Digital Food Retail: Public Health Opportunities

Abstract

For over two decades, digital food retail services have been emerging alongside advances in mobile technology and improved access to wi-fi. Digitalization has driven changes within the food environment, complicating an already complex system that influences food-related behaviors and eating practices. Digital food retail services support an infrastructure that enhances commercial food systems by extending access to and availability of highly processed foods, further escalating poor dietary intakes. However, digital food retail services are heterogeneous–food delivery apps, online groceries, and meal kits–and can be feasibly adapted to nutrition interventions and personalized to individual needs. Although sparse, new evidence indicates great potential for digital food retail services to address food insecurity in urban areas and to support healthy eating by making it easier to select, plan, and prepare meals. Digital food retail services are a product of the digital transformation that reflect consumers’ constant need for convenience, which must be addressed in future research and interventions. This paper will discuss public health opportunities that are emerging from the global uptake of digital food retail services, with a focus on online groceries, food delivery apps, and meal kits.

Opportunities To Achieve Healthy, Sustainable Food Choices in China Through Behavior Change

“…Placement involves modifying how food is displayed or accessed by consumers in restaurants and retail. We explore how expansion of online grocery and food delivery markets has opened new avenues to influence the food choices of Chinese consumers (Fernandez and Raine 2021). These include making interfaces for purchasing healthy produce more intuitive to use; including more attractive images of healthy, sustainable options; prefilling shopping baskets; and adding highly visible prompts to encourage food swaps.…”

“…Yet other health issues are linked to the rise in online food delivery in China, such as excess sedentariness as people leave home less to go to grocery stores, markets, and restaurants (Fernandez and Raine 2021). Moreover, food delivery is associated with environmental concerns, particularly linked to excess packaging and plastics that accompany delivered meals (Maimaiti et al 2018), while more frequent dining out in general may exacerbate food waste (Li et al 2022), which has drawn policymakers' attention.…”

“…This has opened new retail and delivery opportunities to communities not otherwise well served and helped to overcome food deserts and local food insecurity. One estimate suggests that online grocery shopping has expanded the radius of food access from an individual's home in China by around 10 kilometers (Fernandez and Raine 2021).…”

“…Combined with various promotion tactics, these platforms can encourage selective purchasing of healthier, more sustainable options. Examples of placement strategies to influence consumer choices through online food retail and delivery platforms include making interfaces for purchasing healthy produce easier and more intuitive to use; including more attractive images of healthy products and dishes; prefilling shopping baskets with healthy, sustainable options; encouraging consumers to preedit their choices by opting not to see unhealthy options on sale (Sandoff and Samek 2019); preordering groceries and meals in advance (Miller et al 2016); and adding highly visible prompts to encourage beneficial food swaps (Fernandez and Raine 2021). Further research is now needed to understand which of these techniques will prove most acceptable and effective in China.…”

“…Moreover, access to online retail and food delivery is also set to expand through introduction of transportation technologies that can span greater distances. These include driverless cars, delivery robots, and drones, the latter of which are already being tested for feasibility in another East Asian country, South Korea (Fernandez and Raine 2021).…”