The Supermarket Front End

According to iRI, shoppers in the US spent $6 billion in the checkout area last year. That’s a lot of gum, magazines, candy and soda.

Stores, according to CNN Business, put small, cheap items for quick consumption nearest the register because they’re easier for customers to toss into their carts instead of, say, an eight-pack of paper towels. Bad example. But here is what is a good move. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has been pushing supermarkets since 2015 to push stores to change what they sell near the register. Top grocery chains in the United Kingdom have eliminated candy from checkout altogether. In the United States, Berkeley, California, passed a “healthy checkout” law in 2020 regulating which products can be sold near the register. Out: junk food, candy and soda. In: fresh or dried fruits, nuts, yogurt and sugar-free gum. The regulation, the first in the US, requires stores to sell at least 25 square feet of healthy items within a close radius of the register. “Berkeley’s historic action will build momentum for future efforts to improve the food retail environment at the state and local level,” says CSPI.

Good job – now lets keep expanding the concept to the rest of our supermarkets.