Working to minimise alcohol misuse
At Sainsbury's we take alcohol misuse very seriously and have put a number of policies in place to minimise this:
- In 2005 Sainsburys introduced a ‘Think 21’ policy throughout all stores in 2005. Sainsburys staff are trained to double-check the age of anyone buying alcohol if they seem to be younger than 21.
- In 2007 we were the first high street retailer to sign up publicly to proposed government guidelines on alcoholic drinks labelling. We’re committed to giving people all the information they need to make responsible choices on alcohol consumption, including
the Department of Health-recommended maximum intake per day, the number of alcohol units in a bottle, and the number in one glass and advice on drinking while pregnant.
- We wholeheartedly support the legal ban on the sale of alcohol to under-18s. Sainsbury’s chairs the Home Office-supported Retail of Alcohol Standards Group, set up to find ways of ending all drinks purchases by anyone under age anywhere in the country.
- Sainsbury’s support Drinkaware Trust, the independent UK-wide charity that works to promote responsible drinking and minimise alcohol-related harm.
- To support a culture of responsible drinking and promote the benefits of balancing alcohol with food, we’re always checking and expanding our product range. So, for instance - we’re adding many more half bottles to our wine shelves and we’re expanding our range of lower-alcohol wines. We also stopped selling above-strength lagers in our smaller convenience stores some time ago, and no longer offer alcoholic ‘shot’ products at all.
