Supermarkets

It has been a busy 12 months collaborating with supermarkets for the Nutrition and Lifestyle Analytics Team, led by Prof Michelle Morris. Firstly, Michelle and the team have moved from the School of Medicine to the School of Food Science and Nutrition when Michelle took up a new role as Prof of Data Science for Food.

Retailer collaborations have gone from strength to strength, supported by significant success in new funding from UKRI Transforming Food Systems (£1.6m).  Michelle leads a Data analytics work package within the FIO-Food (Food insecurity in people living with obesity) grant led by Prof Alex Johnstone at the University of Aberdeen.  This work will investigate the interplay between health, sustainability and cost within supermarket transaction data.  This will inform an in-store trial that will be evaluated by the team here at Leeds.

In addition the team have secured further funding for a sister project DIO-Food (Diet and Health Inequalities).  The Leeds contribution to this study is an evaluation of the recent legislation in England to restrict the placement of products high in fat, salt and sugar within supermarkets.  This project will se ethe team work with multiple retailers for the first evaluation of this legislation.

Thanks to all participants at the Healthy and Sustainable Diets Partnership Workshop at the University of Leeds on Tuesday 18th July 2023, whose contributions are represented in these images. The workshop was funded by a University of Leeds Engaged for Impact Prize and convened in collaboration with the Leeds Consumer Data Research Centre. Artwork Scribed by NiftyFox https://www.niftyfoxcreative.com/.

Further funding has been received for the IGD Healthy and Sustainable diets collaboration.  The last year has seen two further reports published for trials with LIDL and M&S, which build on the evidence generated from Sainsburys and ASDA in 2022.  The team have ambitious plans for the rest of the year and into 2024.

In June, the team shared results at the International Society for Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) conference in Sweden.  In collaboration with colleagues at the University of Helsinki they convened a well-attended symposium “A data driven approach to understand food purchasing behaviour and co-produce instore interventions to encourage healthier and more sustainable diets”.  The team were additionally represented at the Nutrition Society conference in Liverpool, in July sharing results on “Healthier swaps: evaluating the effects of in-store point of sale messaging to encourage choice of ‘healthier’ alternatives to popular products”.

Two research papers are now published:

A validation study of how well supermarket transactions represent self-reported consumption  “Supermarket Transaction Records In Dietary Evaluation” has been published in Public Health Nutrition.

“Supermarket top-up of Healthy Start vouchers increases fruit and vegetable purchases in low-income households” has been published in Nutrition Bulletin and results have informed the further rollout of this programme by Sainsbury’s.

Using funds from last years Engaged for Impact Prize money, the team convened a workshop with a range of stakeholders and colleagues to create resources to share ways of partnership working. You can find these here.

In collaboration with consumer group Which? Michelle and Consumer Data Research Centre colleagues developed the Priority Places for Food Index which has had wide reaching impact, including changing supermarket practices to make it easier for people to access affordable foods.

Healthy and Sustainable Diets Partnership Workshop, University of Leeds, July 2023

Thanks to all participants at the Healthy and Sustainable Diets Partnership Workshop at the University of Leeds on Tuesday 18th July 2023, whose contributions are represented in these images. The workshop was funded by a University of Leeds Engaged for Impact Prize and convened in collaboration with the Leeds Consumer Data Research Centre. Artwork Scribed by NiftyFox https://www.niftyfoxcreative.com/.