Unilever to "set new standard" for nutritional transparency
Consumer goods giant Unilever has revealed its plan to set a new standard for transparency in the nutritional content of food products, becoming the first major player to publicly report its products' performance, following a successful campaign by shareholders.
Unilever said that it will publish assessments annually with the first to come in October this year. These reports will cover around 25,000 of its products and will see how they measure up against six different government-endorsed Nutrient Profile Models (NPMs).
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NPMs are a tool used to differentiate foods and drinks on the basis of nutritional content. This can then be used by regulators, with an aim to restrict the advertising of products with high fat, salt or sugar to children.
The NPMs that Unilever will use are the High Fat Salt Sugar from the UK, Nutri-Score, which is used in a number of European countries, Health Star Rating, used in Australia and New Zealand, Front of Pack logos from Chile, Singapore's Healthy Choice, as well as Choices International, a global nutritional science foundation.
The 16 markets in which the company's products are to be assessed against NPMs are the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France, DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), UK & Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia, India, China and Australia.
The announcement comes after what Unilever described in a statement, as "extensive, constructive engagement" with responsible investment charity ShareAction.
In January 2022, ShareAction and over 100 institutional and individual investors co-filed a shareholder resolution urging Unilever to significantly increase sales of its healthier food and drinks. It said that while Unilever - often seen as a poster child for sustainability among global corporations - had a "crucial blind spot" with regard to the health profile of its foods and drinks.
The Access to Nutrition Initiative, a major benchmarking organisation for food companies and their investors, last year found that just 17% of Unilever’s food and beverage sales were derived from healthier products. This was a smaller proportion than many of its competitors, including Danone (61%), Nestlé (43%), Kraft Heinz (36%), General Mills (29%) and Kellogg (26%).
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The resolution was due to be voted on at the company's AGM in the Spring but has now been withdrawn.
In a press release, Unilever said it would "set stretching nutrition targets for its portfolio" including timebound plant-based sales and salt, sugar and calorie reduction targets.
It added that the new targets will be published in October 2022 and it would be "guided by" the latest Access to Nutrition Initiative’s assessment and recommendations when considering improvements.
Hanneke Faber, Unilever’s President of Foods & Refreshment, said: "We [and ShareAction] share a common belief in the importance of having an ambitious long-term strategy for nutrition and health, and that companies should publish ambitious targets to deliver against.
"I am confident that with these new initiatives, we will set a new benchmark for nutrition transparency in our industry and accelerate our positive impact on public health."
The company has said that, going ahead, it will engage quarterly with ShareAction and investors in 2022 and 2023, and biannually thereafter.
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Catherine Howarth, CEO of ShareAction, welcomed Unilever's new commitments, saying that the company has the power to improve the health of millions worldwide.
She said: "The transparency promised sets a new standard for the industry. We hope and expect that others will follow. ShareAction and the Healthy Markets investor coalition looks forward to working closely with Unilever as the company sets stretching new targets to sell healthier food and improve people's health."
The announcement from Unilever comes on the heels of a similar situation with UK supermarket giant Tesco. Last year ShareAction coordinated the first health-based resolution filed at a FTSE100 firm when it made similar demands of Tesco. The resolution was withdrawn after Tesco agreed to the requests.
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