Business

Unilever sets new healthy food target after investor pressure

Unilever will publish nutrition scores for its food portfolio, including Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum ice cream, Hellmann and Knorr mayonnaise, based on external health indicators and set new targets after pressure from investors on obesity.

The pledge to evaluate performance against six measures, including the UK’s definition of “high in fat, sugar and salt” and the European Nutrition Score, came after institutional investors including The entire 150 billion euro asset manager Candriam put forward a shareholder resolution on the matter.

Unilever, the world’s largest ice cream maker, will set a fresh goal in October and says it will be the first global food group to announce nutritional benefits in this way. It will measure performance globally and for 16 key markets by product volume and revenue.

Bigger rival Nestlé has been working on new nutritional standards. An internal report seen by the Financial Times last year speak More than 60% of the Swiss group’s major food and beverage products do not meet the “recognized definition of health”.

“The promise of transparency sets a new standard for the industry,” said Catherine Howarth, chief executive officer of ShareAction, a shareholder group that pushed Unilever to make the changes. We hope and expect that others will follow suit.”

Investors with $215 billion in assets including Candriam, US healthcare provider Trinity Health and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund introduced a resolution in January ahead of the regular general assembly meeting. Unilever’s annual anniversary in May, urging the FTSE 100 consumer goods group to set ambitious targets to sell healthier food.

Ignacio Vazquez, Senior Manager of Healthy Markets at ShareAction, said at the time, that despite Unilever’s strong sustainability track record, “the health profile of the food and beverage products that the company claims is the health record of the food and beverage industry.” The seller is still a blind spot.”

“This is surprising, as the rapid development of regulations means that health is a [environmental, social and governance] The problem poses a real financial threat to its business. “

The resolution has now been withdrawn, and Unilever has said it will work closely with ShareAction and its Healthy Markets Initiative. Hanneke Faber, president of Unilever’s food division, said the changes will “set a new benchmark for nutrition transparency in our industry and accelerate our positive impact on public health”.

Unilever’s current goals for its food and beverage division, which has 20 billion euros in annual sales, include doubling the number of products offering “active nutrition” by 2025.

The company considered selling its food and beverage business to help finance £50 billion bid failed for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare division late last year. But following shareholder backlash, Unilever said it was no longer looking for large-scale mergers and acquisitions.

Governments around the globe are looking for ways to combat obesity, which the World Health Organization says has nearly tripled since 1975, but some measures are controversial, particularly in relation to obesity. to products that are considered “junk food”.

At the time of the shareholder resolution in January, Mark Lynch, a partner at corporate finance outlet Oghma Partners, said: “Protesters will see the natural logic that companies like Lindt stop selling shares cola or Diageo, alcoholic beverages – no shareholder will vote for it. ”

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