Tesco launches plasters to match different skin tones

Source: Mintel 25-02-2020

British retail giant Tesco announced the launch of a range of own-brand plasters that match different skin tones. The product was inspired by a tweet last year that showed a black man expressing an emotional response to using a plaster that matched his skin tone.

The plasters aim to make a positive impact on colleagues and customers by raising awareness of diversity, culture and inclusion within Tesco. The product is sold in light, medium and dark shades, and are on sale in all 741 Tesco stores nationwide as well as online.

Tesco, which has claimed to be the first UK retailer to introduce this initiative, acknowledged it as an “important step” and has now called on rivals to introduce an ethnically diverse set of plasters.

“If you look at the general food and drink offering within UK supermarkets now compared to 10 years ago, there is a greater range of products which celebrate and speak to a much more diverse range of cultures and backgrounds than ever before. Of course this has developed as mainstream tastes and exposures to products from around the world has grown, but the mainstream grocers have become far more adept at localising offers to appeal to demographics in certain areas. However away from F&D, diversity in other categories remains low and therefore a launch such as this from Tesco is both welcome and long overdue. There is clearly a large market for such products - 15% of UK consumers, rising to 30% in areas such as London, self-identify their skin tone as not white (see: Diversity in Beauty – UK, November 2019) and one-in-ten consumers say that plasters which match their skin tone would be an innovation they would like to see (see: First Aid – UK, January 2020). This won’t, and shouldn’t be, the last launch we see in this vein as localising and tailoring ranges to the needs of the immediate area, and breaking free of the ‘one size fits all’ approach, will continue to be a key trend for the grocery sector over the next decade - but this has to apply to a grocers full range and not simply food and drink.”