Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has evaded confirming whether the ‘buy one get one free’ (BOGOF) sales promotion ban on HFSS foods will ever go ahead after the restrictions were labelled ‘idiotic’ and ‘bonkers’ by fellow MPs in the House of Commons yesterday.
Senior conservative backbencher Philip Davies rebuked the idea of a restriction on high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) BOGOF marketing strategy deals, describing it as a “socialist landmine” and contributing to a “nanny state”.
“During a cost-of-living crisis, it is utterly bonkers. So can I ask the Prime Minister if he will intervene, pursue a more Conservative agenda as (Mr Johnson) would want him to do, and scrap this ridiculous policy?” said Davies.
Sunak responded that he had already “postponed the introduction of this policy” before proceeding to cast doubt on whether the restrictions on promoting products high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) will ever be implemented.
The PM said: “No final decisions have been made, but I will continue to take what he says very seriously in all our deliberations.”
The national ban of BOGOF promotions on HFSS foods (those high in fat, salt and sugar) was set to be introduced last October (2022), but was delayed to October 2023 due to the cost of living crisis.
The prime minister’s choice to duck the question and sidestep confirmation about the introduction of BOGOF measures follows the government’s choice to also delay further HFSS restrictions – most recently, the 9 pm watershed ban on the TV advertising of HFSS products.
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Gordons partner and food and drink supply chain expert, Mark Jones, said: “The HFSS ban was meant to come into force in October 2022. However, the BOGOF element was delayed by a year until October 2023 and the ban on advertising was pushed back a year until January 2024. Now, there appears to be a real risk the BOGOF ban will not happen.
“Promotions account for about 40% of take-home grocery expenditure and it’s predominantly families – rich and poor alike – who buy products on promotion. Food and drink with a high sugar content is more likely to be promoted than any other category and the data shows that such products are generally more deeply discounted than other products.”
He commented, “It’s easy to see the financial benefits of BOGOFs to customers in a cost of living crisis. But, as we’ve seen with the ban on HFSS foods from the front of stores, it’s likely that brands would innovate to get around the ban and maintain volumes.”
The ban on BOGOF HFSS products was first brought to the attention of parliament in the form of regulatory policy committee’s consultations.
The initial 2019 consultations looked at restricting the type of promotion, the volume of promotion and the volume of checkout sales, but since then a flurry of HFSS advertising restrictions has been proposed – though none yet have been implemented.
Last month, Tower Hamlets became the seventh local authority to implement restrictions in its own estate, after the government failed to announce any measures regarding outdoor HFSS advertising.
