Westomatic’s Charlotte Summersby reflects that the forthcoming NHS “Sugar Tax’ might be an opportunity rather than a problem…
Recent reports state the NHS plans to impose its own sugar tax in hospitals by 2020 to help tackle obesity.
Hospitals across England will charge more for high-sugar drinks and snacks sold in their cafes and vending machines ‘in an effort to discourage staff, patients and visitors from buying them’, NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens told reporters.
The Guardian confirms the move will make the NHS the first public body in the UK to bring in a sugar tax, and it will use the expected proceeds – expected to be between £20m-£40m a year – to improve the health of its own 1.3 million workers.
Many of us would agree that additional revenue to support our treasured NHS is to be welcomed: but perhaps, rather than concentrating on the prevention of ‘sugary’ sales, we should focus instead on increasing the availability and choice of healthier snacks?
My boss Richard Brinsley, MD of Westomatic, is fed up of the flack directed at vending in the current obesity crisis. ‘The snack machine has an unfair reputation for selling sugary snacks’, he said. ‘The machine is merely the vehicle for supporting sites and locations where a canteen or shop is not always feasible. There’s nothing preventing us from changing this reputation and supporting large public sites with the same reliable snack vending machines, such as the Westomatic Quattro and Quinto, but filling them with a variety of healthier products.’
We’ve recently introduced a hot food vending solution to our range that will challenge the standard offering found in hospitals and large public sites. The combination of the Easy 6000 chilled food vendor and Easy Kitchen microwave unit enables customers to heat and enjoy a nutritious hot meal 24 hours a day, 7 days a week when onsite canteens are often un-manned and closed.
These meals have lower calorie content than your average supermarket sandwich, require no refrigeration and have a year-long shelf life which means no wastage or specialised transport for the vending operator. It seems to me that products like these tick a lot of boxes where the NHS is concerned, and Mitch Higginson, MD of The Big Kitchen agrees: ‘Our products are free from preservatives and maintain their shelf life due to the ‘pressure cooker’ style of manufacture’ he said. ‘They also have very reasonable calorie content and have no added salt!’
Over the past few years there has been significant change in the products available for the vending market. Year on year, vending trade shows have debuted more and more healthy products ranging from flavoursome popcorn to lentil crisps…
Mark Lamble, Business Development Management for Burts chips told me: ‘The demand for healthier snacks is overwhelming and we’re getting more and more demand for new and innovative product lines, such as Burts Lentil Waves which have a 99 calorific content.’
With the innovative and reputable vending machines we have available today and the growing range of healthy snacks to fill them up, there’s no reason why hospital waiting rooms and doctors’ surgeries cannot combat the UK’s obesity by offering their visitors a tasty, comforting hot meal or delicious low calorie snack.
So, bring on the sugar tax. It might make consumers take a long hard look at what else is available out there…
