No more sweets and treats at supermarket checkouts? Intermarché is testing it out

Intermarché is testing the elimination of treats at the checkout in several of its stores. This announcement follows the publication of a report by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council that warns of the overall poor quality of the French diet . It also recommends, among other things, the end of the sale of sweets and snacks at the checkout.

It's an old battle. A year ago, it was the UFC que Choisir (French trade union) that denounced the presence of sweets at the checkouts of 86% of supermarkets, while in 2008, the then Health Minister, Roselyne Bachelot, had urged retailers to remove them. But in vain.

In other countries, the decisions have been much more radical. For example, a law was passed in the United Kingdom at the end of 2021 regulating the placement of confectionery in supermarkets. Coming into force at the end of 2022, it will lead to the disappearance of sweets from the checkout counters.

Intermarché is testing a few stores. They will be replaced with products, but without straying from the pleasure side, says Thierry Cotillard, the owner of Les Mousquetaires. There are already non-food products like books, magazines, and batteries.

But does putting a product at the checkout really have an impact on sales? According to several British studies, removing confectionery from checkouts reduced purchases of products consumed immediately upon leaving the store by 76%.

The second study even shows that by replacing boxed sweets with fruits and vegetables, sales of the latter increased.