SPAR Gran Canaria: Promoting Healthy Eating and Social Inclusion

SPAR Gran Canaria promotes various projects and initiatives of its own and collaborates with social entities on the island to bring practical nutritional education tools to families, cancer patients, young people and groups with specific needs.

A commitment that goes beyond the shopping basket itself to transform food into a tool for well-being, inclusion and learning.

The supermarket chain has for years developed initiatives that combine the promotion of fresh and local products, social commitment and nutritional education, with the aim of promoting healthy lifestyle habits and facilitating access to a balanced diet.

This work is reflected in the SPAR Gran Canaria Kitchens, a pioneering project promoted by the company and developed together with different social entities to bring healthy cooking and personal autonomy to different groups.

At the association Mi Hijo y Yo, dedicated to the care of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), support for cooking workshops has contributed to the development of healthy habits, personal autonomy and family involvement.

Nutrition also plays a key role in the collaboration between SPAR Gran Canaria and the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC). Together with this organization, the supermarket chain develops initiatives aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles and providing resources tailored to people undergoing cancer treatment and their families.

In this context, nutrition acquires added value as support for well-being and comprehensive care during treatment and recovery.

Another example of the impact of these initiatives is the collaboration the chain has maintained for eight years with the Down Syndrome Association of Las Palmas. Through the Cooking Classroom project, participants develop practical skills for their daily lives, foster their independence, and acquire healthy eating habits in a dynamic and motivating environment.

Nutritional education is also part of the collaborative work with the Canary Islands Foundation Pequeño Valiente. One of the SPAR Gran Canaria stores recently hosted another session of the ‘Creating Healthy Habits’ workshop, in which teenagers and their families learned to interpret food nutrition labels and identify more balanced options for their daily diet.

The activity, led by a dietitian-nutritionist and a neuropsychologist from the organization, allowed participants to transfer theoretical knowledge to real shopping situations, promoting healthier and more conscious decisions.

All these collaborations are complemented by the Wallet Cards project, which facilitates access to food products for people experiencing situations of special vulnerability, and by the healthy cooking workshops developed together with the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), a collaboration that provides academic rigor and reinforces the dissemination of eating habits based on knowledge and scientific evidence.

Bringing healthy food closer to every home

SPAR Gran Canaria also works on different actions aimed at the entire population to ensure that a balanced diet is accessible to all budgets.

Among them is the traditional Fruit Wednesday, an initiative that allows customers to access fruits and vegetables with special offers each week and promotes the consumption of fresh and seasonal products.

In addition, the chain offers its customers additional benefits through My SPAR Club and its mobile application, tools that help facilitate healthy shopping at more affordable prices.

Fresh, locally sourced products also play a central role in this commitment. SPAR Gran Canaria maintains a close collaboration with local farmers and producers to bring fruits, vegetables, and other fresh foods grown in the Canary Islands to its stores. This decision not only promotes a balanced and high-quality diet but also contributes to strengthening the Canary Islands’ primary sector and to the island’s economic and social development.

This comprehensive vision of food reaches a new dimension at SPAR Natural, a space designed to respond to the new needs of consumers through a wide selection of organic, natural products adapted to different dietary requirements.

SPAR Natural offers vegan, vegetarian, organic, and specific options for people with intolerances and allergies, expanding the alternatives available for those looking to incorporate healthier habits into their daily lives.

Through all these initiatives, SPAR Gran Canaria continues to demonstrate its commitment to healthy eating, understood as a tool capable of generating well-being, promoting inclusion, fostering learning, and contributing to improving the quality of life of individuals and the Gran Canaria community as a whole.