I am moaning about the myth perpetuated that states otherwise. I am in the north west though, but have noticed similar in the midlands and north east.

The idea is that people feel all virtuous and healthy after putting some veg in the trolley and then think 'Oh, a treat!' once you've got past the dairy, meat and approach the sausage rolls.

lol, cynic

Yes people stock up on virtuous veg that then turns into fridge soup. Near the tills are the sneaky stuff...the chops etc.

Ah, I see that now, there are those side facing shelves near the tills, mostly frozen in these parts, though. Nothing too awful that I've noticed.

The 'virtue' idea has chilled me a bit..

It’s more near the tills where I live…

Every supermarket I have ever gone in has the fruit/veg at the front.

What pissed me off was during Covid.. when my local Tesco made people queue in store before they could even start shopping and the start point was in the booze aisle. Awful for people struggling with addiction.

There always used to be shelves full of single chocolate bars near the tills, this changed due to a ban in 2022.

They always used to put stuff like that on the end aisles not at the front. That’s where bogoff and offers go. However a while ago supermarkets all had to move stuff around as the government banned high sugar things etc from being on the end aisles. Our local Sains had to rearrange loads and put signs up saying why.
They also don’t have all the chocolate bars and stuff near the tills like they used to after so many parents complained.

After the actual boring food shopping that requires list and concentration comes the fun stuff: a little bargain here, a sneaky treat there...

All stores over a certain size have to follow 'HFSS' regulations (high fat, sugar, salt) which means products that meet certain criteria are not allowed to be displayed in certain zones. I.e within a certain radius of the entrance/exit, the tills and the aisle ends.

These regs are relatively new (last couple of years), I work for a big supermarket in the team that decides store layout and it was a lot of work!

Well let me say that Booths in Cumbria and the north west in general always have side facing shelves near the tills stuffed with sweets, chocs and energy bars.
Bloody Booths!

My local co-op didn't get the message. As you walk in, the lunch deal stuff is there but right in front of you is a stand of donuts and bags of traybake type stuff. Between there and the fruit and veg of the main store is another stand of Pepsi Electric, crisps, boxes of chocolate and pink fizz. And an icecream freezer.
After that it's just the usual arrangement.

That's interesting because little Spar's are horrendous for putting shit at the front, now that I recall.

Mm. Said co-op isn't tiny but it's not large, perhaps it's just under the designated size. Aldi and Lidl aren't much bigger.

Whenever I read about UPF's online, both the UK and US always complain that the bad stuff is intentionally put at the front. Well, no. Even Tesco removed the tiny 'on the go' choc shelf from the front and slapped it at the back.

Maybe you’re only reading US centric things. I’ve never heard anyone complaining about junk food being at the front of a supermarket, it has always been produce in the UK.

Junk food was usually placed near tills as a last minute grab, but that’s now illegal hence why it’s ‘healthy’ stuff there instead.

Your Tesco store is not being virtuous, it’s also illegal to have chocolate at the front which is why they have moved it to the back.

Supermarkets always have fruit and veg first don't they? I haven't heard of junk at the front.

I always think of the Eddie Izzard sketch about supermarket layouts. Fresh fruit and veg at the front so you think "this is a fresh shop. Everything here is fresh" you don't put loo roll at the front because then people think "this is a poo shop everything here is made of poo. I'm not shopping here, I'm going to another shop on Azerbaijan"

Thanks everyone, I didn't know they were working by rules, although had a vague idea. I wondered wy M&S and Tesco were always shifting stuff around...

Funny though that after assessing all of our local large stores, Booths is the worst for it.

God no, just NO to poo shops!

In response to those asking about whether it's US or UK, I have noticed it online when looking at nutrition and UPF's.
Many definitely are American but there are plenty on the UK reddit subs too.
Perhaps some people prefer to presume, rather than take notice.

It used to be that all the chocolate and sweets was at the tills so while you were waiting to pay you would be lured in but the law changed so now it's all bottled water, nuts and dried fruit.

Chocolate / sweets haven't been at the tills for ages.

I think this changed about 10 or 15 years ago, if you are young you might not remember but there always used to be chocolate bars and sweets etc right by the tills.

And painkillers. Loads of painkillers in my local Lidl.