Written evidence submitted by Aldi (END0036)

Thank you for contacting Aldi regarding its policy on sales of energy drinks. Please find below the answers to the committee’s questions.

Why did you decide to rollout the voluntary ban on sale of energy drinks to under 16s?

Aldi constantly reviews its corporate and social responsibility commitments. This includes measures to help customers live healthier lifestyles.

In response to growing concern about the consumption of energy drinks among young people, we decided to ban the sale of energy drinks containing high levels of caffeine (>150mg/l) to customers under the age of 16, effective 1st March 2018.

How have you enforced the ban?

The ban is enforced using the Challenge25 principle which is in place for other age-restricted products such as alcohol.

A prompt alerts the colleague on the checkout that the product is age-restricted, and they are trained to ask for official identification if the shopper looks under the age of 25.

What has been your overall, as well as your staff’s, experience of enforcing the ban?

On balance, customers and our colleagues appear to be broadly positive of the policy. The Challenge 25 protocol is now commonplace for other products such as knives and alcohol, and customers are becoming increasingly aware of the policy regarding energy drinks and why we are doing it.

Colleagues have received full training on the policy and are aided by checkout prompts and updated price cards to remind them of the policy and the Challenge25 protocol.

How do you monitor compliance of the ban, ensuring that all staff are enforcing it?

Our system allows us to monitor the number of refusals made at the checkout, so we can ensure all colleagues are following the correct procedure.

In addition to this, we undertake refresher training every quarter to ensure all colleagues are fully up-to-speed on the policy.

Based on your experience of the voluntary ban, would you be in favour of a legal ban? If so, from which age?

We believe the voluntary approach is the quickest and most effective way of implementing change, rather than resorting to legislation. We hope other retailers join the growing consensus that the sale of high-caffeinated drinks should be controlled.

August 2018