Table 2 Thematic analysis of supermarket corporate social responsibility commitments that impact public health

 General governance

(1) Participates in global governance initiatives, e.g. GRI database, Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Global Compact

(2) Aims to improve population nutrition and health

(3) Upholds ethical practice by a code of conduct or similar

 Influencing policy

(4) Participates in government-led public health nutrition initiatives

(5) Works with key influencers on setting food, nutrition, or sustainability standards and policies

(6) Is transparent about relationships including with external groups, and own brand suppliers

 Setting rules for suppliers

(7) Requires third party quality accreditation, e.g. Global Gap

(8) Sets standards for producers of supermarket own brand products

(9) Sets other private standards for suppliers

(10) Sets rules for social and environmental issues

 Influencing livelihoods

(11) Sources local food products

(12) Pays food producers a fair price and/or has fair payment terms

(13) Pays staff a fair wage, and/or provides healthy working conditions

(14) Deals with suppliers in an ethical way

(15) Provides financial assistance e.g. loans, or training to small/ local businesses

(16) Promotes local or regional foods in other countries

 Influencing communities

(17) Highlights charitable food donations made

(18) Makes food donations for animals

(19) Provides other support to food charities e.g. infrastructure, training

(20) Supports community organisations via provision of space and other resources

(21) Provides community support via funding specific food and nutrition projects

(22) Provides emergency aid to communities or staff affected by natural disasters

 Accessibility

(23) Considers the location of stores in communities

(24) Considers the location of foods in stores e.g. removes unhealthy foods from prominent locations

(25) Provides consumer education initiatives to support healthy eating, e.g. store tours, menu planning, cooking skills

(26) Provides consumer education initiatives related to sustainability, e.g. ways to reduce food waste, animal welfare information

(27) Has promotions to encourage sales of healthy foods

(28) Increases accessibility of supermarket own brands by making them available to other retailers or other countries

 Availability

(29) Sells healthy foods

(30) Sells sustainable foods

(31) Sells locally sourced or regional foods

(32) Sells fresh food

(33) Sells products to meet specific needs

(34) Sells supermarket own brand products

(35) Sells convenient products

 Food cost and affordability

(36) Offers foods that are affordable

(37) Ensures healthy foods are no more expensive than unhealthy foods

(38) Tracks shopping basket affordability via ongoing monitoring

(39) Offers foods that meet specific needs at a competitive price

(40) Keeps the cost of supermarket own brand products down

(41) Offers discounts or subsidies on healthy foods, or other foods that meet specific needs

 Food preferences and choices

(42) Has food labelling initiatives to enable consumers to identify healthy and/or sustainable foods

(43) Has food labelling initiatives to enable consumers to identify foods that meet specific needs, e.g. free from, vegetarian

(44) Has food labelling/ marketing initiatives to identify locally sourced or regional products, e.g. logos, catalogues

(45) Has food labelling/ marketing initiatives related to animal welfare

(46) Highlights healthier food choices using in-store signage e.g. shelf edge labels

(47) Highlights healthier food choices on shopping websites

(48) Highlights sustainability messages e.g. minimise food waste, recycle food packaging

 Food safety and quality

(49) Makes food safety statements

(50) Makes statements about food quality

(51) Emphasises traceability

(52) Ensures hygienic stores

(53) Avoids use of artificial ingredients, e.g. colours, flavours, preservatives, BPA-free packaging

(54) Avoids use of genetically modified ingredients

 Nutritional quality

(55) Has a nutrient reduction programme for supermarket own brand foods

(56) Has specific healthy food ranges

(57) Has established targets for healthy foods to contribute a significant proportion of total food sales

(58) Has established targets to improve the overall nutritional profile of foods sold

(59) Has established targets to reduce portion sizes of single serve snacks

 Sustainability - animal welfare

(60) Encourages sustainable fishing practices

(61) Minimises use of hormones or antibiotics

(62) Upholds the five freedoms of animals to ensure their welfare

(63) Sells cage-free eggs

(64) Sets standards for dairy cow welfare

(65) Has other initiatives to improve animal welfare

(66) Bans products from sale due to animal welfare concerns

 Sustainability - food and packaging waste

(67) Has established targets to reduce food waste

(68) Sells imperfect fresh produce, or uses it to make meals or products

(69) Has established targets to reduce waste in the whole of the food system

(70) Has established targets to reduce and recycle packaging waste

(71) Sources packaging materials from sustainably managed forests

(72) Has established targets to reduce waste by moving paper-based marketing materials e.g. coupons, to digital formats

 Sustainability - other

(73) Sustainably sources coffee

(74) Sustainably sources cocoa

(75) Sustainably sources palm oil

(76) Sustainably sources soy

(77) Sustainably sources other ingredients

(78) Sources organic products

(79) Has other product related sustainability commitments