Halloween 2022: Why spooktacular sales shouldn't come at a cost to our health

According to data from Kantar, more shoppers buy sweets in October than in any other month, with confectionery now outselling pumpkins in the run up to Halloween¹. Findings from The Grocer² highlight that in 2021, there was a 2.5% year-on year increase in value sales of confectionery and baked goods in the 10 weeks to 31 October and during the same period in 2020, a 6.9% rise was observed, despite predictions spending would decrease due to COVID restrictions³.

Therefore, with COVID restrictions now lifted for the first time since 2019, we would expect to see an increase in sales of these products. Despite this however, 2022 brings new challenges for many retailers. The worsening cost of living crisis saw food prices climb to a 13 -year high in July², with the Bank of England predicting inflation to hit 11% this year². Research from the Office for National Statistics⁴ highlights the changes in consumer habits as a result of the increased cost of living. Around 9 in 10 or 89% of UK adults in August 2022 reported an increase in their cost of living, compared to 62% in November 2021, with the highest reason (94%) for this being an increase in the price of their food shop. For those who had seen their cost of living increase, 35% had reported reducing their spending on food and essentials in an attempt to save money. Therefore, in the lead up to Halloween, it is expected that retailers will offer more focus on the 31^st of October, in an attempt to drive sales. Mondelēz, one of the world’s largest snack companies which features brands such as Cadbury and Oreo, state that it is this year “strongly positioned to help shops make the most of the Halloween season” reporting a growth of its Halloween portfolio, with a 42% year-on-year increase¹. There is also expected to be an increased offering of lower priced own label branded confectionery, to ease consumer hesitation and consumer desire for trusted value brands².

This comes at a time when:

• In Scotland, 15.5% of Primary 1 children are at risk of overweight and obesity, with a 6.8% increase in the overall proportion of Primary 1 children who are at risk of overweight or obesity between 2019/20 and 2020/21⁵
• 50% of the sugar we consume in Scotland comes from discretionary products. These are food and drinks that we don’t need for a healthy diet, such as confectionery, cakes and biscuits⁶
• Promotions in the UK now account for 34% of take-home food and drink expenditure⁷, and 27.3% of total take-home food and drink in Scotland encouraging individuals to buy more, regardless of income status and demographic group⁸
• Three in ten food and drink items are purchased on promotion in the UK encouraging unnecessary, unplanned and unhealthy purchases, increasing spending by 22%⁹
• In Scotland, 32% of calories were purchased on price promotion in 2018¹⁰

The report ‘Halloween in the UK’ by Global Data¹¹ found that in 2018, food remained the most shopped category – 75.4% of consumers purchased Halloween food products in reaction to widely promoted and discounted Halloween food products “bolstering impulse purchases." Four years on, the tactics of confectionery companies and retailers have not diminished, as we continuously see new yearly product line confectionery launches¹² designed to increase consumer spending on high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products. It is clear that this is only made possible due to a lack of restrictions on HFSS promotions. The Scottish Government held a new consultation on restricting price and location promotions of HFSS foods¹³, which closed on the 23^rd September 2022, to which we responded. Whilst there is a lot to welcome and support within the proposals, there are also areas where we want to see further action. In our latest price and location promotions blog, we discuss our key asks for policy action and highlight why action on HFSS promotions is urgently needed.

The arrival of Halloween 2022 has brought new challenges for retailers. As a result, the availability of HFSS foods seem to be ever more abundant, as retailers attempt to push the accessibility of HFSS foods through promotions and value-based lines. We strongly feel that the current economic volatility should be leading retailers to focus on the availability and accessibility of healthy and staple foods needed in our diet. In August 2022, we conducted public polling on a range of public health policy interventions intended to help more people in Scotland access and afford healthy diets. Despite recent social and economic challenges, the public recognised the need for good health and policies, with more support across all nine of the proposals compared to those opposed. People in Scotland are clearly aware that promotions in their current form do us more harm than good, and a large number of us would rather see promotional deals on healthier foods instead. Additionally, we urgently need to improve the food environment if we want to see improvements to national diet and health. For nearly 20 years, dietary targets in Scotland have been continuously missed due to widely available, heavily promoted and low-cost food which is high in fat, salt and sugar, with the commitment to halving childhood obesity by 2030 still far from being achieved¹⁵. For the health of our nation, children and families should be able to enjoy the celebrations of Halloween without the abundance of cheap and unhealthy foods.

References

1. Corbin, T. (2022). Mondelēz reveals 2022 Halloween line-up. Talking Retail. Available from: https://www.talkingretail.com/products-news/confectionery/mondelez-reveals-2022-halloween-line-up-28-07-2022/ [Accessed 20 October 2022].
2. Nicholls, J. (2022). How grave is the outlook for Halloween? Category report 2022. The Grocer. Available from: https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/category-reports/how-grave-is-the-outlook-for-halloween-category-report-2022/670034.article [Accessed 19 October 2022].
3. Obesity Action Scotland. (2020). More Trick, Less Treat: Halloween 2020 set to deliver spook-tacularly, despite restrictions. Obesity Action Scotland. Available from: https://www.obesityactionscotland.org/blog/more-trick-less-treat-halloween-2020-set-to-deliver-spook-tacularly-despite-restrictions/ [Accessed 19 October 2022].
4. Office for National Statistics. (2022). What actions are people taking because of the rising cost of living? Office for National Statistics. Available from: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/expenditure/articles/whatactionsarepeopletakingbecauseoftherisingcostofliving/2022-08-05 [Accessed 20 October 2022].
5. Public Health Scotland. (2021). Primary 1 Body Mass Index (BMI) statistics Scotland - School year 2020 to 2021. Available from: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/primary-1-body-mass-index-bmi-statistics-scotland/primary-1-body-mass-index-bmi-statistics-scotland-school-year-2020-to-2021/#:~:text=These%20have%20widened%20with%20the,in%20the%20least%20deprived%20areas. [Accessed 19 October 2022].
6. Food Standards Scotland. (2020). Situation Report: The Scottish Diet: It needs to change. 2020 update. [Accessed 19 October 2022].
7. Public Health England. (2020). An analysis of the role of price promotions on the household purchases of food and drinks high in sugar, and purchases of food and drinks for out of home consumption. A research project for Public Health England conducted by Kantar Worldpanel UK. London: Public Health England. [Accessed 19 October 2022].
8. Food Standards Scotland. (2022). Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on retail purchase and price promotion in Scotland: 2019-2020. Aberdeen: Food Standard Scotland. [Accessed 12 October 2022].
9. Coker, T., Rumgay, H., Whiteside, E., Rosenberg, G. and Vohra, J. (2019). “Paying the price: New evidence on the link between price promotions, purchasing of less healthy food and drink, and overweight and obesity in Great Britain.” Cancer Research UK. [Accessed 12 October 2022].
10. Food Standards Scotland. (2020). Monitoring retail purchase and price promotions in Scotland (2014 - 2018). Food Standards Scotland.
11. Global Data. (2018). Halloween proved a treat for retailers as 51.5% of UK consumers spent on the occasion. Global Data. Available from: https://www.globaldata.com/halloween-proved-treat-retailers-51-5-uk-consumers-spent-occasion/ [Accessed 20 October 2022].
12. Grocery Gazette. (2022). Spooky sweets and terrifying treats: the Halloween FMCG product round up. Grocery Gazette. Available from: https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2022/08/31/halloween-products-round-up/ [Accessed 20 October 2022].
13. Scottish Government. (2020). Restricting promotions on food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt. Available from: https://consult.gov.scot/population-health/restricting-price-and-location-promotions-on-foods/ [Accessed 20 October 2022].
14. Obesity Action Scotland. (2022). Our response to Scottish Government consultation on restricting promotions on food and drink high in fat, sugar and salt. Available from: https://www.obesityactionscotland.org/consultation-responses/our-response-to-scottish-government-consultation-on-restricting-promotions-on-food-and-drink-high-in-fat-sugar-and-salt/ [Accessed 24 October 2022].
15. Obesity Action Scotland. (2021). Our Manifesto for the 2021 Scottish Parliament Election. Obesity Action Scotland. Available from: https://www.obesityactionscotland.org/campaigns/our-manifesto-for-the-2021-scottish-parliament-election/ [Accessed 20 October 2022].