Lidl announces new healthy food commitment

Lidl has announced a new healthy food commitment, which will see the group increase sales of healthy and healthier products to at least 85% by 2025.

As part of the commitment, its teams will assess over 200 lines each year that can be “improved to meet the criteria”. Furthermore, Lidl will also be engaging with suppliers to ensure it boosts its “portfolio of healthier products”.

Lidl said its nutrition teams have developed a nutrient profiling system (NPS) based on Public Health England’s nutrient criteria for front-of-pack traffic light labelling, focusing on fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt. 

The group said this system will allow for the store to rank goods as “healthy, healthier or least healthy”. 

This comes as the discounter has invested in its ‘Get Fresh’ initiative, which aims to increase the range of fresh healthy products, like fresh meat, fruit and vegetables available to customers in-store. 

Lidl said the scheme, which is set to be complete in September, would prioritise “placing fresh, healthy products at the heart of customer’s store journey”, with new products located prominently at the front of the store.

The initiative is the latest move by the supermarket to promote a healthier lifestyle to its customers. In 2014, Lidl became the first supermarket in Britain to remove sweets and chocolates from checkouts nationwide.

Christian Härtnagel, CEO at Lidl GB, said: “At Lidl, we prove that eating healthy does not need to break the bank. Our competitive low prices across all our ranges, particularly fruit and vegetables, are marketing leading and ensure customers can access healthy food all year round. 

“Our healthy eating pledge is our most ambitious healthy eating target yet and is focused on helping families make healthier choices when they shop with us, without compromising on price.”