Nestle, the world’s largest food company, has been urged to reduce its sales of unhealthy food by the responsible investment charity ShareAction. According to the charity, 40% of Nestle’s sales of everyday foods in the United Kingdom contained excessive amounts of salt, sugar, or fat. Nestle’s response has been to pledge to set a target for healthier sales later this year and to claim that reporting on the healthiness of its global sales is a world first. ShareAction, on the other hand, wants Nestle to go even further and reduce the number of unhealthy foods it sells. The Swiss-based food giant owns brands such as KitKat and Shreddies.
Nestle introduced a new KitKat breakfast cereal in UK supermarkets earlier this year. However, each 30 g serving of cereal contains 7.4 g of sugar, which is more than the recommended average refined sugar intake per meal for adults. Nestle has defended the product, claiming that it is intended to be enjoyed as an “occasional, indulgent” breakfast option.
ShareAction has coordinated calls for Nestle to reduce its sales of unhealthy food from 26 investors with over £2.64 trillion in assets. The calls come just days before Nestle’s annual shareholder meeting, which takes place on Thursday. According to Simon Rawson, deputy chief executive of ShareAction, Nestle needs to “rebalance” its sales in order to make balanced diets “affordable to people all over the world.” He went on to say that the company needed to provide assurances that it would also address its less healthy food sales in order to turn the tide against the negative effects of diet-related illness.
Nestle responded by emphasising the company’s commitment to corporate transparency, stating that it was the first to report on the nutritional value of its entire global portfolio against a single, externally recognised nutrient profiling scheme. Nestle, they added, would set a new standard in corporate transparency in March.
Mr Rawson, on the other hand, cited World Obesity Federation research, which found that unless “serious and immediate” action is taken, more than half of the world’s population will be overweight or obese by 2035. ShareAction has written to the boards of several food companies, including Kellogg’s, Danone, and Kraft Heinz, requesting greater transparency and the establishment of nutrition targets.
Nestle, which also makes Buxton mineral water and Nescafe coffee, announced in February that it would take a “massive” hit to its profits as food ingredient prices reached all-time highs. Food price increases have caused inflation to fall less than expected in March.
To summarise, while Nestle’s commitment to transparency regarding the healthiness of its global sales is commendable, ShareAction’s call for the company to reduce its sales of unhealthy foods is justified. Nestle has a responsibility to improve the nutritional content of its products because over 40% of its everyday food sales in the UK are high in salt, sugar, or fat. As Simon Rawson has pointed out, the negative effects of diet-related ill health must be addressed as soon as possible, and Nestle, as the world’s largest food company, has a critical role to play in this regard.
