Free digital copy
Get Speciality Food magazine delivered to your inbox FREE
Get your free copy08 May 2017, 05:28 AM
- UK shoppers appear to be confused about the impending sugar tax with none of the 500 polled in a Nielsen survey aware it only applied to soft drinks
Around eight in 10 of those who took part in the Nielsen Sugar Tax Survey 2017 were aware of the sugar levy, which will come into effect April 2018, but two-thirds believed it applied to sweets and confectionery.
59 per cent believed it applied to chocolate, 57 per cent thought biscuits, 56 per cent cakes, and 28 per cent did not think it applied to soft drinks at all.
Sophie Jones, senior shopper analytics consultant at Nielsen said, “Currently, there’s a huge misunderstanding about what products the sugar tax affects, so when it comes in, the government, manufacturers and retailers have an enormous education job on their hands to avoid unforeseen consequences beyond fizzy drinks.
“Most notably, in high-sugar categories where shoppers incorrectly think prices have gone up or, indeed, any other category where people may offset the higher price of fizzy drinks by buying less of other things.”
