Raising the price of unhealthy sugary drinks in Jamie's Italian restaurants causes sales to drop by 11 percent, a new experiment reveals. Consequently, the increase in price of those beverages has led, not only to the decline in sales, but also to the decline in sugary drink consumption.
The Jamie Oliver Experiment
After increasing the price of sugary drinks by around 3 percent in September 2015, researchers began to examine the sales of those beverages from 37 Jamie's Italian restaurants across the United Kingdom.
The restaurants have also made some changes to their menu, adding a selection of healthier drinks, such as fruit juices.
The experiment was funded by the National Institute for Health Research, and was conducted primarily by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine alongside the University of Cambridge. The study was published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
An Increase In Price Means A Decrease In Sales And Consumption
The results showed an 11 percent decline in sales after about 12 weeks and a 9 percent drop after 6 months. Researchers concluded that their study provided evidence that financial measures and the introduction of healthier drinks in restaurants could motivate people to reduce their consumption of unhealthy sugary drinks.
However, more research is still required to figure out what works best and whether it is sustainable, said the researchers.
"Evidence suggests that excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is an important contributor to these potentially life-threatening conditions but we still don't have a clear answer on how best to encourage people to consume fewer of them," said professor Steven Cummins of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
"Our study showed that a combination of the levy, menu changes and clearly explaining to customers why it was introduced and that the proceeds would go directly to a worthy cause, looks to have had a relatively large effect on consumer behaviour given the small size of the levy."
Health Effects Of Sugary Drinks
Drinking sugary drinks has been associated to a number of health problems such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and gout. According to the Boston Public Health Commision, in the United States, the health costs of obesity are about $147 billion annually. Also, a recent study has shown that there were 10 times more obese children and teenagers in 2016 than there were 40 years ago.
A Tax On Sugary Drinks
The UK government is planning to introduce a sugar tax on soft drinks in April 2018. The new move aims to prevent and fight against the rising levels of obesity in the country. However, natural fruit juices, including "drinks with high milk content", will not be subjected to the sugar tax, according to The Independent.
On the other hand, Jamie Oliver's chain plans to donate the additional income from the levy directly to charity.
