Across the UK, almost 50,000 convenience stores act as an essential source of food for their local communities and contribute 405,000 jobs and £45.2 billion each year to the British economy. Convenience stores provide essential food access for populations at risk of poor diet, including low-income families, older adults and young people. Stores are typically located in accessible areas and designed for quick, convenient shopping. Convenience store customers frequently visit their stores multiples times a week, even daily, to pick up everyday items and benefit from valuable social interactions.
But the nutritional offer of products in many UK convenience stores is limited with the affordability of healthy foods prohibitive and quality poor. Product ranges are dominated by unhealthy snack items high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) alongside sugary drinks, energy drinks, alcohol and tobacco products. Few plant-based alternatives are generally available. Working to tight profit margins and increasing dependency on evermore consolidated supply chains drives convenience store owners to stock unhealthy products that they perceive will sell, are promoted by suppliers and will not result in product wastage or financial loss. Compounding this situation, government policy efforts to reshape retail food settings to be healthier focus on large retailers which some worry may incentivise supply of HFSS products through the convenience sector.
The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the important role of convenience stores in local communities. Many families became more reliant on their local convenience store and the sector responded using their agility in sourcing to acquire products their customers needed from local and more varied suppliers. The pandemic illustrated convenience stores’ responsiveness to their communities’ needs and how more varied supply chains can operate. Having largely reverted to mainstream supply chains under pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, there is a need to identify policy and market opportunities for a healthy, sustainable and profitable convenience store sector.
The City St George’s Food Symposium 2026 responds to this need by inviting illustration and collective discussion about how policy and market drivers can redefine convenience store provision to achieve economic, health and environmental co-benefits. Drawing upon practical and policy insights from key actors across the convenience store sector, the symposium aims to position convenience stores not only as cornerstones of thriving communities but as key players in necessary food systems transformation.
During the event we will:
- Learn of the market and economic opportunities for convenience stores owners in increasing the health of their offer
- Examine the supply chains for the convenience store sector and key drivers of unhealthy and unsustainable offering
- Consider commercially viable policy interventions to increase the supply of healthy, sustainable items in the convenience store sector
- Explore opportunities to connecting local, sustainably produced food to convenience stores across UK regions
- Understand convenience store customer needs and experiences of shopping at British convenience stores
Attendance at City St George's events is subject to our terms and conditions.
