Woolworths is rolling out a major change to how millions of Aussies shop for food in a bid to encourage healthier choices, but there’s a major catch.
The supermarket giant plans to introduce optional in-store trolley ‘dividers’ which shoppers can use to sort their groceries into five labelled compartments.
They are: fruit, vegetables and legumes, grains, meat, and dairy, plus a fifth insert for ‘sometimes’ foods, which are presumably for less healthy snack-type foods.
The trolley inserts appear to resemble bags to load groceries into – but they are not free and instead cost $35.
The divider, a joint initiative of Woolworths and pharmacy and wellbeing website Healthylife, is being released at a time when Australians are already under significant cost-of-living stress.
Woolworths reported that 182,000 Australians have signed up to use Healthylife’s Foodtracker app
The supermarket giant plans to introduce optional in-store trolley ‘dividers’ which shoppers can use to sort their groceries into five labelled compartments
The compartments in the dividers are for fruit, vegetables and legumes, grains, meat, and dairy, plus ‘sometimes’ foods, which are presumably for less healthy snack-type foods
Groceries have been among the essential spending categories causing households the most pain.
Food prices are still rising by double-digit figures with bread and cereal prices rising by 12.8 per cent and dairy product costs going up by 15.1 per cent.
Takeaway food and dining out costs increased by 7.7 per cent, while overall food and non-alcoholic drink prices climbed by 7.9 per cent.
In February Woolworths announced $907million in profits in for the first half of the 2022-23 financial year. Coles profits for the same period were $616million.
Both are due to announced full year results at the end of this month.
Healthylife claimed to have examined data from 900 million customer transactions at Woolworths, finding that Australians overall are not purchasing enough of their groceries from essential food groups.
The government’s Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend people eat from five food groups every day: veges, fruit, grains (including breads, rice and pasta), protein and iron-rich sources such as lean meat, fish, eggs and tofu, and dairy products.
Woolworth’s Everyday Rewards app includes a nutrient tracker developed by Healthylife which helps shoppers to monitor how much added sugar, salt and saturated fats they are buying.
Woolworths reported that 182,000 Australians have signed up to use Healthylife’s Foodtracker app.
In a promotional video for Healthylife’s 2023 Living Healthy Report, its spokesperson, dietician Simone Austin claimed Australians lost ‘5 million years of healthy living’ in 2018 due to ‘premature death and living with non-fatal illness’.
Ms Austin said the ‘burden of disease’ in Australia could be reduced because up to 33 per cent of disease is preventable, ‘by addressing modifiable risk factors such as diet, sleep and exercise’.
The goverment recommends people eat veges, fruit, grains (including breads, rice and pasta), protein and iron-rich sources such as lean meat, fish, eggs and tofu, and dairy products every day
Woolworths reported that 182,000 Australians have signed up to use healthylife’s Foodtracker app
The trolley dividers are among several programs and initiatives Woolworths has introduced in recent times.
It also added health star ratings on packaging of its own brand products and has reduced salt, sugar and saturated fat from its products while adding more vegetables and whole grains.
‘Last financial year, Woolworths Food Company removed 540 tonnes of saturated fat, sugar and salt from its products, and added 15,300 tonnes of whole grains and 2300 tonnes of vegetables to its own brand products,’ the company said on its website.
Daily Mail Australia approached Healthylife and Woolworths for comment.
The move to offer dividers for $35 comes as Australians struggle to keep up with the cost of living crisis.
Shoppers are spending on average almost $2,000 more a year on groceries.
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