A recent initiative in Dubai highlights how retailers - in addition to parents, schools and food manufacturers - can play a role in enabling kids to eat more healthily.
Launched in September 2025, Bright Bites is described as the world’s first supermarket for kids. Found inside a Carrefour in Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates, it offers a ‘gamified’ experience designed to make healthy eating exciting, educational and interactive, giving children a chance to learn about nutrition while shopping and playing.
The experience is aimed at kids aged 4-11 and the Bright Bites supermarket is divided into five stations, one for each “food hero”:
1. Rainbow Picks – fruits and vegetables.
2. Tummy Fillers – main meals from better-for-you brands such as Wildly Tasty and Pots & Tots.
3. Dairy Drop – yoghurts, cheese snacks and milk drinks (including plant-based options).
4. Sips & Slurps – beverages such as fruit juices and protein milkshakes.
5. Mindful Munching – sweet treats such as cookies, fruit wafers and jelly desserts, which kids are encouraged to keep to one per day.
The idea is that kids go through each station one by one, with their specially designed kid-sized shopping trolleys in tow, following fun instructions and learning while picking up at least one item from each section.
Many of the products are Bright Bites-branded, but products from established brands such as Babybel, Bear snacks and The Collective Dairy are also available. Bright Bites claims to have screened, tested and tasted each product to ensure that they are approved by kids and parents alike.
A 90g pot of Bright Bites-branded strawberry yoghurt averages out at around AED 4.50 ($1.23/€1.05) per pot which is 61% more than a 110g pot from Safio, another kids-oriented brand that is not included in the Bright Bites initiative. Meanwhile, the Bright Bites yoghurt delivers 8.8g of sugar and 4.3g of fat per 100g while the Safio product contains 12g of sugar and 3.1g of fat.
In addition to food, the supermarket also contains interactive games, challenges, a kid-friendly café and a station where kids can design their own lunchbox.
