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Tesco hits healthy food sales target

The UK’s largest supermarket chain has achieved its target to increase the proportion of sales from healthier products to 65% by 2025.

Tesco hit the target at the end of last year, according to CEO Ken Murphy. “It has been a massive collective effort,” he told those gathered in London, UK, for the Sustainable Foods conference 2026.

Murphy now wants the company to “go beyond this” but acknowledged that each marginal improvement now becomes “progressively more difficult”.

He used his speech to press the UK government further on mandatory health reporting, and for this to be applied “across the whole food industry, including out of home”.

Reporting is due to be mandatory by the end of this Parliament in 2029. Whether this will extend to large fast food chains and catering companies supplying schools and hospitals is unclear.

In August, investors with holdings in major food companies threw their weight behind the government’s plan to mandate transparency on sales of unhealthy food by requiring food businesses to report and set targets on the healthiness of their sales.

Some companies are already disclosing their sales of food high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS), and have a sales-based target in place for healthy food, according to a report by The Food Foundation charity.

These include Aldi, Lidl, M&S, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose, as well as the food manufacturers Nestlé, Nomad Foods (the owner of Birds Eye), and Premier Foods (owner of Mr Kipling, Ambrosia, and other well-known brands).

Caterers supplying schools and hospitals, like Compass, Aramark, and Sodexo, are not yet doing this, according to the report. Neither are fast food chains like Domino’s, Burger King, McDonald’s, or KFC.

Tesco’s targets: Healthier baskets and supply chain reliance

Tesco’s target was set in 2021 in response to a shareholder resolution co-ordinated by ShareAction.

With 27% of the British grocery market, Tesco has an outsized influence on the nation’s health and its announcement was seen as a significant achievement for shareholder engagement on health issues, according to ShareAction.

Those observing Murphy’s speech suggested he had spoken out at a time when others are staying silent on sustainability issues.

For example, he put healthier baskets and supply chain reliance at the heart of Tesco now and into the future as his company, like every other, faced “a crossroads”.

The path for those following Tesco would head towards “sustainable, resilient food systems”, Murphy said. “Come with us on this journey.”

Other industry leaders also spoke of the need to change, with nutrition and health at the heart of the food businesses of the future.

Bel UK & Ireland managing director David Brandman called for a “reframing” or the narrative around snacking “from enemy to ally. Snacking is an opportunity to ‘top up’ on nutrition”, he explained during a panel to discuss how to encourage better eating habits.

Brandman admitted that he “had not had nutrition training in years”. Now, he and his team have all completed courses.

“It’s thanks to this that we are empowered to develop the right innovations and activations to come,” he told Ingredients Network. “[it’s] important for everyone in industry to hold up their hands and ensure they and their teams are trained on nutrition. The nation’s nutrition is [...] our responsibility,” he added.