Expérimentation d'un fléchage nutritionnel dans deux supermarchés à Marseille « Le choix Vita+ »

The setting up of a synthetic nutritional information system is envisaged to help consumers make the right choices as they buy. In two supermarkets over ten weeks, products belonging to the best third within each of three categories (fresh dairy products, ready meals, freshly-prepared snacks) were indicated by means of a positive logo (“the Vita+ choice”) accompanied by a communication campaign on site. The purchases of clients with loyalty cards were recorded in the two test shops and in two control shops before and during the intervention, as well as in the year preceding the intervention. The results did not show any effect of the intervention on the sales of Vita+ products. A qualitative study made among the staff and the clients revealed a lack of visibility of the Vita+ intervention diluted with other strategies, a lack of understanding of the clients faced with incomplete and categorised labelling. The study underlines the difficulty of evaluating the impact of introducing a nutritional logo in real-life conditions, and gives some tips on mistakes to avoid when developing such a logo.