Nestlé has promised to boost the nutritional value in its products, after nearly (40%) half of its entire portfolio was rated as unhealthy.
The iconic confectionary brand is now saying it plans to set a “new standard” for transparent reporting, making it clear which of its products are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).
This week, the company published a breakdown of its entire global portfolio, which found that of the products within the nutrient profiling model – used by the government to classify HFSS products – 39% of net sales were for HFSS and 61% were non-HFSS.
Nestlé said it would announce a target to improve its global figures by the end of this year.
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The company used the Australian Health Star Rating (HSR), which had also been adopted by other companies including Unilever, to show that close to 60% of its global net sales scored 3.5 stars or above in the scheme.
“We are setting a new standard in corporate transparency,” a Nestlé spokeswoman told The Grocer.
“We are the first company to report on the nutritional value of our entire global portfolio. Later this year, we will set a global target for the healthier part of our portfolio.
“The details of this target need careful assessment and we are engaging with relevant stakeholders,” the spokeswoman said.
Campaign lead of consumer health at ShareAction, Holly Gabriel said the report was a “welcome step forward” and demonstrated how important it was for more businesses to produce transparent reporting of their products.
“Based on HSR, just 37% of Nestlé’s entire global portfolio is classified as healthier,” she said.
“This is a significant drop from their 2022 figure of 80.5%, which was based on Nestlé’s own in-house ‘Nestlé Nutritional Foundation profiling criteria’ and included their specialised nutrition category.”
The news comes as Nestlé appointed Mark Davies as its new managing director for UK and Ireland confectionary this week.
