Designing a Healthy Food-Store Intervention; A Co-Creative Process Between Interventionists and Supermarket Actors

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nutrition Science
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Healthy food-store interventions (HFIs) often lack sustainability due to poor consideration of the food system context.
• Co-creation between interventionists and food-store actors can enhance contextual fit, effectiveness, and sustainability of HFIs.
• Limited case studies exist on the co-creative design process for HFIs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide insights into integrating contextual knowledge from food-store actors into HFI designs through co-creation.
• To illustrate potential challenges, advantages, and outcomes of co-creative HFI design.
• To explore the process of adapting HFI designs based on feedback from supermarket actors.

Main Methods:

• A three-phase co-creative design process was employed in a Dutch supermarket chain.
• Each phase involved cycles of theorizing, building intervention designs, and evaluating with supermarket actors.
• Qualitative content analysis was performed on interview transcripts to identify barriers and facilitators.

Main Results:

• Four types of HFIs were co-creatively designed: price strategies, product presentation, signage, and interactive messaging.
• Interventions were aligned with, yet challenged, supermarket culture and practices.
• Price promotions on healthy foods were feasible; tax-like increases on unhealthy foods faced resistance, resolved by key actor support.

Conclusions:

• Co-creation approaches offer significant benefits for designing effective and sustainable HFIs.
• Easily accepted interventions can build collaborative momentum.
• More radical interventions, supported by key stakeholders, can drive substantial positive changes in food environments.