We are committed to making healthy choices easier for our customers. In 2015, Woolworths and Countdown were the first national retailers to give away free fruit to any child shopping with an adult. In the last 12 months, we have given away $10 million worth of free fruit, which is equivalent to 20 million pieces!
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We will inspire our customers to consume all of our products in a healthy, sustainable way.
Healthier own brand
We are committed to improving the nutritional profile of our own brand foods. In FY17 we achieved:
FOOD AND HEALTH DIALOGUE
In 2009, we adopted the Food and Health Dialogue targets, a joint government and food industry initiative focused on reducing the sodium content of foods from nine commonly consumed categories. This year we met all targets when we completed a 20% salt reduction across seven hams and 30% salt reduction in Woolworths cheese slices.
BEST READY MADE MEAL
Judged by Accredited Practising Dietitians, Delicious Nutritious Beef and Tomato Casserole won the Healthy Food Guide’s Healthy Eating Award for the best ready meal category.
RETAINING THE GOODNESS
There are no artificial colours or flavours or MSG in any own brand foods. There are 1,000 tonnes more whole grains in 16 own brand foods.
INCREASING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Thanks to lower market costs, we’ve seen lower shelf prices for fresh produce, which has resulted in increased purchases. Berries are up 27%, Solano tomatoes grew by 70% and broccolini by 28% from last year. Customers are also buying more convenient options too, with single and double serve salad bowl and tub sales growing by over 25%.
HEALTHIER NEW ZEALAND
When the NZ government launched the Obesity Action Plan in 2016, the NZ team pledged to commit to health and nutrition targets. This includes nutrition renovations, at least one confectionery free checkout in 95% of stores, nutrition information on the website and health stars on front of pack. We will continue to provide free fruit for kids and healthy food inspiration through Feed Four for $15.
HEALTH STAR RATING
Over 80% of our own brand range has the voluntary health star rating on front of pack. That’s more than 2,000 products. Our customer research found shoppers like the simplicity of the health star ratings to make ‘at a glance’ choices. These ratings appeal to time poor shoppers and those less confident in their food health knowledge. Families see the benefit of making it easy to point out healthier choices to children.
EDUCATING TEAMS
We are showing our teams how to become healthy lifestyle advocates. Our internal health and nutrition events and communications help to give our team members the skills and knowledge they need to successfully shop and eat healthier.
NUTRITION EXPERTS
We have a team of accredited nutritionists to guide healthier product development, food labelling and communications. Transparent labelling, the removal of additives and an improved nutritional profile of our products help our customers to make better‑informed choices when shopping.
THE HEALTHY FOOD PARTNERSHIP
Woolworths is an invited member of Healthy Food Partnership, a joint initiative between government, industry, retailers and public health advocates to improve the dietary habits of all Australians by making healthy food choices easier.