At the Centre of Research Excellence in Food Retail Environments for Health (RE-FRESH), we focus on creating healthier food retail environments that encourage better dietary choices among consumers. From 2019 to 2023, our collaborative research centre brought together experts from various disciplines to develop evidence-based strategies to make retail food environments healthier. From 2024, the next phase of our work – known as RE-FRESH: Next Generation – will work on improving diet, health and retail food environments at a population level.
At RE-FRESH, our research capabilities are designed to tackle the complexities of food retail environments. We focus on developing actionable insights that drive policy change and promote healthier consumer choices, ultimately improving public health outcomes.
We create the evidence needed by government organisations to prioritise and implement effective healthy food retail policies, contributing to the creation of a level playing field for sector-wide adoption of healthy food retail practices.
We develop innovative methods for monitoring and benchmarking food retail environments, helping to ensure that retailers are held accountable for practices that support healthy diets and align with public health priorities.
We create tailored resources and tools to assist retailers in implementing and sustaining healthy food initiatives, demonstrating their feasibility and profitability while challenging misconceptions about retailer viability
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Our researchers
Our team of researchers is dedicated to addressing public health challenges related to nutrition, obesity, and health equity. With a wealth of expertise in epidemiology, health economics, policy analysis, artificial intelligence, and food retail, they are driving impactful change in the field.
Alfred Deakin Professor Anna Peters is the director of the Institute for Health Transformation and a professor of epidemiology and equity in public health at Deakin. She is focused on research around providing information that supports objective and equitable choices in public health and policy for decision-makers, practitioners and the public.
Professor Steven Allender is the founding director of the Global Obesity Centre at Deakin and a professor of public health. His recent research addresses the emerging burden of chronic disease in both developed and developing countries and investigates the potential for using complex systems approaches for community-based intervention.
Our innovative projects, developed in partnership with government and community organizations, are at the forefront of promoting healthier food retail environments. Discover how these initiatives are making a meaningful impact on consumer choices and enhancing public health outcomes.
This initiative empowers local government-owned facilities, such as sporting venues and community centres, to promote more nutritious options over less nutritious ones. By assessing availability, pricing, labeling and advertising of foods in line with the Victorian Government’s Health Choices guidelines, this project supports a shift towards healthier food and drink offerings.
The Uni-Food initiative assesses the extent to which universities in Australia are creating healthy, equitable, and environmentally sustainable food environments. By evaluating policies and practices across nine universities, this project aims to identify actionable strategies for improvement and promote the health and wellbeing of students and staff.
We’d love to hear from you! If you have any questions or would like to collaborate, please get in touch.
