Active Living

July 1, 2021

Healthy Supermarkets – Reach for the Stars

Project details:
Project commencement: July 1, 2021
Funded by: The Latrobe Health Assembly
Project delivered by: Latrobe Community Health Services

Project summary:

Obesity and poor diets have been linked to many chronic diseases and decreased life expectancy. 73.3% of adults living in Gippsland, which includes Latrobe City, are considered overweight and obese. Almost 32% of adults living in Latrobe City are categorised as obese (BMI≥30), significantly higher than the Victorian average of 21.3%.

The Latrobe Community Health Service (LCHS), Latrobe Health Assembly (LHA) and participating supermarkets worked in partnership on the flagship Healthy Supermarkets project named Reach for the Stars. Reach for the Stars is a promotional campaign designed to assist supermarket shoppers to find healthy food options by placing attractive materials around the stores to help identify foods that have a Health Star Rating of four-to-five.

An eight-week trial was held from August – October 2022 at IGA supermarkets in Morwell, Glengarry and Moe, displaying a variety of promotional messages in- store designed to encourage healthy food options. Following the success of the trial, an additional two stores signed onto the project for the second phase. A series of codesign workshops were held with store owners and managers to design new interventions that are currently being trialled.

Look for the Health Star Rating in-store

‘Reach for the Stars’ aims to create a shopping experience that helps customers to buy, cook and eat healthy foods, every day.

In participating supermarkets you will see:

All fresh fruit and vegetables are 5 stars!
Health Star Rating shelf tags on products rate 4 or above
Healthy recipes and more!

‘Reach for the Stars’ is making it easier for customers to find healthy foods in the supermarket

Latrobe Community Health Service, Latrobe Health Assembly, participating Gippsland supermarkets and the community are working in partnership on the flagship Healthy Supermarkets project. ‘Reach for the Stars’ is making it easier for customers to find healthy foods in the supermarket.

‘Reach for the Stars’ promotes healthy eating to customers and the community.

‘Reach for the Stars’ aims to create a shopping experience that helps customers to buy, cook and eat healthy foods, every day.

It uses a range of in-store innovations based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines and the Health Star Rating system.

All fresh fruit and vegetables are 5 stars!
Health Star Rating shelf tags on products 4 stars and above
Healthy recipes and more!

Participating supermarkets

Why promote healthy eating in Gippsland?

Healthy eating is important day-to-day, for mood and energy levels, and long-term in decreasing the risk of chronic disease. We all need more fresh and healthy foods to be at our best every day.

Why work with supermarkets?

Australians buy most of their food from the supermarkets. It’s where we make the decisions about the foods we buy, and therefore what we eat.

What’s in it for participating supermarkets?

Promoting fresh food sales
Promoting healthy eating and healthy lifestyles
Supporting customers and community
Responding to customer demand for healthier products
A point of difference to competitor supermarkets
Promotion of the business’s involvement in the project

What did customers say?

In 2022, we trialled Reach for the Stars in three Latrobe IGA supermarkets.

Nine in 10 customers want supermarkets to promote healthy eating
64% of customers noticed the healthy eating signs
One in three customers felt the signs influenced their purchases

This resulted in….

12% increase of the purchase of 4 ½ and 5 health star rated products

What did participating supermarkets say?

“The whole objective of the campaign was to…encourage people to eat healthier. But, it was also a win-win,…if we’re selling more of the 4 1/2, 5 star [Health Star Rating] type projects within our stores there’s potential of higher profit” IGA Executive.

Want to get involved?

Help us create a healthier Latrobe!

If your Latrobe supermarket wants to get involved, please contact the ‘Reach for the Stars’ project team on:

Health Promotion:
Ph: 1800 242 696
E: health.promotion@lchs.com.au

All fresh (and frozen) fruit and vegetables are five stars!

Did you know?

Australian shoppers’ number one food priority is to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables

Mum was right – We all need to eat our greens

We all need more fresh and healthy foods to be at our best every day.

Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. Fruits and vegetables provide our bodies with essential nutrients, like vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. All fresh fruits and vegetables are 5 stars according to the Health Star Rating system. Frozen fruit and vegetables too! Go for 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables every day, and choose a variety of colours.

What is a serve?

Are you getting your 2 & 5? Click here to take the quiz

Fruit

Aim for 2 serves fruit per day

Each item represents one serve.

Vegetables

Aim for 5 serves of vegetables per day

Each item represents one serve.

Images courtesy of Livelighter

Fresh vs. frozen
Canned and frozen varieties are nutritious, convenient and often cheaper than fresh produce.

Full of beans
Did you know beans, pulses and lentils count towards your vegetable serves.

Make vegies the hero of your dish.
Give vegetables the share of the plate.

Fruits and vegetables Every day for every body.

Variety is key – Eat the rainbow

A great way to think about variety in fruit and vegetables is to think about colour. Eat all the colours of the rainbow to give your body the right mix of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants for good health.

Top tips to eat more fruit and vegetables, every day

Bulk out dishes with canned lentils and beans
Add to spag bol, soups, stews and burritos
Beat the snack attack
Bring fruit with you when you go out so you have a snack ready to go when hunger strikes
Munch on veggie sticks and hummus as a snack
Give salad and vegetables the share of the plate
Fill up at least half your plate with salad or vegetables
Sneak in fruit and veg
Add grated carrot and zucchini into casseroles. Add grated or pureed pear or apple to muffin and cake mixtures
Cook up a batch of vegetable soup
It’s a great way to use up leftover vegetables at the end of the week
Go for fruit desserts
For a healthy dessert, try yoghurt, fruit and muesli cups
Try meat-free Mondays
Get a chance to improve your veggie cooking skills by going meat free once a week

Information adapted from Livelighter.

Resources:

Look for the health star rating in-store.
The more stars, the healthier.

Did you know? All fresh fruit and vegetables are 5 stars!

What is the Health Star Rating system?

The Health Star Rating system is a labelling system that rates the nutritional profile of packaged foods and gives it a rating from ½ to 5 stars. It provides a quick, easy, standard way to compare similar packaged foods. The more stars, the healthier.

How to use the Health Star Rating system?

The Health Star Rating system can provide a quick, easy, standard way to compare packaged foods.

Health Star Ratings can be used to compare foods within similar product categories. For example, comparing two types of yoghurt, rather than comparing a yoghurt with a breakfast cereal.

Generally speaking, a product with 3 ½ or more stars is classed as healthier.

How are Health Star Ratings calculated?

The Health Star Rating system uses a calculator weighing positive and risk nutrients in food. Stars are added for fruit and vegetables, calcium, and protein content. Stars are removed for sodium (salt), saturated fat and sugar content.

Ratings are based on:

Total energy (kilojoules)
Saturated fat, sodium (salt) and sugar content
Fibre, protein, fruit, vegetable, nut and legume content.

Can’t find the stars? Download the Foodswitch app

The Foodswitch app is like having a dietitian whispering in your ear.

If you find a product without a Health Star Rating, you can scan it on the Foodswitch app on your mobile device. The app gives you the Health Star Rating of the product and suggests products with a higher rating.

Download the Foodwitch app here:

Healthy eating – What else to keep in mind?

When it comes to healthy eating, fresh is best. It’s important to eat a wide variety of foods from the core food groups (see Australian Guide to Healthy Eating) and included plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Many of these fresh healthy foods are not packaged and therefore do not carry a Health Star Rating.

The Health Star Rating system is currently voluntary, meaning food companies do not have to display the rating.

The Health Star Rating provides nutritional information at-a-glance. For more information check the nutrition information panel and ingredients list.

Guide to label reading

Resources

Label reading – salt

Label reading – sugar

Healthy Recipes

Created by the Livelighter team of experts, these delicious dishes are designed to excite your taste buds while inspiring you to keep healthy. All of these recipes are nutritionally balanced and suitable for singles, couples, or families.

You can also find healthy recipes featured each week in the ‘Reach for the Stars’ participating supermarkets.

Acknowledgement:
Recipes developed by Livelighter, Cancer Council Victoria and Western Australia.

The key to making a lunchbox healthy is easy

We all want our kids to eat a healthy diet. Healthy food helps our kids be at their best – giving them brain power to learn and energy to play.

Kids eat about a third of all their food at school, so it’s important that we pack their lunchboxes with the right stuff.

Pick and mix 1 to 6

Pack something from each of the core food groups, plus water, every day. Pick and mix 1 to 6:

Try this interactive lunchbox builder to pick and mix your 1 to 6

https://healthylunchbox.com.au/builder/
Adapted from Cancer Council NSW and Nutrition Australia.

Healthy lunchbox combos

Fruits and vegetables are often cheaper per kilo than packet snacks!

Potato chips $20/kg vs. Veggie sticks $5/kg
Tiny teddies $17/kg Vs. Oranges $3/kg

Healthy lunchbox inspiration:

Nude food lunchbox swaps:

Swap ‘this’ for ‘that’, to go for a healthier option, reduce cost and reduce excess packaging
Packet of chips → Air popped pop corn
Packet of shapes or similar → Veggie sticks with dip (carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes)
Fruit roll up → Fresh fruit or dried fruit pack
Jelly snack pack → Plain yoghurt with fruit topper
Ham and cheese topped bread roll → Egg and lettuce sandwich on multigrain bread
Fruit box → Water in refillable drink bottle