Superdrug to spend £1m on cutting suncare product prices

In what continues to be a burning issue, health & beauty retailer Superdrug is to invest £1 million to ensure sun protection is affordable and high on the list of its customers’ summer essentials.

It’s part of the UK retailer’s ongoing campaign to pressurise the government to remove the VAT on all suncare products, believing the category should be deemed a “healthcare essential and not a beauty product”.

That £1 million will go to removing 20%, the equivalent of VAT, from its own-brand suncare range Solait, reducing the cost for a second year.

In all, the price of some 34 related products have been reduced, with its Solait Sun Cream SPF50 (200ml) cut from £6 to £3.59 and the Solait kid’s roll-on sun cream SPF50+ (75ml) reduced to £2.79.

Superdrug’s Own Brand Director, Jamie Archer, said: “We believe that everyone should have access to the products that protect their health and wellbeing and at an affordable price.

“Sunscreen is currently classed as a cosmetic product and therefore carries the VAT associated with it, making it unaffordable for some people, so we are pleased to continue our commitment to our shoppers by making the category more accessible.”

He added: “Through our work with Beauty Banks we know that requests for donations of suncare products have risen, with some people even having to forego it altogether, which is concerning to hear.  We hope that by reducing the price of our Solait range we can help make sun protection more affordable and allow families to stay safe in the sun.”