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Premieres 3 November 2026 at 6pm UK time
Who's Tricking You? · Episode 15
Why the Chocolate Waits for You at the Till
Eye level is buy level, and the queue is where temptation lives. The Old Fox looks at a Cambridge study of nine UK supermarkets that took sweets off the checkouts, and the 2022 law that followed in England. Tip: take a list, and look high and low.
- A study of nine UK supermarket chains from 2013 to 2017 found that after checkout food policies were introduced, 17% fewer small packages of sweets, chocolate and crisps were bought to take home, and 76% fewer were bought and eaten on the go (Ejlerskov et al., PLOS Medicine, 18 December 2018; University of Cambridge news, December 2018).
- Since 1 October 2022, medium and large retailers in England with stores of 2,000 square feet or more cannot place less healthy food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt at checkouts, store entrances or aisle ends, or the online equivalents (Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021, legislation.gov.uk).
- The idea that milk is placed at the back of shops to make customers walk past other products is a popular theory rather than an established fact.
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What the fox said
Why is the chocolate always waiting for you at the till?
Because a supermarket isn't a room full of food. It's a route. And someone drew the map.
The old theory goes that milk sits at the back, so you walk past everything else to reach it.
Shops say it's about fridges and deliveries. Either way, it's a long walk.
Then there's the shelf. Retailers have a saying. Eye level is buy level.
The products they most want you to grab sit right in front of your nose.
And the till? That's where you queue, you're bored, and the sweets are at child height.
In 2018, Cambridge researchers studied nine British supermarket chains that took sweets away from the checkouts.
Purchases of small packs of sweets, chocolate and crisps to take home fell by seventeen percent.
Since October 2022, larger stores in England can't put most junk food at checkouts, entrances or aisle ends.
So write a list, and stick to it. And look up, and down. Sometimes the better buy is on the top shelf, or the bottom one.
The shop is laid out for its benefit. Walk it for yours. Keep your nose to the wind.
Sources
- A study of nine UK supermarket chains from 2013 to 2017 found that after checkout food policies were introduced, 17% fewer small packages of sweets, chocolate and crisps were bought to take home, and 76% fewer were bought and eaten on the go (Ejlerskov et al., PLOS Medicine, 18 December 2018; University of Cambridge news, December 2018).
- Since 1 October 2022, medium and large retailers in England with stores of 2,000 square feet or more cannot place less healthy food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt at checkouts, store entrances or aisle ends, or the online equivalents (Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021, legislation.gov.uk).
- The idea that milk is placed at the back of shops to make customers walk past other products is a popular theory rather than an established fact.
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