No more candy at checkout?

German food discounter Lidl is currently experimenting with eradicating sweets from the checkout in some of its German stores. In Great Britain, the store  has dispensed with these impulse purchases at checkout since January 2014 in its 600 stores. Instead of chocolate, candy, chewing gum and toy-filled surprises that tempt children into the "I-want-it!" whining, the stores now stock nuts, fruit and fruit juices at the cash registers in its British discount stores. And apparently with success. Since the changeover, sales of healthy alternatives have risen and the number of customers has also increased rapidly. Anyone who has to go shopping with children, and knows only too well the tiresome discussions in front of candy shelves, will not be surprised. In many other countries, too, parents would very much welcome this change.

European advocacy group "Foodwatch" called on Germany's Lidl to follow the example of Great Britain without a test phase. Given the fact that children already eat twice as much sweets as they should, the question really arises as to what there is to test here. As the example from Great Britain shows, even economic reasons do not impede such a change. So it is high time that the "whining ware" also disappears from the checkout areas in other countries, too.