Supermarkets under fire for price promotions that focus on fatty foods

A mini-row has broken out between the grocery retailers and the National Consumer Council over a report criticising supermarkets for offering too many sales promotions on unhealthy food…

The credit crunch is mentioned in almost every article in the newspapers these days.  This one in the Guardian describes how a small piece of market research by the National Consumer Council has highlighted the issue of sales promotions which encourage shoppers to stock up on “unhealthy” foods.  You know the kind of food - ready meals, chocolate, cheese - processed foods of all kinds.  The NCC found too few promotions encouraging shoppers to buy fruit and vegetables.

The article has some good examples in it for business students.  For example, you could use it to describe the sampling process undertaken by the NCC - visiting a sample of supermarkets in Sheffield.  The sample has been described as an unrepresentative snapshot by the retailers who come in for criticism.

Marketing analysis: the UK supermarket battleground [3 May 2012]
CSR - Ethics and Pay Day Loans [14 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Business & Interest Rates [7 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Business Cycle and Economic Growth [6 Apr 2012]
More perspectives on our changing shopping habits [26 Jan 2012]
Its Ethics, not Airfix you Plonker!! [5 Jan 2012]
Online marketing at children [19 Dec 2011]
Ethics - Coca Cola ‘Happiness is Home’ Project [13 Dec 2011]
Strategies to revive the High Street: Mary Portas reports [13 Dec 2011]
Marketing and the supermarket ‘price war’ [6 Dec 2011]
Empty Shelves at Sainsbury’s - You Decide! [27 Nov 2011]
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Gerald Ratner [27 Nov 2011]
Shoppers switch stores as income patterns change [11 Oct 2011]
Product Life Cycle - The Blue Peter Annual [22 Sep 2011]
Where there’s muck there’s brass [6 Jul 2011]
CSR and Business Legislation - The Bribery Act comes to town [5 May 2011]
Economic Environment: Debt bombshell [28 Apr 2011]
Discounters move into UK shopping malls [19 Apr 2011]
Strategy and bargaining power - food for thought [22 Mar 2011]
CSR - Insights from the Leader of the Revolution [14 Mar 2011]
CSR - How Transparent are the World’s Oil Companies? [6 Mar 2011]
Stunning Video - CSR, Ethics and Milton Friedman [26 Feb 2011]
CSR - keeping a CCTV eye on suppliers [4 Feb 2011]
Retail Meets Monopoly - A Business Lesson Cracker [5 Jan 2011]
2011 - A chance for retailers to slip in some sneeky price rises? [14 Dec 2010]
Business Pricing Tactics Under Scrutiny [12 Dec 2010]
Dominos Pizza - Growth & Strategy (Part 1) - Driving Competitive Advantage [26 Nov 2010]
Effective staff training - a cracking example [13 Nov 2010]
Profits up at Amazon - but so are costs [22 Oct 2010]
Sources of finance - bank loans down by £28 billion [15 Sep 2010]
Farmers v Supermarkets - the battle continues [19 Jul 2010]
The Dark Side of the iPad and iPhone? [26 May 2010]
The dangers of focus on one product [9 May 2010]
UK Recession - What Happened to Redundancies? [30 Mar 2010]
Pricing strategy in action - John Lewis (video) [25 Mar 2010]
Business ethics - good news for IBM, Intel and M&S but not so good for Ryanair [30 Jan 2010]
External influences - supermarkets reducing promotions on alcohol [23 Jan 2010]
Google in China: Business ethics, business sense or both? [15 Jan 2010]
Flight to value has its impact on the Charity Shops [12 Jan 2010]
Retailer performance - interactive resource [12 Jan 2010]
Amazon to move onto the High Street? [8 Dec 2009]
BOGOF becomes BOGOFL (or BNFNT) [18 Nov 2009]
Sainsbury’s and the electric vehicle superhighway [7 Nov 2009]
Halloween - packed full of business studies lesson ideas [3 Nov 2009]
Video Case Study - The Supermarket Bullies? [20 Oct 2009]
A bridge too far?  A classic case of illegal and unethical business [26 Sep 2009]
Providing What Customers Want? [16 Sep 2009]
Kick-start for retail business [12 Sep 2009]
The tills are alive with the sound of Woolies [3 Sep 2009]
Sainsbury’s and Diageo pitch in to battle [17 Aug 2009]
Own label brands profit from the recession [4 Aug 2009]
Playing The Ethical Business Game [17 Jul 2009]
Starter Activities - UK Retailers [9 Jul 2009]
Wonky Veg - Poor Quality or Just Cute? [8 Jul 2009]
Instore Takes a Pounding [6 Jul 2009]
Recession Bites - new food shopping habits [29 Jun 2009]
Snap, crackle and ... crumbs? Are cereal boxes toast, now? [22 Jun 2009]
Porter’s Five Forces hits the fish counter [10 Jun 2009]
Milk co-operative turns sour [4 Jun 2009]
The Life Of Big Brother [3 Jun 2009]
Spotting an opportunity - or poor business ethics?  You decide [29 May 2009]
Television suggestion - Blood Sweat & Takeaways [20 May 2009]
Video case study - the effect of deflation on businesses [19 May 2009]
Product life cycle - can independent record stores extend their life? [20 Apr 2009]
Q&A - Why is the cash flow forecast so important? [1 Apr 2009]
Credit Insurance and Retailer Cash Flow [6 Mar 2009]
Improving cash flow by reducing stocks [1 Mar 2009]
Q&A - What is revenue? [1 Mar 2009]
Sales promotion tactics change at Tesco and Asda [28 Feb 2009]
Price war on the way - with chocolate as the winner [13 Feb 2009]
Q&A - What is a brand name and what are the advantages of having a strong brand? [1 Feb 2009]
Working with suppliers - the grocery battle [30 Jan 2009]
Making a mint from “out-of-time” [15 Jan 2009]
Video Case Study - Product Life Cycle of the Standard Light Bulb [12 Jan 2009]
Retailer Survivors Like a Deep Recession [7 Jan 2009]
Fixed-price retailing takes off in the UK [4 Jan 2009]
A Great Overview of the UK Retail Sector’s Problems [4 Jan 2009]
SWOT analysis for Britain’s leading high street retailers [30 Dec 2008]
Measuring consumer spending and retail activity on the high street [22 Dec 2008]
Bracing ourselves for a series of retail business failures? [21 Dec 2008]
Shoppers desert the department stores for an online Christmas shop [19 Dec 2008]
A tale of two retailers with contrasting fortunes in the slump [19 Dec 2008]
Quick starter puzzles on the high street retailers [5 Oct 2008]
Small businesses and supermarket distribution [28 Sep 2008]
Is the latest supermarket “price war” just a public relations stunt? [19 Sep 2008]
Next up - Credit Crunch Part 2 [19 Sep 2008]
Lloyds HBOS is Born - One Extraordinary Day [17 Sep 2008]
HBOS on the brink of takeover [17 Sep 2008]
AIG is nationalised at the last minute [17 Sep 2008]
AIG on the brink of collapse [16 Sep 2008]
Meltdown Monday - The Nightmare Continues [15 Sep 2008]
Cash-strapped consumers flock to discounter Aldi [31 Aug 2008]
Price wars are the milky way for supermarkets to fight for market share [23 Aug 2008]
Insights into the private affairs of Britain’s largest retailers [13 Aug 2008]
Marketing mix - the online retailers have never had it so good [4 Aug 2008]
Comfort eating to beat the credit crunch [31 Jul 2008]
Cash flow problems could mean its a wrap… [26 Jul 2008]
Which businesses will benefit from the baby boom? [19 Jul 2008]
Credit Crunch - will you stay loyal to your favourite shops? [15 Jul 2008]
Heavy losses in focus at struggling Jessops [15 Jul 2008]

BUSINESS TEACHER RESOURCE NEWSLETTER
Get first news of business teaching resources, ideas and other materials from tutor2u. Over 9,400 business teachers from the UK and around the world receive our regular teacher email newsletters. Sign up for free here!