The SGF Healthy Living Programme has been given a fresh new look with a new logo and a raft of new in-store POS and marketing materials.
Launched way back in 2004 as a partnership between the Scottish Government and industry, the SGF Healthy Living Programme (HLP) has made massive strides in helping improve the diet of Scotland’s consumers. Initially created to encourage the sale of fruit and vegetables through convenience stores, especially for those on lower incomes or without a car, the Programme has been an undeniable success thanks in no small part to the fact that it has been enthusiastically embraced by the Scottish local retailing community.
Part of that success in engaging with retailers is down to the fact that the Programme has always taken a pragmatic approach to working alongside retailers, accepting and acknowledging that the shift in consumption patterns it was hoping to drive would only work if the commercial concerns of retailers were also taken into consideration.
There are now more than 2,300 stores who have joined the Programme with the majority in low income areas. Sales of fruit and veg have also risen considerably in Scotland, up 6% in the last three years alone.
In recent times, the Programme has broadened the scope of its ambitions beyond just fresh fruit and veg and is working hard to encourage healthy eating in general, with yet more positive results. HLP Director Kathyrn Neil says: “Research shows that more than one-third of people are now eating more healthily than a year ago and half of all consumers are looking to consume more vegetables in the next 12 months, for instance.”
In order to build on the huge momentum behind the Programme, Neil has overseen a recent full rebranding and refocusing of the organisation. Neil comments: “We realised that the Healthy Living Programme needed to help make it easier for Scotland’s local retailers to sell a wider range of healthy products, not just fresh. To allow us to achieve this, we needed to make some fundamental changes to the Programme across five specific areas: staff, branding, POS, display equipment and social media”.
Consequently, Gillian Edgar has been promoted to a new position of Field Manager while two new Development Managers have been unveiled. Barrie Wilson has joined as Development Manager for the Central region and Anna Bonner has come on board as Development Manager for Glasgow. “Both have worked in the industry for a number of years so come with a wealth of experience”, explains Neil.
To give the restructured organisation a further boost, the Programme branding has been given a fresh new look including a new HLP logo and new in-store materials such as stands and POS.
“The new logo has been designed to broaden our focus away from just fruit and veg and onto a wider healthy eating agenda,” says Neil. “Similarly, new Healthy Living in-store stands have been created that can accommodate not only fresh fruit and veg but also other healthier products. “This allows the space to work much harder for retailers,” she says.
The new stand is similar in height and width to the current model but has double the capacity. It will be introduced gradually over the coming months although, due to financial constraints, existing stands won’t automatically be swapped out.
Embracing the new digital and social media age, Neil has also unveiled a Facebook page for the Programme for the first time which can be found at facebook.com/healthylivingprogramme.
