Unilever publishes nutrition scores for its food portfolio, including Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum ice cream, Hermann’s Mayonnaise and Knorr stock cubes, to external health indicators, with new goals under investor pressure on obesity. To set.
A pledge to evaluate performance against six indicators, including the UK definition of “high fat, sugar and salt” and the European Nutri-Score, is a shareholder resolution on this issue by institutional investors, including € 150 billion asset manager Candriam. It will be done after submitting.
Unilever, the world’s largest ice cream maker, said it will set new goals by October and will be the world’s first food group to announce nutritional performance in this way. Evaluate global and 16 key market performance by product quantity and revenue.
Larger rival Nestlé has been working on new nutritional standards. According to an internal report confirmed by the Financial Times last year, more than 60% of the Swiss Group’s mainstream food and beverage products do not meet the “recognized definition of health”.
Catherine Howarth, CEO of ShareAction, a shareholder group that has forced Unilever to make changes, said: I expect and expect other people to follow me. “
Investors of $ 215 billion in assets such as Candriam, US healthcare provider Trinity Health and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund passed a resolution in January prior to Unilever’s annual meeting scheduled for May. We urged the FTSE100 Consumer Goods Group to set ambitious goals for healthier sales. Food.
“The health profile of the food and beverage products we sell is still a blind spot,” said Ignacio Vazquez, senior manager of ShareAction’s healthy market, despite Unilever’s strong sustainability record.
“This is surprising because the rapid expansion of regulation means that health is important. [environmental, social and governance] Problems that pose a real financial threat to the business. “
The resolution is currently being withdrawn, and Unilever said it would work closely with ShareAction and its Healthy Markets Initiative. Hanneke Faber, President of Unilever’s Food Division, said the change “sets a new benchmark for nutritional transparency in the industry and accelerates its positive impact on public health.”
Unilever’s existing food and refreshment division’s existing goals include annual revenues of € 20 billion and doubling the number of products that provide “positive nutrition” by 2025.
The company was considering selling its food and refreshment division to fund a failed £ 50 billion bid for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer health division at the end of last year. However, after shareholder backlash, Unilever said it was no longer seeking a major merger or acquisition.
Governments around the world are looking for a fight against obesity, and the World Health Organization says it has nearly tripled since 1975, but some measures, especially for products that are considered “snack”. Is controversial.
As of the January shareholder resolution, Mark Lynch, a partner at corporate finance boutique Oghma Partners, said: for that. “
