Supporting interventions for healthier catering: tools and resources for SMEs in the independent fast food sector
Lead Research Organisation:
London Metropolitan University
Department Name: Cities Institute
Abstract
This project builds on research on the independent fast food sector in London which has explored the potential for businesses to adopt healthier menus and catering practices and the effectiveness of healthier catering initiatives in encouraging these. A key finding from the research is the role played by local socio-economic and cultural factors in influencing business practice and the ease with which businesses are able to adopt a healthier business model. In particular businesses operating in deprived areas are very price sensitive and owner managers are reluctant to introduce healthier menus which might result in price increases and/or deter customers. Businesses were also constrained in what they could sell by the nature of the supply chain with many suppliers not stocking healthier varieties or charging premium rates for them. Nudges, such as moving salt shakers behind the counter, worked in some settings, but more research is needed to identify the contexts in which feasible behaviour change strategies are acceptable and to identify financially viable healthier business models that could be promoted, particularly in deprived areas.
The aim of this project is therefore to work with public sector health officials and policy makers who are at the forefront of developing interventions in this domain. These include the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health, the Greater London Authority Food Team, and a London-wide network of environmental health officers and nutritionists and their managers. The proposed Knowledge Exchange project is focused on addressing the following four key research questions as follows:
1) What type of healthier changes might fast food businesses adopt voluntarily and what are the barriers where a greater degree of intervention may be required such as legislation or intervention with supply chains?
2) What business models involving the sale of healthier fast food work for independent outlets - particularly in deprived areas?
3) How can businesses in the supply chain be encouraged to make changes to product formulation and marketing mixes that will promote healthier product varieties?
4) What behaviour change strategies can businesses (fast food outlets and suppliers) easily incorporate without risking loss of customers and profits?
To address these questions the project will undertake the following activities:
a) A telephone survey of healthy catering initiatives and work with suppliers conducted elsewhere in the UK to identify good practice and lessons learnt
b) Detailed interviews with fast food outlets in London to provide examples of good practice and/or trial changes, nudges etc. to enable an in-depth understanding of the business to be developed including its products/menus, market and marketing strategy, as well as barriers to the introduction of healthier changes
c) Work with suppliers to encourage product reformulation and new marketing strategies designed to encourage the promotion and sale of healthier varieties of products.
Outputs from the project will include a number of resources for public sector practitioners including:
i) The development of a number of case studies of businesses that have attempted to adopt new business models to include menu and product reformulation to offer financially viable healthier catering.
ii) Suggested healthier behaviour change strategies or 'nudges' that businesses can be encouraged to adopt.
iii) A guide for suppliers to include recommendations for product, packaging, and marketing strategies that are likely to lead to the sale and purchase of healthier products and portions.
iv) A briefing paper on key recommendations for policy
v) These all to form part of a web-based good practice toolkit located on the CIEH website
Dissemination events, held in conjunction with the GLA, and the CIEH will promote the toolkit to practitioners and policy makers throughout the UK.
The aim of this project is therefore to work with public sector health officials and policy makers who are at the forefront of developing interventions in this domain. These include the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health, the Greater London Authority Food Team, and a London-wide network of environmental health officers and nutritionists and their managers. The proposed Knowledge Exchange project is focused on addressing the following four key research questions as follows:
1) What type of healthier changes might fast food businesses adopt voluntarily and what are the barriers where a greater degree of intervention may be required such as legislation or intervention with supply chains?
2) What business models involving the sale of healthier fast food work for independent outlets - particularly in deprived areas?
3) How can businesses in the supply chain be encouraged to make changes to product formulation and marketing mixes that will promote healthier product varieties?
4) What behaviour change strategies can businesses (fast food outlets and suppliers) easily incorporate without risking loss of customers and profits?
To address these questions the project will undertake the following activities:
a) A telephone survey of healthy catering initiatives and work with suppliers conducted elsewhere in the UK to identify good practice and lessons learnt
b) Detailed interviews with fast food outlets in London to provide examples of good practice and/or trial changes, nudges etc. to enable an in-depth understanding of the business to be developed including its products/menus, market and marketing strategy, as well as barriers to the introduction of healthier changes
c) Work with suppliers to encourage product reformulation and new marketing strategies designed to encourage the promotion and sale of healthier varieties of products.
Outputs from the project will include a number of resources for public sector practitioners including:
i) The development of a number of case studies of businesses that have attempted to adopt new business models to include menu and product reformulation to offer financially viable healthier catering.
ii) Suggested healthier behaviour change strategies or 'nudges' that businesses can be encouraged to adopt.
iii) A guide for suppliers to include recommendations for product, packaging, and marketing strategies that are likely to lead to the sale and purchase of healthier products and portions.
iv) A briefing paper on key recommendations for policy
v) These all to form part of a web-based good practice toolkit located on the CIEH website
Dissemination events, held in conjunction with the GLA, and the CIEH will promote the toolkit to practitioners and policy makers throughout the UK.
Planned Impact
The project will benefit public health practitioners working to encourage independent fast food businesses to adopt healthier menus and catering practices. These include environmental health officers, nutritionists and other public health officials, who are at the forefront of delivering healthy catering initiatives. These staff will benefit from the project by being able to access a set of tools including evidence of good practice, case studies of behaviour change strategies and healthier business models, and advice on working with suppliers, that can be used to support their work with businesses. The resources developed by the project will be widely disseminated, via conferences, workshops, partners' networks and websites, thus ensuring that they are accessible to public health officials across the UK and beyond.
These tools will also benefit the businesses operating in the independent fast food sector by providing them with constructive ideas regarding ways in which they can adapt their menus or catering practices to offer healthier products without negatively impacting on business profitability.
In particularly encouraging independent fast food businesses operating in deprived areas to adopt and offer affordable healthier menus the project is designed to contribute to improving the health and well-being of local residents who are currently experiencing disproportionate levels of obesity.
The project will support the work of the London Food Team at the GLA, who have a brief to develop resources to support boroughs in dealing with fast food outlets and have begun mapping suppliers to the fast food sector in London. The project will assist them by identifying possibilities for taking upstream action to drive product reformulation, or changes to the marketing mix that suppliers can be encouraged to adopt. By enabling the fast food operators and their suppliers to voice what they see as the obstacles to providing healthier food the project will assist the GLA and other policy makers in being able to come up with genuinely feasible approaches.
Suppliers participating in the project will benefit from advice on offering and promoting healthier products which will place them in a favoured position with public procurement agencies concerned with the healthy catering agenda.
Policy makers operating in a range of areas will benefit from the lessons learnt from the project regarding successful behaviour change strategies with the independent fast food sector and its supply chain. The project will help determine where such strategies can encourage voluntary agreement with the independent sector to be reached and where more stringent intervention is required if a real impact on health is to be achieved.
The national remit and network of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) - a key partner in the project, will ensure that the resources developed and lessons learnt are disseminated to public health practitioners operating in central, local and regional government throughout the UK
These tools will also benefit the businesses operating in the independent fast food sector by providing them with constructive ideas regarding ways in which they can adapt their menus or catering practices to offer healthier products without negatively impacting on business profitability.
In particularly encouraging independent fast food businesses operating in deprived areas to adopt and offer affordable healthier menus the project is designed to contribute to improving the health and well-being of local residents who are currently experiencing disproportionate levels of obesity.
The project will support the work of the London Food Team at the GLA, who have a brief to develop resources to support boroughs in dealing with fast food outlets and have begun mapping suppliers to the fast food sector in London. The project will assist them by identifying possibilities for taking upstream action to drive product reformulation, or changes to the marketing mix that suppliers can be encouraged to adopt. By enabling the fast food operators and their suppliers to voice what they see as the obstacles to providing healthier food the project will assist the GLA and other policy makers in being able to come up with genuinely feasible approaches.
Suppliers participating in the project will benefit from advice on offering and promoting healthier products which will place them in a favoured position with public procurement agencies concerned with the healthy catering agenda.
Policy makers operating in a range of areas will benefit from the lessons learnt from the project regarding successful behaviour change strategies with the independent fast food sector and its supply chain. The project will help determine where such strategies can encourage voluntary agreement with the independent sector to be reached and where more stringent intervention is required if a real impact on health is to be achieved.
The national remit and network of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) - a key partner in the project, will ensure that the resources developed and lessons learnt are disseminated to public health practitioners operating in central, local and regional government throughout the UK
Organisations
- London Metropolitan University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Shift Design (Collaboration)
- Association of London Environmental Health Managers (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Greater London Authority (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Wandsworth Borough Council (Project Partner)
Publications
Bagwell, S
(2015)
Designing healthier catering interventions for takeaways in deprived areas
in Journal of Environmental Health Research
| Title | Video clips of best practice businesses and healthier catering initiatives |
| Description | Video clips of case study businesses and healthier catering initiatives produced as part of a toolkit "Encouraging Healthier Catering in Low-income Communities" |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Impact | The videos are being used by local environmental health officers and other public health officials to promote healthier catering initiatives |
| URL | http://www.ifsip.org/Takeaways_in_Deprived_Areas_Tookit.html |
| Description | 1. SIGNIFICANT NEW KNOWLEDGE GENERATED includes identifying: a) Key success factors for engaging fast food outlets in deprived areas in healthier catering initiatives. These include: i) focusing on a small number of manageable changes, ii) considering whether an award or a 'health by stealth' approach is more acceptable (in some areas promoting food as healthier is a 'turn-off'), iii) emphasising the business benefits (particularly potential cost savings) rather than the health benefits iv) demonstrating customer demand b) Types of healthier changes that can realistically be introduced by these businesses and key variables that influence these: A limited number of Healthier 4Ps: products, pricing, promotional, and placing strategies - including a variety of nudging techniques, work in certain contexts. Key contextual variables are both internal (owner manager and staff motivation, skills, business resources and type of food sold) and external (nature and level of local competition, characteristics of customer base, supplier constraints). For example, acceptable healthier swaps may depend on the ethnicity of the customer base. Thus rice can be substituted for chips by businesses in areas with a high Asian and/or Afro-Caribbean population. The use of salt is affected by cultural practices regarding different food types - hiding salt in kebab shops is easy but impossible in fish and chip shops. The research was able to highlight the need for a detailed understanding of the business and local context prior to the introduction of an intervention. c) A greater understanding of the complexity of the supply chain and how it affects businesses capacity for making healthier changes. For example the higher cost of healthier products and the provision of free fridges in return for them being stocked with their own branded (less healthy) drinks. Our original plans for work with suppliers were over optimistic; access to the one supplier we were able to engage with was only possible following intervention from the Mayor of London. This supplier was persuaded to promote healthier products more prominently on their website. However the research noted the constraints that suppliers also face (particularly lower demand and margins on healthier alternatives). Government intervention higher up the supply chain and in the form of more stringent regulation is required for a significant impact on obesity to be achieved. 2. NEW RESEARCH QUESTIONS include: • What can be learnt from transnational comparisons of effective behaviour change interventions in this field? • How to bring economic development and healthier consumption together via local authority action research on health promoting job creation - particularly in light of the multi-valent significance of independent takeaways serving low income communities? • The extent to which local authorities might be able to use their purchasing power to exert pressure on suppliers to offer healthier ingredients on more affordable terms? 3. The project has developed NEW NETWORKS; most importantly with the FUSE centre (http://www.esrc.ac.uk/research/major-investments/fuse.aspx) involving collaboration on their Transforming the 'foodscape' study and a presentation at their network meeting. Links have been established with Shift and we plan to evaluate the future roll-out of their Box Chicken initiative ( http://www.shiftdesign.org.uk/products/healthy-fast-food/) |
| Exploitation Route | Public Health practitioners: The project findings and toolkit developed are being used by those encouraging fast food businesses to adopt healthier catering practices. The case studies are particularly popular as they provide real life role models. Those establishing new healthier catering schemes have found the toolkit useful as it outlines different strategies for engagement and the contextual variables that need to be considered. Policy makers: The project has identified some viable healthier fast food business models, but also the barriers to change which we argue can only be overcome through government intervention, for example around the use of oil high in transfats, fizzy drinks and portion sizes. We have raised these issues with Public Health England at conferences and workshops and in our policy webinar. Our research fits in well with the revival of policy interest in interventions that adopt a whole systems approach to tackling obesity and we are currently engaged in tendering for studies in this area. Academic routes. The research has helped unpick the contextual factors which impact on the viability of behaviour change strategies and has contributed to debates on the effective regulation (voluntary, nudging, legislation) of SMEs. Both areas offer scope for further research. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Healthcare,Retail |
| URL | http://www.citiesinstitute.org/projects/healthy-catering-commitments-for-smes.cfm |
| Description | EMERGING ECONOMIC AND SOCIETAL The project has resulted in three key impacts: 1) It has encouraged major suppliers to the independent fast food sector to make healthier products more accessible to their customers. Our research identified that some of the barriers fast food operators face in adopting healthier practices are due to suppliers, who tend to charge more for healthier options and not promote them effectively. Following our intervention with one of the major suppliers to the sector (JJ Food Supplies) this supplier made a number of changes to its pricing and marketing policy to encourage the purchase of healthier options instead of the less healthy alternatives. This included promoting healthier rapeseed oil, healthy frying tips and pricing its own branded Julienne, 3/8 inch and steak cut chips at the same price. These promotions are still in place 12 months after our intervention. JJs has also now agreed to give discounts to businesses with the Healthier Catering Commitment (HCC) award when they purchase healthier options. A further supplier (Makro) has subsequently agreed that its healthier options can be branded with the HCC logo. These 'nudges' should encourage businesses to opt for the healthier choices. 2) It is contributing to the design of new local authority intervention strategies for working with the out of home food sector The Encouraging Healthier Takeaways in Low-income Communities toolkit developed by the project has provided policy makers with an analysis of the different strategic approaches that can be adopted with independent businesses in the fast food sector. Prior to our research there was limited understanding of the barriers businesses face in adopting healthier catering practices. Many healthier catering inventions had had limited success with fast food outlets, particularly in more in deprived areas. As a result they were doing little to impact on the health of the most deprived communities or address health inequalities. Our project has particularly emphasised the need to understand the business perspective if interventions are to be effective. It has identified some of the changes that are viable in these contexts and the intervention strategies that are most likely to work. These include interventions which draw on behavioural insights and 'nudging' techniques and we have been able to demonstrate how these approaches show some promise but are often context specific and do not necessarily offer a cheaper alternative to other forms of intervention. The approaches we have outlined are being embraced by public health departments across the UK and are informing the design of new interventions (see below for details). As a result of the project's dissemination activities and the increasing profile of our work in this area we have been asked by two local authorities to work with them on developing new interventions. These includes a Stealthier Fast Food study for LB Tower Hamlets which is investigating the feasibility of fast food outlets adopting 'health by stealth' approaches to encourage healthier consumption by young people, and a contract for LB Hackney into the feasibility of local retail outlets adopting changes which might encourage the purchase of healthier food items. Both contracts are designed to develop a model which can be rolled out with businesses across the respective boroughs. 3) It has improved the effectiveness of public health staff who are working to promote healthier catering practices amongst local fast food businesses Fast food outlets in deprived areas offer some of the least healthy type of food and are also the hardest to engage in the healthier catering agenda. The toolkit developed by the project is novel in recognising the business barriers to change and in outlining ways in which these can be overcome and healthier practices adopted without compromising the profitability of the business. It sets out approaches (identified from the UK wide survey undertaken for the project) that can be effective in persuading such businesses to adopt healthier catering practices. These are supported by a set of best practice case studies and video clips that were requesting by public health practitioners during the design of the project and which provide practical real life examples that local businesses can identify with and follow. As a result of the project public health staff are better equipped to work with some of the most hard to reach and least healthy fast food businesses. HOW THE FINDINGS FROM THE PROJECT ARE BEING USED The findings of the project are being used by public health policy makers, practitioners, fast food businesses and their suppliers. The toolkit developed by the project has been widely promoted as good practice advice by a number of national and regional government bodies who feature and provide links to it on their website. For example the Department of Health has posted the toolkit on its Responsibility Deal website (https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/new-toolkit-to-encourage-healthier-fast-food-in-low-income-areas-2/ ) alongside other advice on healthier catering tips that are promoted nationally. This has attracted 414 page views and 277 unique page views. The toolkit has also been posted on the website of the Greater London Authority, Wales NHS, and the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH), the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Institute of Food Safety Integrity & Protection (TiFSiP) and the Healthy Places website. It has been highlighted in key national and regional reports including the Mayor of London's response to the London Health Commission (2014), The Good Food for London Report (2014), and the Royal Society for Public Health's report Health on the High Street (2015). Active promotion of the toolkit and webinar via the project partners' networks and websites and at several dissemination events including the Annual Conference of the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health in Nottingham, a meeting of the Association of London Environmental Health Officers in London, and at the toolkit launch at City Hall in London, has raised awareness of the research findings. Feedback from policy makers and practitioners suggests that the toolkit and the policy webinar are helping them reflect on issues that need to be considered when designing interventions to work with the fast food sector, particularly in deprived areas. It has promoted some boroughs which already have healthier catering initiatives to acknowledge that their schemes may need to be modified if they are to have an impact on these type of businesses. At least four local authorities, to date, have drawn on the toolkit when developing their own healthier catering schemes. For example Essex County Council has incorporated many of the strategies and behaviour change techniques that the toolkit suggests in its new Tuck in Toolkit and we were invited to speak at the launch of this. Wolverhampton City Council have, "taken into consideration the case studies and lessons learned," and Stoke on Trent City Council have used it as a guide to promote their Healthy Eating Project. Slough Borough Council reported that it was planning to follow the guidance in the toolkit during a new pilot project with takeaways. Feedback on the toolkit from over 20 local authorities from across the UK suggests that it is being actively used to support public health staff working with businesses to encourage healthier catering practices. Comments have included: "We are using it to demonstrate ways in which adopting a healthier menu would save the business money" (Kettering Borough Council). "It contains some really helpful tips, and it's good to read about other schemes across the country too". (London Borough of Bexley) "It gives officers in the team ideas on how to encourage business uptake of healthier catering practices" (London Borough of Islington). "Hoping to run another workshop with local businesses and this time play some of your case studies to demonstrate that 'people like them' can successfully make changes without compromising taste, losing customers, little or minimal cost impact etc. " (London Borough of Haringey) " I plan to use them (the toolkits) at event days - such as our award ceremonies, training sessions and to those who enquire about our scheme here and 1-1 when I visit places that would benefit from a written book and also help direct them to the web site" (London Borough of Tower Hamlets) The video clips of best practice case studies that are embedded within the toolkit have become a training resource in their own right and have been used at at least three events. This includes the launch of Essex County Council's new healthier catering scheme, a ceremony run by organisers of the Eat Out Eat Well (EOEW) scheme in Bath and N.E Somerset for businesses that had received the EOEW award, and at the Haringey's Healthy Schools meeting organised by the local Public Health Directorate. Feedback from these events suggests that the videos are seen as particularly valuable as they provide real life examples that businesses can relate to and they are more likely to adopt similar healthier practices as a result. CHALLENGES OVERCOME TO ACHIEVE IMPACT Engaging with suppliers was particularly challenging. Initial difficulties in meeting the main London supplier to the independent fast food sector (JJ Food Supplies) were finally overcome by persuading the Mayor of London to intervene. Encouraging many of the least healthy fast food businesses in deprived areas to adopt healthier menus and catering practices still remains very challenging and time consuming. We have argued in our dissemination activities and our webinar that as well as intervention along the supply chain government intervention in the form of taxation for unhealthy products and/or subsidies for healthier ones may also be required for a greater impact on public health to be achieved. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Education,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Retail |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | Citation as a case study of good practice in the Mayor of London's response to the London Health Commission |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/gla_migrate_files_destination/Mayor%27s%20response%20t... |
| Description | Citation in Good Food for London 2016 on how London boroughs can help secure a healthy and sustainable food future |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://www.sustainweb.org/publications/good_food_for_london_2016/ |
| Description | Encouraged key supplier to promote healthier options |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The project's work with suppliers has been continued by our partners and as of 2016 the key supplier to the fast food sector in London (and much of the SE) has agreed to promote healthier options to their customers at competitive prices. Food outlets who purchase items from a list of designated healthier products will receive a 10% discount on their order if they have also signed up to the Healthier Catering Commitment award scheme. This scheme encourages businesses to make a number of healthier changes to their menus and cooking practices. This deal effectively 'nudges' businesses towards signing up for the HCC as well as encouraging them to purchase healthier options. This should lead to improvements in the nutritional quality of the food sold and thus public health benefits. |
| URL | https://www.jjfoodservice.com/Content/PDFs/Brochure-HealthierEating.pdf |
| Description | Influence on the design of interventions with the out of home food sector |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Description | Links to toolkit posted on Bath and North East Somerset Council website |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Staff operating the Eat Out Eat Well healthier catering scheme in Bath and Somerset reported that they were using the videos in our toolkit at business engagement and training events to demonstrate to businesses how they could make simple healthier changes to their menus and catering practices. Thus the toolkit was providing them with resources to improve the effectiveness of their work with businesses, leading to greater business take up of their intervention and thus public health benefits in the form of healthier food offerings |
| URL | http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/environment/food-safety/eat-out-eat-well |
| Description | Policy with respect to healthier catering and takeaways |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Posted on Department of Health's Responsibility Deal Website |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/new-toolkit-to-encourage-healthier-fast-food-in-low-income-area... |
| Description | Toolkit produced by project citied on NICE website |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/document?ci=http%3a%2f%2fwww.citiesinstitute.org%2ffms%2fMRSite%2fResear... |
| Description | Development of a Healthier Retail Model for Hackney |
| Amount | £9,016 (GBP) |
| Organisation | London Borough of Hackney |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2016 |
| End | 06/2016 |
| Description | Local out-of-home food and drink toolkit specification |
| Amount | £42,770 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Public Health England |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2015 |
| End | 04/2017 |
| Description | Stealthy Food Feasibility Study |
| Amount | £64,740 (GBP) |
| Organisation | London Borough of Tower Hamlets |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2015 |
| End | 07/2017 |
| Description | ALHEM: Encouraging Healthier Catering amongst Takeaways in Deprived Areas |
| Organisation | Association of London Environmental Health Managers |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The research team have identified best practice in working with takeaways in deprived areas to encourage healthier catering practices. This has highlighted some of the policy and management issues that need to be considered when designing a healthier catering initiative in this context. The key findings were presented to a meeting of the managers of Environmental Health Departments and members of ALHEM on 24th April 2014 |
| Collaborator Contribution | The secretary of ALEM has provided input to the research design in particular wrt contacting businesses to interview, and has provided a link to local authority policy and practice in this area thereby ensuring that the research and its findings remained relevant to practitioners |
| Impact | A toolkit;Encouraging Healthier Takeaways in Low-income Communities, has been developed |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | CIEH: Encouraging Healthier Catering amongst Takeaways in Deprived Areas |
| Organisation | Chartered Institute of Environmental Health |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The research team have: 1) developed a toolkit to support those involved in encouraging fast food outlets in deprived areas to develop healthier menus and catering practices. Most of these public health professionals are environmental health officers. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health is their professional body 2) Identified the skills and knowledge needs of CIEH members required for working with fast food takeaways in deprived areas 3) Identified implications for policy which the CIEH has been able to take forward |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners have: - Provided links to local authorities operating healthier catering initiatives across the UK - vital for our national survey for this project - Provided links to policy makers (DoH, PHE) - Provided input into the research design and development of the toolkit and policy webinar - Helped disseminate the findings of the project and the toolkit via emails to their national membership base, providing a platform for the PI at their national conference, promoting the project through the new Institute of Food Safety, Integrity & Protection (IFSIP) website, publishing a piece about the project in the IFSIP newsletter FoodPulse - Feeding back policy recommendations to their contacts at the Department of Health and Public Health England |
| Impact | A toolkit to support those involved in encouraging fast food outlets in deprived areas to develop healthier menus and catering practices has been developed. A policy webinar highlighting the policy implications of the project will be completed within the next two weeks and will be hosted on the IFSIP website We have won a contract (2016) in conjunction with this partner and the Childrens Food Trust to produce a toolkit for Public Health England designed to support local authorities work with independent businesses in the 'out of home' food sector. This builds directly on the work of our ESRC project |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Development of Behaviour Change projects with Shift Design |
| Organisation | Shift Design |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We are providing academic input to the design of behaviour change interventions with businesses in the fast food sector and local convenience stores |
| Collaborator Contribution | They are a social enterprise specialising in the application of behaviour insights to societal problems. They are engaged in the delivery of interventions to tackle the obesogenic environment whilst we are contributing our academic knowledge and experience of undertaking research with fast food outlets |
| Impact | Two consultancy studies listed under financial income |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | GLA: Work with Suppliers |
| Organisation | Greater London Authority (GLA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The research team have undertaken work to support the work of the GLA in encouraging suppliers to offer healthier food at affordable prices. Our work has included: 1) Identifying what sucessful interventions with suppliers have been undertaken in other areas of the UK 2) Identify key suppliers to the independent fast food sector in London 3) Providing evidence on the key supplier to the sector in London (JJ Food Supplies) and working with this supplier to encourage them to promote healthier options more prominantly |
| Collaborator Contribution | The GLA persuaded the Mayor of London to sign a letter requesting a meeting with JJ Food Supplies thereby enabling us to gain access to the company and start working with them The GLA has also promoted the project and its findings through its networks They provided the use of City Hall for the launch of the toolkit developed by the project |
| Impact | A major London Supplier has been persuaded to promote healthier options and alter their pricing strategy to encourage the purchase of these A briefing for suppliers has been produced Since the end of the project our partners have continued to work with this supplier (JJ Food Service) and others. JJs have launched a healthier products brochure and offer a 10% discount on these products to food outlets that have achieved the London Healthier Catering Committment (HCC) award. This is 'nudging' fast food outlets to purchase healthier products and sign up to the HCC. The initiative was launched at an event at City Hall attended by circa 75 people on 11th February. This behaviour change strategy will be written up as a case study as part of the toolkit we are now producing for Public Health England |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Article for Food Pulse - online magazine of the Institute of Food Safety, Integrity and Protection |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Too early to say - publication was only at end of Oct 2014 Too early to say |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.ifsip.org/Expert_Spotlight_Sue_Bagwell.html |
| Description | Conference workshop presentation (Tackling Poor Diets: :Encouraging healthier catering amongst fast food takeaways in low income communities) given at annual CIEH conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked discussion and questions One practitioner reported that having listened to the talk it had changed his view on what was a viable strategy for a healthier catering scheme in his local authority area and that he would delay introducing this until our toolkit was published |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.cieh.org/NationalConference_Day2_Presentations.html |
| Description | Encouraging Healthier Takeaways in Low-income Communities: Toolkit Launch 21st Oct, City Hall, London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked quesitons, debate and discussion afterwards. It also provided an important networking opportunity between policy makers and practitioners. The event was opened by Rosie Boycott, Chair of London Food Board and the research team shared a platform with Paul Plant, Deputy Director for Health Improvement, Public Health England thus providing opportunity to influence the thinking of both bodies Several participants requested further details of the toolkit |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Fuse/IHS Knowledge Exchange Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I was a keynote speaker at this quarterly regional network meeting presenting the key outcomes of the ESRC project. The presentation sparked a lively discussion around engaging with takeaways, viable healthier changes they could make, feasible interventions and what government policy should be. Following the presentation I joined the planning meeting of the NIHR funded project 'Transforming the Foodscape' which has been undertaking research in a related area and thus links with their key research team were cemented |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Launch of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire 'Tuck In' Healthier Catering Award Scheme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Christmas network meeting of the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire branch of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. I was invited as the keynote speaker. There was particular interest in working with takeaway outlets in deprived areas and several participants volunteered that they would make good use of our toolkit |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Launch of the Essex 'Tuck In' Healthier Catering Initiative |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Essex County Council developed a new healthier catering initiative targeted at the out of home food sector and drew extensively on the research findings and recommendations of our project. I was asked to give a keynote presentation about the project at the launch of the new scheme. The presentation sparked particular discussion on effective strategies for engaging with takeaway businesses |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Paper ( Encouraging Healthier Catering Practices Amongst Independent Fast food Takeaways in Deprived Ares) presented at Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship conference 5th-6th November Manchester, 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Paper sparked debate and questions Fellow academics working on related areas notified me of future research funding possibilities |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | https://www.eventsforce.net/isbe/frontend/reg/tDailyAgenda.csp?pageID=16070&eventID=45&eventID=45 |
| Description | Paper presented at the 11th International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) 2014 "Crossing Boundaries: Partnerships for Global Urban Health" 4 - 7 March 2014 Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Presentation sparked debate and interest in the topic and our project The presentation led to contact with staff from the New York Academy of Medical Science. They will be visiting London Metropolitan University in Feb 2015 to share learning regarding policy developments in NY and London designed to address the impact of unhealthy food environments on children |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Presentation at BSA Food Studies conference in London 30th June 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talked sparked interest and links with those working in related areas A researcher working on similar issues in Scotland asked to be kept in contact and to attend project toolkit launch at the end of the project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.britsoc.co.uk/media/69633/programme_final.pdf?1415720069539 |
| Description | Presentation to the Association of London Environmental Health Managers 24th April 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and interest in strategies for working with takeaways in deprived areas After the talk participants asked for further information about the research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Presentation to the London Healthier Catering Comittment Network 5th Dec, 2013 and 8th July 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked discussion and incouraged others to join the project Tools (especially videos) produced by the project were used to promote healthier catering initiatives at the local authority level |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Seminar:(Healthier Takeaways: a bumpy voyage going upstream) for the BSA Food Studies Group 1 October 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked debate Led to requests for further information and for Prof Eileen O'Keefe (Co-I) to contribute to a lecture series |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Workshop on "Working across the food environment: How can local authorities actively influence the types of food available in their locality?" held at Whole Systems Obesity National Conference 18th October 2016, Leeds Town Hall |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We were asked to present the key strategies outlined in the PHE funded toolkit we are developing for local authorities on working with food businesses in the out of home food sector. Two workshops were held at the Whole systems approach to obesity conference organised by Leeds Beckett University as part of the 3 year PHE funded project they are running. the event was attended by representatives from local authorities from across the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/wholesystemsobesity/national-conference-2016/ |