Show notes:

Did you know that ultra processed foods (UPFs) make 57% of the average British diet and up to 80% when it comes to children and people with lower incomes. And that the major food and drink companies lobbied to block the UK government’s efforts pushing for discounts on healthier and minimally processed products 

In the Indian sub-continent meanwhile, an average household derives more calories from processed foods than fruits (The Lancet study 2020). What is staggering is that this diet has been reshaped over the course of a single generation. While regulations around ultra-processed foods are tightening in both the UK and India, food regulations in India are considered weak, ambiguous, and industry-friendly, leading to a lack of strong front-of-pack labelling and effective advertising restrictions.

Last year I reached out to the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) in India - a pivotal global foundation dedicated to transforming the food industry to learn more about their work and the ATNI’s India Index. The India Index 2023 assesses the performance of the 20 largest food and beverage manufacturers of India. The findings based on 1,901 products are not unexpected but still staggering 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

👉🏾 The average Health Star Rating for all companies’ products is a shocking 1.9 out of 5, well below the ‘healthy’ threshold of 3.5

👉🏾 Sales of packaged F&B in India have surged by 15% every year since 2011, outperforming total food sales. Spending on F&B increased at a rate of 9% per year between 2011 to 2021

👉🏾 76% of sales are derived from less healthy products. Nineteen of the 20 companies derive most of their sales revenue from less healthy products.

👉🏾 The positives seven of the 20 companies have responsible advocacy plans and five institutional investors and shareholders of food companies in India have now signed up to nutrition frameworks such as the Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health as part of their responsible investment strategies.

Another disappointing fact, specifically highlighted in the index is that products sold in low-income countries like India tend to have lower health star ratings than those sold in high-income countries, indicating that the nutritional value of products may be lower in lower-income markets.

The findings are an eyeopener for the food industry, consumers, regulators, investors and activists and reveal the need for reform and greater transparency.

And should we not be asking as to how and why is it acceptable for multinational companies to offer products with low nutritional value in poorer countries compared to their offerings in high-income countries?

Head to the podcast to listen to the episode 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

Episode Transcript:

Sudha: Good morning, Vivek. Wonderful to have you as a guest on The Elephant in the Room Podcast today.

Vivek: Morning Sudha. And thank you for giving me this opportunity to come to the podcast, The Elephant in the Room and share my thoughts with you.

Sudha: So let's get started could you introduce yourself for the benefit of the audiences?

Vivek: I'm Vivek Arora and I work in the area of food and nutrition. So right from the beginning in the career I was involved with the food production. And there was a turnaround in 2008 when I got the opportunity to produce therapeutic and supplementary foods, and that's how I got introduced to the space of Nutrition.

And since then, I found a purpose, earlier I was producing fast foods and now I'm producing food for a purpose or contributing towards nutritious foods. So that's the transition that has happened. Of late after that stint I worked with development sector like Tata Trust and then went on to be an advisor in the space of nutrition, where currently I am advising ATNI and GAIN. ATNI is access to nutrition initiative and GAIN is Global Access for Improved Nutrition. So both are, global foundations and I provide my advisory services to them.

Sudha: Amazing. So you've also made a transition from the private sector to the development sector and found your purpose with what you are doing with your experience to use your experience for the next stint. So tell us a bit more about what the ATNI is or Access to Nutrition initiative is.

Vivek: So basically Access to Nutrition Initiative is a global foundation. What we do is, we challenge the food industry, the policy makers and the investors to produce, nutritious food or, create food systems that are more nutritious.

So what we actually do is we analyse data and come out with actionable points that helps them to take on the decisions basically.

Sudha: Very interesting considering that the world is struggling with hunger in some places, and obesity in some places. And I read a news report yesterday that India is also on the cusp of struggling with, an obesity crisis. However, that's another conversation to be had.

So what do and sustainable investment look like for nutrition, and do you have examples of where it has worked? And what is the scale of investments that is being made in this industry and what is needed?

Vivek: So basically sustainable investment is like the investors and the bond holders.

They invest in food companies, which drive a sustainable change in the companies. So basically it is nudging the investors, and it is being done through different means so right from collaborative approach to we need to take shareholder resolutions.

We work with the companies we analyse; we share the data with them, and then they take action. So either the companies take it or we then provide the reports to the investors. Who then take it to the board or the CEO to take actions and produce more nutritious or sustainable food and healthier options to the population basically.

So the motto of ATNI is providing healthier diets for all so we are nudging the companies who are producing food in the market to provide and give healthier options. Just to give you an example, we worked with Unilever and there were certain, board resolutions and there was a collaborative approach where we had three rounds of meetings with them. And they later started disclosing data on healthier options that they provide. So there are different profiling models available across the globe. And there are government recognized standard profiling models. They started disclosing the data on it and that's the way you come out in public, you commit in public, and then you improve. Unilever is a very, very good example. They almost, kind of stopped marketing unhealthy food to the children. So it was a big achievement I would rather say.

Sudha: Yeah that's a big thing. My interest in this question is because I look at the intersection of equity and inclusion and ESG and sustainable development and I understand from some of the information that you have shared that there are at least 88 financial institutions who manage like 21 trillion in assets who are working with you to invest more responsibly in nutrition. So all of this conversation around ESG being dead or sustainable development should not be a priority, I think, sounds more and more like rhetoric.

Vivek: You are right. See there are people who want the healthier option, and that's what our approach is because where do you consume food from? You consume food from markets. Now imagine if the markets are not able to provide in any case would consume food. So the objective here is to drive that market and transform them into healthier options and more sustainable options.

That's what we are working for, basically.

Sudha: And you have sufficient traction on this from investors. I can see.

Vivek: Definitely 21 trillion of assets under management and 88 investors on our side and growing. So, it's almost one third of the total investment by the company. So significant and with more popularity, where the index gets recognized and used by more investors, we see a good progress here.

Sudha: That's great, so ATNI released the Indian Index in 2023. What was the focus of the index and what is the methodology of the research?

Vivek: So basically this ATNI index 2023 is not new to India. So the first index was in 2016 where we analysed 10 companies. And the second index came in 2020, where 16 companies were analysed. In 2023 in total, 20 companies were analysed. These 20 companies produce about, say, 36% of the total processed food available in the Indian markets, which is significant.

So how do we analyze? There is a set methodology, and under each section there are several questions and the companies are asked these questions and each question is marked, and then the then a ranking is published. Just to give you an example the different sections.

So the first section is, the methodology. So the first one is nutr...