Danish retailer Netto has said that the sale of fruit and vegetables is up by more than 10% across its newly-reformatted stores, while sales of soft drinks and confectionery are down.
The group measured sales in 50 of the stores that have been converted to the new Netto 3.0 format, which features 'more inviting' fruit and vegetable departments, as well as increased focus on food to go, such as ready-made salads, sliced vegetables and various juices.
Shopping Habits
"We can see that our customers buy differently in our newly renovated stores," commented Michael Løve, chief executive, Netto International. "In particular, fruit and vegetable sales have risen greatly. We are not here to act as a 'food police', but we want to make it easy for customers to choose healthy and inviting goods."
The group said that sales of soft drinks have fallen by about 1.5% in the renovated stores, while sales of confectionery, cakes and cookies have fallen by 0.5%.
"I am very pleased that with the new Netto stores we are able to contribute in some way to public health," said Løve. "We are constantly looking out for slightly healthier alternatives [to confectionery and snacks], which can make a difference, and which many customers also prefer."
Store Navigation
Other changes to the store format include improvements to store navigation as well as the replacement of the Netto 'yellow' with more subdued colours.
Netto said that by the end of this year, the number of converted stores will reach 80, while within a five year period, the group hopes to have converted all 500 Danish Netto stores.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
