OUGD505 - Studio Brief 2 - Primary Supermarket Research and Statistics

A research study was conducted in Tesco Express, Aldi, Morrisons and Home Bargains to determine what ratio of children opt for unhealthy food over healthy.

In a study completed for 1 hour 15 minutes at Morrisons;

• 5 young children asked their parents for either chocolate, crisps or sweets in the space of 15 minutes
• 7 children were seen at the registers with either a fizzy drink or a sugary flat drink (e.g. fruit shoot, juice boxes) compared to 1 seen to be holding water
• Only 2 children were bought fruit with their parents in a period of half an hour, this also seemed to be due to the parents instead of the children actually asking for the fruit.
• Vegetables were bought by the parents with children sat in the trolly which suggests that nutritious meals are being made at home. The bigger issue seems to be the processed snack in between meals.

In a study completed for 20 minutes at Tesco Express;

• Mostly students came in and bought fizzy drinks, crisps and chocolate with a few buying fruit
• 1 child asked parent for a sweet
• 0 Healthy snacks were bought for young children

In a study completed for 30 minutes at Home Bargains;

• 4 Jumbo packs of crisps were bought by adults with accompanying children
• 2 sweets and chocolate were bought for children by their adult
• There was not a fruit or veg section, the only healthy food came in tins

In a study completed for 45 minutes at Aldi;

• 4 Pieces of fruit was bought for children by their adult
• 5 Packets of crisp, chocolate or sweets were bought by an adult for their accompanying child.

In conclusion, their is a clear indication of the problem which is apparent within supermarkets and small convenience stores with some of the cheaper stores not having a fruit and veg section or fresh produce at all. Their is a few grocery and health food stores located in Leeds as seen by my research prior however, this is not where the problem lies. The issue originates inside the large supermarkets where packaged and processed food is the standard on the shelves. 

It was also noticed that chocolate, sweets and sugary drinks are located right next to the cash registers in some cases. On many occasions, it was here that the children asked their adult for sweets as they were stood in line to pay. This could be an aspect to consider when developing my own concept.