Table 2 Completed ripple scoring tool

Biggest Impact

Adequate staffing capacity

Stores are unable to operate without adequate labour; Inadequate labour can mean a store has less capacity to offer healthy items (defaults to more unhealthy items, loses priority)

Need to clarify what is meant by ‘adequate’: is it just having enough staff or the right kind of staff?

Positive relationship with the community

Consensus on biggest impact

Giving a ‘voice’ to

a) community members

b) store board/committee

Consensus on biggest impact

Coming together with other stores to increase buying power

Remote stores at the end of supply chain

Coming together increases visibility in supply chain, not seen if individual stores

Capacity to negotiate with suppliers

Can combine with biggest impact of buying power

Cost of maintenance and repairs (e.g., refrigeration)

Remote nature of stores increases costs

Considering affordability alongside profits

The goal of the business is still viability, even though nutrition is important

Adequate and well-functioning infrastructure (fridges, freezers)

Big contributor to operating cost, affects price and availability

Frequency of delivery of goods

Lack of support received (through subsidisation) for more frequent delivery, lack of awareness around range of services available (rail freight or postal channels)

Relief when stores have more frequent deliveries when roads become accessible following weather events

Accessing, collecting and using data (store sales, price data)

Can be really important to stores to create competition and motivation to strive for healthier practices, differences in independent stores compared to stores belonging to a store group in their capacity to collect and use the data

Disruptions in internet

Daily disruption to ATM, POS system, staff training and store operations more broadly

Staffing expenses (wages, training, housing)

Large impact through wages, accommodation, limited capacity to train staff

Cost of rent/lease agreement

Cost increasing over time; differences in payment structures across stores noted (land council, head office of retail organisations) and strategies such as negotiating long term leases

High freight costs

Differences in impact and mitigation between store groups (impact of changes in costs are shared across store group) and independent stores (changes in freight costs are felt directly by individual store)

Changes in freight can have profound effects on quality of fresh produce and perishables

Capacity to plan for and respond to expected and unexpected events

Big impact on product availability and access

Cost of electricity and fuel to run the store

Large impact on price, indirect impact on product availability and costs are increasing

Effectively sharing information with the community

All practices are dependent on communication with or involvement of community

Community members’ lack of access to household electricity, water and food storage

Primarily impacts consumer demand and community food security, stores can still enact healthy in-store operations

Nutrition messaging of services in the community (school, clinic)

Consistency/collective impact/multi-prong strategy is key—store is more supported

Road closures and poor road conditions

Difficulty in procuring fresh produce and other perishables that are of acceptable quality

Disruptions in electricity

Depends on the store/context—some stores have backup generators, whereas other don’t and are greatly affected

Some stores/remote communities do not have the electrical capacity to use the amount of electricity that the store needs to continue to run fridges/freezers over warmer months, resulting in ‘summer sacrificing’ – shutting down fridges

Help for store from

a. Community services

b. Government

c. industry/suppliers

d. regulators

Support from a range of stakeholders is the most important factor for a remote store

Biggest → Some impact

Lack of healthy store practice in other stores

Varied impact identified, consensus not reached between biggest and some impact, dependent on store context

Some Impact

Community demand for different types of foods

Important but is not the biggest impact on store operations in practice

How long a store manager has been in community

More important that the manager has the skills, is willing to engage with community and form strong relationships (even if they are new)

Disruptions in water

Doesn’t happen very often and are warned so can plan appropriately. Some impact on takeaways, no impact on staff/other parts of the store

Cost of repairs from break-ins (e.g., fixing a broken window)

Impact dependent on the community and frequency—can disrupt store operations but with regard to cost—most have insurance that covers this

Time spent in stores by public health nutritionists

Independent stores rely on this more than store groups that have in-house nutritionists

Depends on the type of support that is given – need celebration of enablers to healthy store environments, more meaningful relationships and strategies like recipe development

Little Impact

None