Earlier this week I was invited by the Food Safety and
Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to
give a presentation to a gathering of CEOs of companies located in India on how
to make businesses and markets work for nutrition.
I structured my talk around answering 2 questions:
Why bother to make markets and businesses work for
nutrition? and What do CEOs need to do?
First, why bother?
1.
It is the smart thing to do
·
The medium term market opportunities are
enormous. The Business and
Sustainable Development Commission’s new report estimates that globally about
$1 trillion of business opportunity is embedded within 4 areas
* Develop food markets that help
low income households get access to nutritious foods
* Reformulate products for
enhanced micronutrients, lower sugar, salt and transfats
* Reduce food loss in the supply
chain
* Reduce consumer food waste in
the home
India would be home to a significant chunk of the $1
trillion.
·
The short term wins are significant.
Improving nutrition environment in the workplace will
* Improve labour productivity
by 10%
* Reduce absenteeism and presenteeism by about the same percentage
* Reduce staff turnover also
In a highly competitive
environment, these margins are highly significant
2.
It is the right thing to do
We know that healthier and more productive consumers will
purchase more goods and services, so there is a smart rationale for businesses
to invest in nutrition. But there is
also a moral case.
Malnutrition is very high in India as the Global Nutrition Report notes.
Malnutrition is very high in India as the Global Nutrition Report notes.
* Poor diets are the number one
cause of the global burden of disease and a top 5 factor in India
* 38% of Indian under 5’s are
stunted
* 48% of Indian women suffer from
anaemia
* 22% of Indian adults are
overweight or obese
This is too much for the government or foundations or international development partners to address on their own—responsible businesses have an obligation to add their know how, resources and skills to the fight.
This is too much for the government or foundations or international development partners to address on their own—responsible businesses have an obligation to add their know how, resources and skills to the fight.
3.
It is the sustainable thing to do
* Making businesses and markets
work for nutrition is a way of rebuilding trust in CEOs. International evidence suggests that it is at an all time low
* There is evidence from Unilever and
others that brands with a social purpose command higher margins
* Whichever country you are in,
the pressure from consumers, health professionals and governments is going to
lead to more regulation, taxes, and subsidy removals—all in the name of better
nutrition. For example, see Mexico and
the UK on soda taxes. The CEOs that quietly
get ready for these changes will have a competitive advantage.
So if making businesses and markets work harder for good
nutrition is the smart, right, and sustainable thing to do, how to do
it?
1.
Be champions for improving nutrition: better
nourished citizens are better customers
2.
Work with peers in business to get governments
to create a level playing field at the sector level by developing:
* Standards: e.g. promulgating
and enforcing standards on food safety and quality around large scale food
fortification for example
* Policy: e.g. reducing import
duties on fortificants and reducing taxes on companies that are developing
healthier products
* Finance: e.g. blended financing
instruments, e.g. preferential credit facilities for more nutritious foods, matching
funds
3.
Incorporate nutrition goals into your corporate
strategies
* Be aligned with the way the
world is moving: be on the right side of history
* Make the ideas of creating
shared value a reality
* Walk the talk, get consumer
sentiment on your side, attract value investors
So, making markets work for nutrition is the right thing to
do, but it is also the sustainable and smart thing to do.
2 comments:
thanks for posting the important issue, about the sustainability according to my opinion , since ideally every business working for making profit rather then pay attention to the nutrition status of people (e.g production and sale of fast foods) , and the key actor for sustainability is the acting of governments , if the governments not able to regulate the implementation of standards, regulation and safety procedure at any time, the companies will not take care about producing of nutritious food which mostly less pay off than non-nutritious foods.
thanks for posting the important issue, about the sustainability according to my opinion , since ideally every business working for making profit rather then pay attention to the nutrition status of people (e.g production and sale of fast foods) , and the key actor for sustainability is the acting of governments , if the governments not able to regulate the implementation of standards, regulation and safety procedure at any time, the companies will not take care about producing of nutritious food which mostly less pay off than non-nutritious foods.
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