Identifying and Understanding the Factors that can Transform the Retail Environment to Enable Healthier Purchasing by Consumers

Several systematic reviews of academic studies exist around aspects of this subject. Most studies are shortterm and have taken place in North America raising questions of sustained impact and transferability. Fruits and vegetables have been the main product focus, with interventions in the form of increased information and availability, and to a lesser extent price, being assessed. Much of the research has been undertaken seeking to enhance the position of healthy products. There is an argument that even if this is continued to a high level, the overwhelmingly obesogenic food retail environment would ensure that consumers continued to purchase and consume unhealthy products. Consumer ‘desire’ for unhealthy products has been encouraged and manipulated by the in-store retail environment