Health is wealth, so goes the age-old adage and the focus of fast-moving consumer goods companies to tap the ‘healthy’ segment only confirms this truism. Nearly two years ago, a host of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms including Nestle, Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Britannia Industries have pledged to reduce salt, sugar and trans fat in their offerings by half to encourage healthy eating habits. Cut to 2020, the 16 largest companies in India, which accounts for nearly a third of the food and beverage market with a combined total retail sales of just over `1.8 lakh crore, seems to have progressed, albeit marginally, in providing healthy choices.
According to a study by Access to Nutrition Foundation, a Netherland-based not-for-profit organisation, HUL and Nestle were jointly ranked first with the highest score (6.9 out of 10) on the ‘India Access to Nutrition Spotlight Index 2020, while PepsiCo India and Britannia were ranked third and fourth, respectively, on the index. Other companies ranked among the top 10 included Coca Cola, Mondelez, Mother Dairy, Marico, ITC and KMF Nandini.
Interestingly, Britannia and Coca Cola have shown substantial progress across five of the seven elements of the Index since 2016 which include governance, products, accessibility, lifestyles, labelling, marketing and engagement.
“It is also encouraging to note that we have achieved the largest increase when compared to the other companies in the survey. This testifies our efforts and commitments towards making nutrition accessible to billions in the country. As the largest player in biscuits, we will continually set tough but right goals with regard to our product delivery on health and nutrition,” said Varun Berry, managing director, Britannia Industries.
But, is the current industry efforts sufficient to match the scale of the nutrition challenges — malnutrition and obesity — that India currently faces? The study points out of the 1,456 products of these companies assessed, only a tad 16 per cent were considered healthy.
Healthy products contributed less than a third (27 per cent) of the estimated 2018 sales of food and beverage products in India of 16 key companies, including HUL and Nestle. Along with the overall ‘healthiness’ of food and beverage manufacturers’ product portfolios in India, their public disclosure of nutrition-focused initiatives also remain low. “While Hindustan Unilever, Nestlé India and PepsiCo India stand out as having the most comprehensive reformulation targets...,” it noted.