Private sector: A focus on internal policies to improve nutrition

1. In the Nutrition Year of Action, 30 private sector stakeholders registered 62 commitments comprising 107 commitment goals. With 85 (79%) of these categorised as policy actions, businesses are important for implementing initiatives and programmes aimed at improving nutrition.
2. Businesses put forward ambitious commitments to tackle nutrition challenges on a global scale. The global and multi-country remit of 70 (65%) goals targeting the whole population is a reflection of the potential impact and reach of the private sector.
3. Commitments registered by the private sector were predominantly led by large food private corporations and multinationals based in high-income countries (mainly Japan, US and the EU) and were strongly aligned with global targets for diet-related non-communicable diseases (adult obesity, adult diabetes, raised blood pressure and salt intake).

If you would like to know more about any of the terms used in this chapter, you can visit the report glossary.

The private sector (food and non-food businesses) has a critical role to play in transforming the food system and enabling access to healthy, affordable and sustainably produced food. The activities and actions of businesses, directly and indirectly, affect nutritional outcomes. The private sector is responsible for the production and commercialisation of food and beverages, as well as services that are connected to nutrition, such as food outlets. At the same time, the private sector is the main employer in many countries, and by looking after the working conditions of the employees it has the potential to affect the wellbeing of millions of workers worldwide. Local, national and multinational businesses have the potential to have impact at different scales, because they operate in local contexts and have a presence in multiple countries and working across different sectors.

During the Nutrition Year of Action, 30 businesses registered 62 commitments comprising 107 goals. Most private sector commitments (50, 81%) and goals (84, 79%) were registered by 23 businesses working in the food industry, and seven (23%) non-food businesses registered 12 (19%) commitments and 23 (21%) goals. Most goals were categorised as policy nutrition action (85, 79%); half of these were sub-categorised as ‘food supply chain’ (43, 51%) and a third as ‘food environment’ (28, 33%). Enabling and impact goals accounted for 20% (21) and 0.9% (1), respectively. The multinational nature of the businesses is reflected in the global and multi-country remit of most goals (70, 65%). No private sector goals were developed in response to the impact of Covid-19.

Most (51, 82%) private sector commitments met the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) criteria. The remaining were submitted by four companies that did not meet the N4G principles of engagement (specifically the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes), as verified by the Access to Nutrition Initiative. The private sector’s engagement at the Tokyo N4G Summit in 2021 was less than half of the number of commitments registered at the London Summit in 2013 (127). With an average length of around 6.5 years, private sector goals had a time frame in line with the average length across all stakeholders. Finally, actions from the private sector were mainly driven by individual businesses, with only five (8%) commitments jointly registered with other stakeholders (in most cases other businesses).

The largest proportion of private sector commitment goals (43, 40%) falls within the lower-moderate level on the Nutrition Action SMARTness Index, followed by high (29, 27%), upper moderate (21, 20%) and low (14, 13%). With almost half of commitment goals trackable (in the high or upper-moderate level), the private sector commitment goals are SMARTer than the average. For commitment goals that are not currently trackable, the level of clarification is lower than the average across the stakeholders. Diving into the SMARTness ingredients, private sector commitments have room to improve by better quantifying the cost associated with their implementation and making consistent the amount and currency across ingredients.

Considering the transformative role the private sector can play in tackling malnutrition in all its forms, this chapter provides an overview of the scope of nutrition actions submitted during the Nutrition Year of Action by businesses. It highlights the breadth of private sector nutrition actions, which had a focus on internal policies designed to improve nutrition. A description of the reach and geographical focus of the nutrition actions follows, and the chapter concludes with the focus of food businesses to tackle diet-related non-communicable disease (NCD) targets in high-income countries.^{[1] [2]}

Figure 5.1 shows the breakdown of nutrition commitments registered by the private sector in the Nutrition Year of Action by action category and sub-category. Private sector commitments covered nine of the 12 nutrition action sub-categories, but clear patterns emerged on the focus for actions. Most goals were policy nutrition actions (85, 79%), and they were designed and implemented by adopting internal corporate policies. Most policy nutrition actions aim to transform the ‘food supply chain’ (43, 51%). These included improving the nutritional value of products (typically against companywide standards or international standards such as those from the World Health Organization); improving agricultural practices resulting in better food production and improved farmer livelihood; increasing the proportion of plant-based products available and reducing food loss and waste. A third of goals were aimed at improving the ‘food environment’ (28, 33%). These ranged from broadening the choice of healthy options available to employees in staff cafeterias (e.g. providing plant-based or agrobiodiverse options) to providing nutrition programmes within the workplace and improving the availability of nutrition information. Finally, the private sector was involved in improving ‘consumer knowledge’ about health and food choices (13, 15%), such as providing nutrition education to different population groups (employees, children and the elderly) or specialist information from nutritionists and dieticians.

A fifth of private sector goals (21, 20%) contributed to a more effective enabling environment to tackle poor diets and malnutrition in all its forms. Of these, a quarter were ‘leadership and governance’ (5, 24%), for example an action to join a global alliance. A third were ‘operational’ (8, 38%), such as training employees to reduce food waste or offering nutrition education programmes. Enabling goals that were ‘research, monitoring and data’ (4, 19%) identified key sustainable food system metrics for developing a sustainability dashboard aimed at collecting data to improve workers' welfare. Four food businesses submitted enabling goals that were ‘financial’ (4, 19%), for a total of US$54 million committed (based on data available for three of the four goals). Investments to enhance local food systems in vulnerable communities, provide financial assistance to support underprivileged children, and fund the activities of children’s cafeterias are examples of financing actions.

Private sector commitments have global and multi-country coverage. Enabling and policy goals focused on addressing nutritional issues with a worldwide (13, 62%, and 36, 42%, respectively) and multi-country focus (2, 10%, and 18, 22%, respectively). This is a reflection of the potential reach of the private sector as well as a recognition that food commodities are increasingly produced and consumed in different parts of the world. Goals with a global reach (49, 46%) were generally registered by businesses operating in multiple countries.

Figure 5.2 reports the geographic area targeted by private sector goals by nutrition action area. Most enabling goals had a global focus (13, 62%). For example, those that were ‘leadership and governance’ were aimed at joining worldwide initiatives that promote workforce nutrition improvement (e.g. the Workforce Nutrition Alliance); those that were ‘operational’ focused on providing better meals to the workforce through training chefs or establishing nutrition education programmes. Enhancing local food systems in vulnerable communities was the target of goals that were ‘financial’, and goals that were ‘research, monitoring and data’ focused on collecting data to inform a plan for local subsidies to improve food in the workplace or undertake a life-cycle assessment to estimate the environmental impacts of production.

For policy goals, most that were ‘food environment’ and ‘food supply chain’ had a global (20, 71%) and multi-country (31, 72%) geographical focus. Those that were ‘food environment’ with a global reach focused on increasing the offer of healthier meals to workforces and consumers, via recipe reformulation and increased availability of plant-based ingredients on restaurant and coffee shop menus, or limiting marketing campaigns of unhealthy food. ‘Food supply chain’ goals focused on production (e.g. improving agricultural practices, reducing post-harvest losses, or supporting the welfare of producers) and consumption (e.g. increasing research and development activities of micronutrient fortified food or healthier formulations). Unlike other policy goals, those that were ‘consumer knowledge’ had mostly national or subnational remits (10, 77%). These focused on disseminating information to employers and consumers on healthy diets and food choices.

Of note, the geographical location of businesses is aligned with a distinct pattern of the geographical area covered. More than half (30, 57%) of the goals submitted by businesses based in Asia had a national or subnational focus in the stakeholder country of origin, compared with only seven (19%) from companies based in Europe and none from North America. Businesses in Europe and North America generally had a global focus (16, 44%, and 17, 94%, of the goals submitted, respectively).

Commitments registered during the Nutrition Year of Action by the private sector were all but one from businesses with headquarters in high-income countries (61, 98% of the total). As the host country of the Tokyo N4G Summit, Japanese businesses stepped up to the call and registered 18 commitments (29%), followed by the US (14, 23%) and the UK (12, 19%). These were followed by France (7, 11%), the Netherlands (4, 6%), Singapore (3, 4.8%), Switzerland (2, 3.2%) and Sweden (1, 1.6%). With one commitment, Indonesia was the only representative of a middle-income country.

Figure 5.3 reports the alignment of commitments with the global nutrition targets. A clear pattern towards a focus on diet-related NCD targets emerged across the food and non-food private sector (the registration form allowed stakeholders to select multiple targets, hence the totals exceed 100%). Most (35, 56%) commitments registered by the private sector aimed to address adult obesity in both the workforce and consumers. For example, employees benefit from taking part in educational programmes on healthier diets and having access to healthier meals, while the development of higher nutritional quality food products derived from the reformulation and substitution of ingredients offer healthier options to consumers. Reformulation of food products, for example by introducing plant-based ingredients, and education programmes were also some of the objectives of the 29 commitments (47%) that were aligned with halting the rise in the prevalence of adult diabetes. Similar action plans were also in the commitments that focused on reducing salt intake (27, 44%) and blood pressure (26, 42%). The commitments aligned with the maternal, infant and young child nutrition global targets (17, 27%), spread evenly across all six related targets. These had a range of focuses, from producing fortified food to increasing the income of farmers by improving access to fair-price trade opportunities.

The alignment of global nutrition targets with self-reported thematic areas provides more granular insights into the nature of the N4G commitments put forward by the private sector. The focus on diet-related NCD targets is predominant in commitments aligned with ‘food’ and ‘health’ themes. ‘Food’ was the main thematic area for commitments targeting adult obesity (25, 71%), adult diabetes (23, 79%), raised blood pressure (20, 77%) and salt intake (21, 78%), followed by the ‘health’ thematic area for 18 commitments targeting obesity (51%) and 18 targeting diabetes (62%), and 14 targeting blood pressure (54%) and salt intake (52%), respectively.^[3] ‘Resilience’, ‘data’ and ‘financing’ accounted for less than 4% of the remaining commitments. While ‘food’ and ‘health’ thematic areas aligned closely with commitments aimed at maternal, infant and young child nutrition global targets, a significant proportion aligned with the ‘resilience’ thematic area and a small number with ‘data’ and ‘financing’.

As the third largest stakeholder in terms of the number of commitments registered, the private sector played a key role in the Nutrition Year of Action. With 85 (79%) of commitment goals categorised as policy nutrition actions, businesses have demonstrated leadership in pledging the implementation of initiatives and programmes that aim to improve nutrition. Commitments spanned the ‘food’ and ‘health’ thematic areas and were all but one registered by businesses based in high-income countries. The potential influence and reach of the private sector were also reflected in the global and multi-country focus of the commitments registered. The strong alignment of the commitments with diet-related NCD global targets (adult obesity, adult diabetes, raised blood pressure and salt intake) highlights the potential role the private sector has in tackling nutritional challenges. However, the private sector should not work siloed but in collaboration with governments and other stakeholders to ensure that actions are aligned with national and global priorities and maximise the positive impact it can make.

1. Large private corporations and multinationals should collaborate with other stakeholders to build on enabling and policy nutrition actions to foster impact nutrition actions. By producing and providing healthier and more nutritious food options, the private sector can play a key role in transforming the food environment. There is also scope to expand the influence of the private sector into impact actions, with bolder commitments that can directly affect the health of people, and with strong collaborations with governments and other stakeholders to identify priorities.
2. National, small and medium enterprises should play a greater role in addressing nutritional challenges. Given their role in shaping food systems, more mobilisation of the national private sector (including small and medium enterprises) is needed. While large multinationals have a privileged position to bring changes across boundaries, there is scope for more targeted approaches that can be tailored to the local contexts. In particular, small and medium enterprises can play a key role in addressing nutrition challenges at national and subnational levels.
3. Businesses based in or reaching low and middle-income countries should play a greater role in addressing local nutritional challenges. With the increasing prevalence of adult obesity, adult diabetes, raised blood pressure and increase in salt intake alongside undernutrition in many low and middle-income countries, the role of the private sector in transforming the local food environment is crucial. The provision of healthier and more nutritious food in urban areas as well as in rural areas where economic transformation has brought a sudden change in dietary intakes is key to address local nutrition challenges.