Cape Town - When Woolworths announced it was going to remove sweets and chocolates from checkout aisles, many consumers were delighted.
The retailer says it has finished the first phase of the initiative.
"All the sweets and chocolates in the checkout aisles in 104 stores have been replaced with better snacking options." says a press release.
"This includes a number of medium and small stores over and above new and large format stores. These stores represent 50% of total Woolworths sweets and chocolate sales and include our Canal Walk, Constantia, Sandton, Tygervalley, Gateway, Hazeldean, and Eastgate stores, to name a few," the release says.
Spencer Sonn, Managing Director of Foods at Woolworths. is quoted as saying the company is committed to "providing healthier options for children and parents at the checkout aisles."
Based on customer feedback and initial research groups, the sweets and chocolates have been replaced with options such as dried fruit, biltong, and nuts.
"Woolworths will continue to engage with customers to evaluate the alternatives that are placed in the checkout aisles going forward.." says the release.
"Woolworths now plans to implement the change in an additional 62 stores in South Africa and Africa by the end of June next year, representing 70% of total Woolworths sweets and chocolate sales and 50% of all stores.
"This means that 166 stores will have sweets and chocolates removed from checkout aisles by June 2016, with the remaining stores to be completed in a phased approach over the course of 2016/2017.
"Sweets and chocolates will continue to be available in our stores, located in areas where our customers have the choice to shop rather than at the checkouts.
IOL, adapted from a press release