In a first of its kind, the multi-year-deal sees M&S Food, Irish FA and the Northern Ireland football teams shining a light on what players eat to help inspire families to eat healthier this Summer and beyond.

By using the influence of Northern Irish footballing heroes, the partners aim to not only make healthy eating choices easier for families but also show that healthy and balanced doesn’t have to be quinoa and kale – it can actually be a lot more fun and tasty!

This timely partnership comes as health is high on the nation’s agenda, with 53% of Northern Irish people concerned about family health. 40% share concerns on getting nutritious food into their diets – so this focus on M&S and its Eat Well seal of approval comes just at the right time.

Over the last few years M&S Food has invested significantly making its ranges, including Eat Well, even better value, whilst protecting the things its customers love most – its market leading sourcing standards and its delicious, innovative products.

The partnership is packed with initiatives – from in store exclusives where budding sports stars can find out their favourite players’ recipes and eating plans, to unprecedented online insight on players, managers and legends sharing their favourite Eat Well products.

So fans of all ages can now truly eat like their football heroes no matter their age or footballing ability. Whether its pre or post-match, or just a quick snack before heading off to watch their local team play.

Northern Ireland senior team men’s manager Ian Baraclough said: “Nutrition in football has come a long way since I was a player in the late 80s and 90’s; our post-match meal was less sophisticated than it is today!

“Our current players are put on specific programmes to give them the best possible fuel for matches and to help them recover after the game so very different to my day. Our players are such icons in Northern Ireland and I think this partnership with M&S Food and Eat Well will help give the budding footballers of the future a real insight into what their heroes are eating and inspire them to eat and train the very best they can.”

Stuart Machin, CEO of M&S, is equally passionate about the partnership and health, and making healthier choices more accessible, is of utmost importance in the retailer’s strategy going forward. He says: “Today I’ll be writing to all our customers about this partnership and our aim to make a real difference to health and inspire the next generation.

“By harnessing the influence of the players as role models, we want to encourage children and families to make healthier food choices through choosing Eat Well.”

Stuart added:“We have nearly 2000 delicious Eat Well products across our Food Hall, from great quality fruit and vegetables to meals, snack and drinks, all at trusted value.  We’re constantly developing and improving our ranges, to give our customers delicious, healthier choices every day”

Nicola Finlay, Regional Manager Northern Ireland, adds: “Our work with the Irish FA is much more than a sponsorship, we want to help change the health of the nation and the first step is to further increase the number of products with the Eat Well flower and make it easier for customers to spot them. Shoppers in Northern Ireland will be able to pick up specific national recipe cards in store so they can replicate their favourite player meals at home – whether that is breakfast, lunch or dinner. Budding stars can even find out what Eat Well products Northern Ireland players consume at training camps.”

Customers will see the campaign come to life from July in line with the summer holidays and all stores across the UK will have clear Eat Well identifiers throughout its stores. M&S Food Halls will also launch a purpose driven marketing campaign including free fruit for kids in all stores and Fresh Market Specials on seasonal fruit and vegetables.

Later in the Summer customers will also be encouraged to make healthy choices in store through a huge competition that will reward Eat Well choices with an incredible, once in a lifetime prize.

Caption; Pictured launching the ‘Eat Well, Play Well’ campaign is Northern Ireland senior women’s international, Kirsty McGuinness and Northern Ireland U19 international, Michael Forbes alongside Nicola Finlay, Regional Manager for M&S in Northern Ireland and budding young footballer, Theo Lever.

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The partnership will see the Irish FA and safefood expand the delivery of its football based ‘On the Ball – Healthy Know How for Active Kids’ programmes and events.

It will aim to teach the importance of healthy eating habits and being active from an early age to 3,300 children and 700 parents and carers across Northern Ireland.

As well as continuing as the Irish FA’s official safe and healthy eating partner, the extended partnership will welcome safefood as an official patron of the Education and Heritage Centre at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park. This will include free nutrition workshops for visiting schools, focusing on the benefits of healthy eating habits as part of an active lifestyle.

Speaking about the partnership, Fiona Gilligan, Director of Communications at safefood, said: “safefood is proud to continue our innovative collaboration with the Irish FA as we look to expand our ‘On the Ball – Healthy Know How for Active Kids’ programme to over 3,000 children this year.

“We will continue to use football in creative and fun ways to educate children on the importance of eating healthily and how it can help them to be more active. By nurturing children to develop these positive habits during the early stages of life we can give them building blocks towards a longer and healthier life.

“We will also be working closely with the Irish FA to integrate important messages about safe and healthy food into the National Football Stadium’s Education and Heritage Centre, which inspires future generations of young footballers.”

The ‘On the Ball – Healthy Know How for Active Kids’ programmes and events will include the rollout of a series of six-week after-school programmes across 48 primary schools, with 12 primary schools also participating in interactive community-focused festivals.

safefood and the Irish FA will use a mixture of animated presentations, player videos, interactive games and quizzes to encourage children to make healthier choices such as eating more fruit, vegetables and healthy snacks, and swapping sugary drinks for water or milk.

Workshops will also promote the importance of a good night’s sleep for their development, encourage them to be more active every day and provide tips on reducing the amount of time they spend on their screens.

Stephen Garrett, Commercial Manager at the Irish Football Association, said: “The Irish FA are delighted to extend their strategic partnership with safefood which will seek to educate children and families throughout Northern Ireland on the importance of healthy eating.  We’re particularly excited to embed this educational activity throughout the Irish FA Tours programme, via the Irish FA Education and Heritage Centre, by delivering free workshops to visiting schools throughout the year. For more information contact tours@irishfa.com or visit irishfa.com/tours.”

safefood is an all-island body with a remit of promoting the importance of good food hygiene in the family home and helping people make more informed choices about the food they eat.

For more information on safefood visit www.safefood.net/news

Caption: Pictured at the launch are (l-r) Alfie Liggett and Ella Nazik from Forge Integrated Primary School alongside NI Women’s International player Vicky Carlton.

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The Belfast butcher was flat out ahead of the festive season putting together Christmas meat packages, but finds he is just as busy in the New Year as his customers’ healthy eating resolutions kick in.

Mooneys has long been famed for its sausages , with customers coming to the Shankill Road and Woodstock Road shops from all over the city for them, but owner Stephen Mooney estimates that healthy meals now make up around 50% of his trade.

“Over the years we used to have a big sausage trade. We would have run competitions and also made our own pies,” Stephen says.

“Then people were getting more into healthy eating, so about five years ago I started preparing healthy calorie-controlled meals.

“So then I converted the first and second floors into two full working kitchens, with cooking and preparation areas – we extended up rather than out because we can’t go anywhere else. Healthy ready meals would be 50% of our business now.”

The healthy ready meals range from chicken curry with steamed rice and steamed chicken in curry sauce, to potato based meals, noodle meals, potato wedges, pasta dishes and roast chicken and beef – all home cooked.

“In January we will usually top about 5,000 meals a week – we go through the roof when January kicks in,” Stephen says.

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Nearly nine in 10 shoppers (86%) are actively trying to improve their diet in some way, with eating more fruit and vegetables cited as the top aspiration, according to the Institute of Grocery Disbritution.

“From the very start of the first lockdown, consumer behaviour changed in many ways and we’ve been keeping a close eye on how food behaviours continue to evolve.  In our latest Appetite for Change research, it was fascinating to discover that more than three-quarters (83%) of consumers changed how they planned, purchased and prepared their food in the first lockdown and over half (51%) claimed to have eaten more fruit and vegetables” says Natasha Maynard, Nutrition & Scientific Affairs Manager at IGD.

“Sales of green vegetables such as cabbage, spinach and even sprouts surged, as people in lockdown had more time on their hands, return to scratch cooking².

Five-a-day

Despite these new habits, most people still fall short of the governments recommendation to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day.

“When we asked people about their fruit and vegetable intake during lockdown, the self-reported average was just 3.4 portions of fruit and vegetables each day” said Natasha.

At a national level, the latest data suggests 70% of adults are not meeting the 5 A Day target and there has been little change to total fruit and vegetable intakes this decade⁴.

“We identified cost to be the biggest barrier to change, both before COVID-19 (Nov ’19) and during the pandemic (July ’20), with 38% of consumers thinking healthy and sustainable eating is more expensive⁵. Other barriers include people liking the taste of their current food (24%), being creatures of habit (23%), lack of convenience (18%) and a lack of familiarity (17%)⁵.

Shifting mindsets

“In our latest report, we learnt that people hold onto certain beliefs that can act as barriers to making positive changes. For example, four in 10 consumers think vegetables are not exciting and nearly six in 10 avoid buying certain vegetables because they don’t know what to do with them³. This presents a significant opportunity to shift consumers’ mindsets around fruit and vegetables.”

The five step approach involves signposting – helping consumers know what counts towards five-a-day; placement – making the healthier choice the easier choice;product – pack in more fruit and veg; influence – lead the change and incetivise trial of healthier products.

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Raisin’ the profile of dried fruit and its obvious health and wealth benefits is an organization called ‘Raisins South Africa’, a collective of 700 growers.

Marketing campaign

With a UK wide marketing campaign, Raisins South Africa wants to dispel the misconceptions around dried fruit, and promote it as a healthy, sweet alternative.

‘The International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition published an article in 2019 on dried fruit and public health. One of the main points made was that “all traditional, conventional dried fruits such as raises have no added sugar and are formed by the removal of water. South African raisins are 100 per cent naturally sun dried grapes.’

Natural Power House

Raisins are a natural power house packed full of nutrients, fibre, iron, calcium and antioxidants.

South African raisins are grown in the northern and western cape area – where the extra hours of sunshine make all the difference.

Raisin the profile of raisins in-store makes all the difference, when it comes to promoting a healthier lifestyle to customers, says Raisins South Africa.

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