People who were served soup from bottomless, refillable soup bowls ate 73% more soup than those eating from conventional bowls 4

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1 BUMP THE JUNK

2 From lighting, temperature and sound, to price, placement and portion size, there are a complex mix of factors influencing what, when, how and why we choose the food and drink that we do. Food is increasingly becoming an important workplace tool, which helps to encourage socialisation, aid collaboration, as well as increasing worker health, happiness and morale. This in turn can have a positive effect on worker retention. 1 Making small changes or nudges to the workplace food environment represents an opportunity to positively influence workers health. Nudges are small, cheap and easy to implement. Over time, small effects can accumulate to become significant, while still ensuring individuals maintain their control over choice. 2

Portion size It s no surprise that increasing the portion size of food and drink increases overall consumption 3 We rely on packages and plate size to tell us what is normal or appropriate to consume

3 Portion size It s no surprise that increasing the portion size of food and drink increases overall consumption 3 We rely on packages and plate size to tell us what is normal or appropriate to consume as we do not usually actively decide how much we eat 3 It is also normal to consume the food that we are presented with in its entirety. 73 % People who were served soup from bottomless, refillable soup bowls ate 73% more soup than those eating from conventional bowls 4 45 % Movie-goers ate an average of 45% more popcorn from a large container compared to a medium container 4 Use the influence of portion size to increase the consumption of healthier foods, such as fruit and vegetables, while decreasing the portion size of less healthy items. People tend to pour more into short, wide glasses than into tall narrow glasses 5 4 5

Price $ In a worksite vending machine intervention in the US, prices on lower fat snacks were reduced by 10%, 25% and 50% compared to the higher fat snacks.

4 Price $ In a worksite vending machine intervention in the US, prices on lower fat snacks were reduced by 10%, 25% and 50% compared to the higher fat snacks. Low fat snack consumption increased by 9%, 39% and 93% respectively 7 4x In a cafeteria setting, price reductions on fresh fruit and vegetables have also shown to increase consumption four fold but sales returned to pre-intervention levels with the reinstatement of regular prices 7 The price of food and drink can significantly influence purchasing behaviour Pricing strategies are a powerful means to influence product choice Lowering the price of healthier foods and raising the price of less healthy alternatives can shift purchases towards healthier food options 6 The financial feasibility of lowering prices as a strategy to promote healthier food choices is however a legitimate concern. Increasing the price of less healthy foods by 10% and decreasing the price of healthier items by 25% has demonstrated expected revenues to be within 5% 7 Small price increases on less healthy products together with price decreases for healthier products has shown to be a financially feasible long term strategy to promote healthier food choices. 6 7

Accessibility Accessibility to food and drinks shape how much individuals consume Modest changes to the positioning of foods can influence intake, without having to modify the actual choice on offer

5 Accessibility Accessibility to food and drinks shape how much individuals consume Modest changes to the positioning of foods can influence intake, without having to modify the actual choice on offer We are more likely to consume less if there is substantial effort required to obtain the food or drink. In a cafeteria setting, large reductions in the consumption of potato chips and sweets were reported when they were made harder to access, e.g. locating them some distance from the main serving line 8 In a dining hall setting, icecream intake substantially decreased when the lid of the freezer was on 8 In a buffet set up, it was found that the edge location was more accessible and required less energy to obtain food compared to the middle items which were physically harder to access, requiring a longer reach under the plastic shield/ sneeze guard 9 In an ice-cream serving intervention, increasing the size of a serving spoon by 50% increased the amount of ice-cream served by 14.5% 5 All ingredients in a salad bar were consumed less when served with a pair of tongs compared to a spoon 50 % In an office setting, lolly consumption reduced by 50% when the lolly jar was opaque and placed 2 metres away. The increased effort to obtain a lolly gave workers an extra second to pause and reconsider their choice 10 If you want to increase or decrease the popularity of a food item, make it easier or harder to access, respectively. In a cafeteria setting, dessert consumption decreased when dessert items were placed at the back of the buffet, compared to the front 8 Small changes can make a big difference 8 9

Promotion Promotion has shown to have a small but significant effect on food and drink sales Rearranging healthier items to be at eye level has shown to contribute to increased sales eye level is buy

6 Promotion Promotion has shown to have a small but significant effect on food and drink sales Rearranging healthier items to be at eye level has shown to contribute to increased sales eye level is buy level. Utilising colour-coded labels in addition to rearrangement has demonstrated an increase in sales too A menu item s position within a list can affect selection and sales as people tend not to read menus and rather scan them, as they are often hungry and in a hurry 9 People tend to remember the top two items on a list and the bottom item 9 Effective descriptions of menu items can help to improve perceptions of quality and value. 12 Descriptions can be linked to the geographical (e.g. Thai) or sensory (e.g. fresh, crisp) properties of the food. Remember that you set a strong expectation when including descriptions so make sure the actual product meets those expectations. 9 % In a hospital cafeteria intervention in the US, traffic light colour coding was assigned to all food and drink items according to their nutritional value. After two years, sales of red foods had decreased by 4% and red drinks decreased by 9%. Sales of green foods had increased by 5% and green drinks by 8% % A food item at the beginning or the end of a menu increases its popularity by 20%, compared to placing it in the middle 9 Put the food items you want to encourage at the top or bottom of the menu

Availability 44 % In a supermarket intervention, doubling the shelf space for fresh fruit increased sales by 44% 2 + In a vegetable buffet study, participants who could choose from two vegetable

7 Availability 44 % In a supermarket intervention, doubling the shelf space for fresh fruit increased sales by 44% 2 + In a vegetable buffet study, participants who could choose from two vegetable options, compared to one, consumed significantly more vegetables 14 Modifying what is available has been shown to change consumers choice in a healthier direction Variety can be strategically used to improve food product selection or meal composition Allocating more shelf space to healthier items helps to increase sales as visibility is increased 2 A larger range of products increases the chance the consumer will find something that meets their needs 2 In addition, setting up a separate display of products has been shown to capture and draw attention to new or special products. 2 Increase the number of varieties and allocate more shelf space to healthier food and drink options

Sensory experience Our experiences with food involve nearly all our senses sight, smell, taste and even sound Believe it or not, background music influences the type of food we select and the rate at

8 Sensory experience Our experiences with food involve nearly all our senses sight, smell, taste and even sound Believe it or not, background music influences the type of food we select and the rate at which we eat Lighting has also been shown to influence the duration of time spent in a restaurant. It s thought that background music affects our perception of taste, flavour and pleasantness of food and drink 16 + Harsh or bright light tends to reduce the amount of time people stay in a restaurant 3 The louder the music, the more food and drink we are likely to consume, as the number of bites per minute has been shown to increase! 16 Soft or warm lighting encourages people to linger 3 When encouraging particular items, keep in mind the sensory experiences that can influence food and drink consumption. The slower the music, the longer we take to eat our food and the more money we are likely to spend

9 While simple nudges can be effective to get the ball rolling, some workplaces might want to go out with more of a bang: Taste-testing activities can be done with workers to determine acceptability of potential new products in the vending machine or at the café/canteen/kiosk Suggestion boxes could also be utilised to enable ongoing feedback/suggestions Remember, small changes can make a big difference 16 17

10 References 1 Lewin, K 2013, The Tastiest Corporate Gift, Unwork. Available from: < wp/2013/08/13/477/> [January 2014]. 2 van Kleef, E Otten, K & van Trijp, HCM 2012, Healthy snacks at the checkout counter: A lab and field study on the impact of shelf arrangement and assortment structure on consumer choices, BioMed Central, vol. 12, no. 1072, pp Wansink, B 2004, Environmental Factors that Increase the Food Intake and Consumption Volume of Unknowing Consumers, 2004, Annual Review of Nutrition, vol. 24, pp Wansink, B & Kim, J 2005, Bad Popcorn in Big Buckets: Portion Size can Influence Intake as Much as Taste, Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour, vol. 37, no.5, pp Wansink, B van Ittersum, K & Painter, JE 2006, Ice Cream Illusions: Bowls, Spoons, and Self-Served Portion Sizes, American Journal of Preventative Medicine, vol. 31, no. 3, pp Andreyeva, T Long, MW & Brownell, KD The Impact of Food Prices on Consumption: A systematic Review of Research on the price Elasticity of Demand for Food, American Journal of Public Health, vol. 100, no. 2, pp French, SA 2003, Pricing Effects on Food Choices, The Journal of Nutrition, vol. 133, no. 3 pp Rozin, P Scott, S Dingley, M Urbanek, JK & Jiang, H 2011, Nudge to nobesity I: Minor changes in accessibility decrease food intake, Judgement and Decision Making, vol. 6, no. 4, pp Dayan, E & Bar-Hillel, M Nudge to nobesity II: Menu positions influence food orders, Judgement and Decision Making, vol. 6, no. 4, pp Wansink, B Painter, JE & Lee, Y-K 2006, The office candy dish: proximity s influence on estimated and actual consumption, International Journal of Obesity, vol. 30, no. 5, pp MacVean, M 2014, Traffic light food labels changed buying habits, study finds, Los Angeles Times. Available from: < sciencenow/la-sn-traffic-lightfood-labels ,0, story#axzz2ppdbqd00> [January 2014]. 12 Wansink, B Painter, J & Van Ittersum, K 2001, Descriptive Menu Labels Effect on Sales, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 6, pp French, SA Hannan PJ, Harnack, LJ Mitchell, NR Toomey, TL & Gerlach, A 2010 Pricing and Availability Intervention in Vending Machines at Four Bus Garages, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol. 52, no. 1, pp Bucher, T van der Horst, K & Siegrist, M 2010, Improvement of meal composition by vegetable variety, Public Health Nutrition, vol. 14, no. 8, pp Carrillo, E Varela, P Salvador, A & Fiszman, S 2011, Main Factors Underlying Consumers Food Choice: A First Step for the Understanding of Attitudes Toward Healthy Eating, Journal of Sensory Studies, vol. 26, no.2, pp Zampini, M & Spence, C 2010, Assessing the Role of Sound in the Perception of Food and Drink, Chemosensory Perception, vol. 3, no.1, pp

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APPENDIX 1. Examples of interventions that alter environmental stimuli to change health-related

APPENDIX 1. Examples of interventions that alter environmental stimuli to change health-related APPENDIX 1 Examples of interventions that alter environmental stimuli to change health-related behaviours We outline two broad types of intervention, in line with a classification described in a recent