Since I wrote about the increasing pressure on fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands to shoulder some responsibility for the public health implications of their products, there have been some interesting developments.
Tesco seems to have attempted to place itself at the front line of the war on sugar, going as far as to ban some sugary drinks from its stores. This could be seen as a positive step from the retailer to help reduce sugar consumption, but personally I’m very sceptical.
The health related initiatives from Tesco seem rather piecemeal and founded more in a desire to be seen as responsive to current concerns and trends than a genuine aspiration to make a difference. This comes from a supermarket, not health professionals, and,given that Tesco does not seem to adopt a regular ethical point of view, it could be seen to be jumping on the bandwagon.
Earlier this year, the social call-outs showing crisps in the sweet-free checkouts seemed to highlight that Tesco and other supermarkets are in danger of demonstrating an inconsistent approach to introducing healthy changes.
FMCG brands are also looking to involve themselves more directly in the war on sugar, by proactively supporting research into healthier diets and ways to reduce sugar consumption. For example, a brand consortium including Coca-Cola, Mondelez and Unilever contributes towards the Biotechnological and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Medical Research Council’s work.
While the brands are only contributing a modest 10% of the £3.7m project cost, it’s an interesting example of a move towards shared responsibility – or perhaps a way demonstrate engagement with the problem to stave off further regulation or sugar taxes.
There’s clearly an increasing trend towards brands being seen to be doing something to help reduce sugar levels and positively improve the nation’s diet. This is reminiscent of the vigour many companies applied to publicising what they were doing to improve their environmental footprints in the past decade. While initially admirable, it does feel like some of these moves may lack integrity, with brands reacting to the latest hot topic rather than proactively taking steps to improve consumer health.
The focus shouldn’t be on banning certain products, but instead actively taking steps to help educate the public on how to make the right choices and to make these choices easier. Education is the best way to help make a genuine long-term change and maybe greater adherence to Aristotle’s maxim “seek moderation in all things.”
Richard Southon is managing director at Communicator
This advertisement feature is brought to you by the Marketing Agencies Association, sponsors of the Guardian Media & Tech Network’s Agencies hub.
