Nestle is facing pressure to reduce the proportion of unhealthy food it sells and take responsibility for promoting global health.
According to ShareAction, an investor group, 40% of Nestle’s sales for everyday food in the UK consist of products that are high in salt, sugar, or fat.
Nestle has claimed that its report on the healthfulness of its worldwide sales is a groundbreaking achievement and has committed to establishing a goal for the promotion of healthier sales later this year.
ShareAction, however, has expressed its desire for Nestle to not only cut down on the quantity of unhealthy foods it offers but also decrease the amount of less healthy products it sells.
Nestle, which possesses well-known brands such as KitKat and Shreddies, is currently the largest food company in the world.
The company launched a new breakfast cereal, KitKat, in the UK’s grocery stores in April, containing 7.4g of sugar per 30g serving. This amount is higher than the recommended average of refined sugar intake per meal for adults.
According to Nestle, the KitKat cereal was created as a “treat” for breakfast and intended to be consumed on an infrequent basis.
ShareAction, an ethical investing advocacy group, has coordinated a joint call from 26 investors who possess over £2.64 trillion in assets.
This request precedes Nestle’s yearly shareholders’ meeting, scheduled for Thursday.
Simon Rawson, Deputy Chief Executive of ShareAction, said, “Nestle has said it wants to sell healthier food, but it hasn’t given assurances that it will also address its less healthy food sales, which is essential to turn the tide against the harmful effects of diet-related ill health.”
He further stated that the Swiss food conglomerate needs to “realign” its sales in order to provide well-balanced diets to people across the globe.
In March, a representative from Nestle declared that the corporation had established a new norm for corporate transparency.
“We are the first company to report on the nutritional value of our entire global portfolio against a single externally recognised, nutrient profiling scheme,” they added in a statement.
As per Mr. Rawson, the latest study by the World Obesity Federation demonstrates that if “urgent and significant” measures are not taken, more than 50% of the global population will suffer from obesity or be overweight by 2035.
ShareAction has sent letters to the governing bodies of various food companies such as Kellogg’s, Danone, and Kraft Heinz, requesting greater transparency and the establishment of nutritional objectives.
In February, Nestle, which produces Nescafe coffee and Buxton mineral water among other things, announced that it was incurring significant losses due to the unprecedented surge in food ingredient prices.
The notable rise in food costs resulted in a lower-than-anticipated decrease in inflation during the month of March.
