SGF Healthy Living Programme Guidance for promoting produce

1. BACKGROUND

The Scottish Grocers Federation (SGF) Healthy Living Programme was established in 2004 by the Scottish Government to encourage the sale of fruit and vegetables through convenience stores. These local stores provide shoppers with an important and easy way of topping up with fresh produce, especially for those on lower incomes or without a car.

The programme is still going strong today, delivering increased sales of 4 to 6% during the last 3 years thanks to materials and training to help retailers improve the presentation and promotion of fruit and vegetables.

There are now over 1,200 stores who have joined the Programme with the majority in low income areas.

The SGF and Scottish Government recognise, however, that beyond fruit and veg, a much broader range of healthier produce needs to be promoted if we are to improve the Scottish diet.

This guidance is designed to help retailers decide what foods they can promote through the Healthy Living Programme and how to do it.

These foods support the Scottish Dietary Goals which were developed with assistance from the Food Standards Agency in Scotland and can be found on the Scottish Government website^[1]. These goals will help to improve the nation's diet and in so doing help prevent obesity and a range of diseases including type 2 diabetes and heart disease.