The Requirement
In October 2022, a new Government legislation for HFSS came into effect in England and Wales effecting the promotion and placement of certain food and drink products in retail stores that are high in fat, salt and sugar.
The main objectives of the legislation are to encourage healthier eating habits and reduce the consumption of unhealthy foods among consumers. By restricting the placement and promotion of HFSS products, the government aims to make healthier options more visible and accessible, ultimately contributing to improved public health outcomes.
As a leading provider of merchandising services to retail, The Midcounties Co-operative engaged RAS in order to provide them with a service that would ensure that changes to their stores could be planned and implemented prior to the legislation taking effect on October 1st, 2022.
The Service
Prior to go live, RAS carefully scoped the works and completed a number of trial stores to capture learnings that could be applied for an efficient roll-out.
Creating a rolling project delivery plan aligned to a principle of implementation week minus three, RAS provided a Project Manager to phase the schedule of works from store specific existing and proposed store layouts, allocating the appropriately sized teams to implement the changes.
Within the stores, the works comprised of category de-merchandising, fixture installations, equipment cleaning, re-merchandising and the application of shelf edge labels to final product locations. The full store schedule was completed on time and digitally signed-off by each store representative. This process would also capture our performance and implementation standards for KPI reporting.
The Results
Over a period of 3 months RAS completed the service specification in 46 stores across the UK. This was delivered across 425 shifts equating to 4650 of in-store hours plus 280 project management hours.
Project management was crucial in coordinating the logistics and ensuring that each store’s service specification was met efficiently. It involved scheduling shifts, managing resources, and addressing any issues that arose during the implementation. This oversight ensured that the project stayed on track and was completed within the designated timeframe.
Mid Counties Co-operative
“We worked with RAS as one of our merchandising partners to deliver the challenging HFSS re merchandising programme. This project was delivered on time and on budget. Throughout the project, we developed an open and honest relationship which supported the project communication, workload and standard of work delivered.”
John Russell, Store Development Manager | Mid Counties Co-operative