NL-KVK-58279199-GlobalIndex
Access to Nutrition Foundation
Objective 1: Progress Global Indexes including US Index
Preparation and research for the publication of two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Overall objective: Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020. Jan-June 30th 2017. Objective: preparation for research Global Index 2018. Methodology development, company selection, online platform development, stakeholder engagement.
Consumers, CSOs, Government, Private sector, Academics
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
As part of this Objective ATNF will publish two Global Indexes: the third Global Index (2018) and fourth Global Index (2020). It is currently working on the third Global Index. The third Index that will publicly rate twenty-two of the world’s largest F&B manufacturers’ nutrition-related policies, practices and disclosure, is expected to be published in March 2018.
• June-August: The ATNF analyst team conducted the pre-population of the on-line data-gathering platform with publicly available data about companies’ nutrition commitments and performance. ATNF also visited Japan to engage with the Japanese companies in the 2018 Global Access to Nutrition Index: Tingyi, Meiji Holdings and Ajinomoto. • August: ATNF organized webinars for the selected companies in the Global and US Index to share final methodologies and training in using the platform. 16 Out of the 22 companies participated and Q&A were developed/distributed. • September: The data-gathering platform was opened for the Global and US Index companies. 16 Out of the 22 companies actively engaged in the research for the Global Index and submitted non-public data on the data-gathering platform, partly under NDA (12). The platform was closed on 01/10/2017.
The Access to Nutrition Foundation will launch the 2018 Global Access to Nutrition Index, the third Global Index, in May 2018. It will assess 22 of the world’s largest Food & Beverage manufacturers' nutrition policies, practices and disclosure, as well as the nutritional quality of their products in nine markets around the world. The marketing practices of the world’s largest baby food manufacturers are assessed too. • October: Companies were able to submit final input on the online platform from mid-October until Mid-November. 16/22 Companies participated. Not engaged: Tingyi, Suntory beverages, Kraft Heinz, Lactalis, ConAgra and Brasil Foods. • November: The ATNF research team conducted peer reviews during November and December. • December: After finalizing peer reviews, initial analysis of company progress and scoring began. A meeting took place with ATNF and the chair of the ATNF Expert Group to discuss Global Index progress. • During the last quarter of 2017, context chapters and introductions for the Index were also drafted by ATNF. • Moreover, ATNF has started recruiting a PR agency for the Global Index launch in 2018 and wrote a Communication/PR guideline to this extent. Progress on BMS and Product Profiling are discussed below.
The Access to Nutrition Foundation planned to launch the 2018 Global Access to Nutrition Index, the third Global Index, in May 2018. It will assess 22 of the world’s largest Food & Beverage manufacturers' nutrition policies, practices and disclosure, and, for the first time, the nutritional quality of their products in nine markets around the world. The marketing practices of the world’s largest baby food manufacturers will also be assessed. • All Index report sections were written by ATNF and then reviewed by the ATNI Expert Group before being shared with the report designer • The first draft of the Executive Summary was reviewed by ATNF’s Board and Expert Group • Scorecards were sent out to all companies for fact-checking and an NDA check • Launch events and communications were planned with ATNF’s PR agency di:ga Communications. The launch date was confirmed as 23 May, with separate events planned for stakeholders and investors in London (Glaziers Hall). Media outreach was planned, including communications in the US for the Global Index (together with US PR agency). Progress on the BMS Marketing assessments and the Product Profile are presented below.
The Access to Nutrition Foundation planned to launch the 2018 Global Access to Nutrition Index, the third Global Index, in May 2018. It will assess 22 of the world’s largest Food & Beverage manufacturers' nutrition policies, practices and disclosure, and, for the first time, the nutritional quality of their products in nine markets around the world. The marketing practices of the world’s largest baby food manufacturers will also be assessed. • All Index report sections were written by ATNF and then reviewed by the ATNI Expert Group before being shared with the report designer • The first draft of the Executive Summary was reviewed by ATNF’s Board and Expert Group • Scorecards were sent out to all companies for fact-checking and an NDA check • Launch events and communications were planned with ATNF’s PR agency di:ga Communications. The launch date was confirmed as 23 May, with separate events planned for stakeholders and investors in London (Glaziers Hall). Media outreach was planned, including communications in the US for the Global Index (together with US PR agency).
Core Objective 1: Progress Global Indexes The Access to Nutrition Foundation launched the Global Access to Nutrition Index 2018, the third Global Index, on May 23, 2018 in London. This Global Index 2018 assesses 22 of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers' nutrition policies, practices and disclosure, as well as the nutritional quality of their products in nine markets around the world. In addition, the marketing practices of the world’s largest baby food manufacturers are assessed. • All CEOs of the respective food and beverage manufacturers received a letter announcing the publication of the Global Access to Nutrition Index 2018. In this letter, the CEOs were offered the opportunity for ATNFs Executive Director to present and discuss the findings of the Global Index 2018 with the respective Board/MT members. The team is in the process of following up on arranging such meetings. • In addition, meetings have taken place, and are further arranged, with company’s experts to discuss the findings of the Global Index 2018 and the ways forward. • A multi-stakeholder meeting took place on May 23 in London (Glazier Hall). Representatives from the following organizations attended: Abbott Action Against Hunger Arla Foods Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Carnstone CFBAI Changing Markets Context Danone DGIS di:ga communications DSM EAT Edelman European Commission Food Climate Research Network, University of Oxford GAIN/SUN Business Network Global Nutrition Report Glopan IFBA Kepler Cheuvreux Mars Meiji Mondelez Nestle Newcastle University Nomad Foods Public Health England RB Soremartec Italia SustainAbility The Power of Nutrition UNICEF Unilever White Rook Advisory World Obesity Federation WorldFed • An investor meeting, organized with the support of investment bank Kepler Cheuvreux, took place on the same day as the multi-stakeholder meeting. A webinar for investors not able to attend in person took place on May 24. The following company representatives and investors attended the in-person meeting: Nestlé Mondelez Hermes Investment Management Janus Henderson Investors ShareAction BMO Global Asset Management Tribe Impact Capital Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity IPCM Impax Asset Management EdenTree Investment Management FTSE Russell Candriam Kepler Cheuvreuax • Media outreach: more on the global coverage of the Global Index available in this blog post. - Lawrence Haddad of GAIN authored a blog entitled The 2018 Access to Nutrition Index and the need for a “Charter for Responsible Food and Beverage Companies” - Lauren Compere op-ed on the Global Index in Responsible Investor. Twitter Outreach:
• As follow up to the publication of the Global Index 2018, published in May 2018, all companies scored and ranked in the Index were invited to have one-on-one meetings to discuss questions they might have on their scores and ranking, the methodology and the recommendations. Meet-ings have been planned and confirmed with Abbot, Ajinomoto, Danone, FrieslandCampina, Meiji, Nestlé, RB/Mead Johnson Nutrition and Unilever. Planning of meetings with the other companies continues.
• As follow up to the publication of the Global Index 2018, published in May 2018, all companies scored and ranked in the Index were invited to have one-on-one meetings to discuss questions they might have on their scores and ranking, the methodology and the recommendations. In the last quarter of 2018 meetings took place with Ajinomoto, Danone, FrieslandCampina, and Unile-ver. For the first quarter of 2019 further meetings are scheduled (partly combined with follow up of the U.S. Index 2018) with Nestlé, Mars, Coca Cola and Kraft Heinz. Companies generally appre-ciate the engagement process with ATNF and the use of the online platform but ask for streamlin-ing of our methodology and ways to appreciate the very different contexts of dairy-, confection-ary- and multi product companies. • A review of the methodology of the Global Index that started in the last quarter of 2018 has led to plans to reduce complexity, perceived duplication and other changes and improvements. While ATNF reviews and revises the methodology after each Index iteration, the current revision is more extensive as it aims to integrate two major aspects of our current methodology: The Corporate Profile and the Product Profile, to come to one overall Index score and ranking. Moreover, the methodology needs to be streamlined to ensure we sustain or increase company engagement by reducing the resource burden, as well as enabling ATNF to expand its activities by reducing re-source requirements per Index iteration. The revision of the methodology will be done in parallel to updating the India Index methodology and will run well into 2019, offering experts, companies and other stakeholders to provide input in the process. U.S. Spotlight Index The first Access to Nutrition U.S. Spotlight Index was published in Washington on November 16, 2018. The first-ever U.S. Access to Nutrition Index reveals that the 10 largest U.S. food and beverage manu-facturers lack the policies and action needed to tackle the high levels of obesity and diet-related dis-eases in the United States and ensure consumers have access to affordable, healthy products. The companies are not doing enough to improve the nutritional quality, pricing and distribution of their products nor to improve their practices related to responsible and transparent product marketing and labeling. The Index’s ranking of the 10 companies has Nestlé leading the Corporate Profile with a score of 5.3 out of 10 for being the most transparent about its progress to help consumers eat healthier through commitments focused on making its product portfolio healthier, better informing consumers, more re-sponsible marketing activities and other efforts. Unilever came in second place and PepsiCo in third. ConAgra leads the Product Profile with a score of 5.8 out of 10 for carrying the healthiest product port-folio, followed by Kraft Heinz in second place and General Mills in third. Based on their total U.S. sales in 2016, the 10 companies included in the Index are Coca-Cola, ConAgra, Dr Pepper Snapple, General Mills, Kellogg, Kraft Heinz, Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever. Launch meetings took place November 16, 2018 in Washington D.C.; • Breakfast meeting with company representatives (13) from Coca-Cola, Conagra, Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo, RB/MJN, and Unilever. The main points of discussion were on (1) the role of food and beverage manufacturers in driving accessibility and affordability of healthy products, (2) future planning of the Index and reducing complexity, (3) the overlap between the Global Index and U.S. Index and (4) plans to venture into the Out-of-Home sector to capture a larger part of relevant business. • Multi-stakeholder meeting with representatives from companies, CSOs, and experts present (at-tendance: 51). The U.S. Index was well received from various stakeholder perspectives, with a constructive dialogue between company and CSO representatives. Additionally, the investor per-spective was addressed. • BMS roundtable (on invitation only) with representatives from BMS-related CSOs (attendance: 17). Main points of discussion were (1) interest in lobbying assessment focusing on BMS and in-dustry association roles, (2) lack of information on U.S. BMS marketing practices, and (3) the role for ATNF in engaging with FDA to address regulation. Additionally, an investors meeting took place on November 19, 2018 in New York. The meeting was hosted by Bernstein and attracted attendance from Arisaig Partners, UBS Asset Management, Ra-bobank, Tourbillon Capital, MEAG Munich Ergo Asset Management, Trinity Health and ICCR. Attendees were very engaged and a lively Q&A took place. The publication of the Index was covered both in traditional media as well as on social media: • The publication was covered in Hagstrom Report, Bevnet.com, Food Navigator, Food and Drink International, Food Dive, Cision, Baking Business, and Marion Nestlé also made reference to the Index in Food Politics. Forbes ran a story on the Index which featured an interview with Inge and Vice President of Nutrition, Health and Wellness at Nestlé. • The #USNutritionIndex hashtag was used in 239 tweets by 95 contributors, including Partner-ship of Healthier America, American Heart Association, 1,000 Days, Rudd Centre, GAIN, Healthy Eating Research, ARCH Nutrition, Voices of Healthy Kids. ATNF and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have started discussions on a renewal of the grant for this work, to allow for a second US Spotlight Index to be made. Following the publication, companies ranked were invited to have a follow-up call with the ATNF to discuss the findings of the U.S. Index 2018 and the potential next steps. On request a call with Unile-ver was organised directly after they received the report under embargo -like all companies in the In-dex- a day before the launch events. A follow-up with Kellogg took place in Q4 of 2018. Calls are planned for the first quarter of 2019 with Conagra, Dr Pepper Snapple, KraftHeinz, Mars, Nestlé and Pepsico. Nigeria Spotlight Index ATNF is exploring the feasibility of conducting a Nigeria Spotlight Index, potentially in 2019/2020. Additional objective 3: Further development of verifica-tion-type activities Additional Objective 3 focuses on further development of complementary verification-type activi-ties, such as the Product Profile assessments. • A project proposal submitted for funding to BMGF to explore options for an improved Nutrient Pro-filing System with a micronutrient component and to incorporate it in future iterations of our In-dexes was approved in November. This project aims to objectively assess how company products can contribute to addressing undernutrition, focusing specifically on micronutrient deficiencies. Contact with project partners was started up in Q4 of 2018. • Dialogue continued with GAIN on a cooperation to develop a self-assessment tool in Sun Business Network countries for small and medium scale enterprises. (the contract is expected to be signed early 2019). • Funding for a UK Product Profile and UK pilot retail-sector Access to Nutrition Index (both to be published in 2019) was included within a proposal made by Share Action (UK NGO that works with investors to address ESG issues among companies) to Guys & St Thomas’s Foundation – ATNF is reviewing a contract for a subgrant (50,000 GBP) expected to be signed January 2019. • WHO Global monitoring mechanism; ATNF is asked by the World Health Organization as one of the initiators to develop a mechanism to follow-up on industry commitments on product (re)formulation (IFBA, CGF) • Nutrition for Growth N4G summit 2020 Tokyo; The Japanese government has approached ATNF to advice and contribute to the preparations for this summit.
• As follow up to the publication of the Global Index 2018, published in May 2018, in the first quarter of 2019 ATNF staff met with Nestlé in their office in Vevey, and had teleconferences with others including MARS, PepsiCo, Conagra, Kraft Heinz and Keurig Dr Pepper (partly combined with follow up of the 2018 US Index). A full day of meetings with subject matter specialists of Nestlé in-creased understanding of ATNI’s methodology among Nestlé staff who indicated, inspired by AT-NI’s Product Profile, considering the use of Health Star Rating as an independent nutrient profiling system besides their internal system. The ATNI team also spoke to two members of Nestlé’s ex-ecutive board who indicated ATNI has been on the board agenda several times and is influencing their strategy discussions (not just on BMS). MARS staff were very specifically commending ATNI as a useful tool driving internal thinking and contributing to a portfolio with more ‘nutrition posi-tive’ products. Kraft Heinz and Keurig Dr Pepper who did not engage during the Global- and/or US Index 2018 research were eager to hear about specific reasons for their scores and inclined to en-gage in the next iterations. Pepsico indicated being impressed by ATNF outreach at international fora and conferences. • A review of the methodology of the Global Index has led to a plan to reduce complexity, perceived duplication & other changes and improvements. While ATNF reviews and revises the methodology after each Index iteration, the current revision is more extensive as it aims to integrate two major aspects of our current methodology: The Corporate Profile and the Product Profile, to come to one overall Index score and ranking. The first draft of a revised methodology and set of indicators was presented to and discussed in a ATNF board meeting 27-28 March. The revision of the methodolo-gy is done in parallel to updating the India Index methodology and will run well into 2019, offering experts, companies and other stakeholders to provide input in the process. Additional objective 1: Developing indexes that assess the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains. ATNF was awarded a subgrant (50,000 GBP) by Share Action (a UK NGO that works to press investors to be more active in their engagement with companies in addressing critical environmental and societal is-sues). Share Action received a three-year grant from the Guys & St Thomas’s Charity to develop and launch a campaign to tackle childhood obesity in the UK. The campaign is to be called Too Sweet. ATNI’s sub-grant will fund the publication of our UK Product Profile for manufacturers, and the develop-ment of a small-scale UK retail-sector benchmark focused on sugar. The UK Product Profile for manufacturers will be published April/May 2019; a methodology the benchmark for UK retailers will be developed during the course of the year. The pilot retailer benchmark will be pub-lished in early 2020. In addition, ATNI and Share Action will work up plans for further benchmarks and related activities across the food value chain in the UK, i.e. beyond ATNI’s current focus on manufactur-ers. It will be an important pilot to lay the groundwork towards ATNI doing the same at the global level or in other Spotlight countries.
As part of this Objective ATNF publishes two Global Indexes: the third Global Index (2018) and fourth Global Index (2020). It is currently working on the preparations for the fourth Global Index. Input from companies and other stakeholders after the third Index has prompted a plan to reduce complexity, perceived duplication and implement other changes and improvements. Main changes and novelties for the new Global Index methodology were presented and discussed with the ATNF expert group and board. Two major changes are addressed in the new methodology: 1. Integration of the Product Profile assessment into the category B in the overall scoring or Cor-porate Profile 2. Integration of undernutrition into the overall scoring or Corporate Profile This second revision of the Global Index methodology started in parallel to the India Index methodolo-gy update. The latter will be published end of August. The research team prepared a second Global Index methodology draft, containing the specific indica-tors resulting from the streamlining process. Also, new indicators have been incorporated to strength-en our focus to work in line with SDGs. An overview of the updated assessment categories and indica-tors is presented in table 1 below. Table 1: Global Index 2020 preliminary Corporate Profile Methodology Overview Category (weight in total score) Description Criteria Section1: Nutrition governance and management A (12.5%) Corporate strategy, management and governance A1 Corporate nutrition strategy A2 Nutrition governance and management systems A3 Quality of reporting Section 2: Formulating and delivering appropriate, affordable, accessible products B (35%) Formulating appropriate products B1 Product profile results* B2 Product formulation B3 Defining healthy and appropriate products C (15%) Delivering affordable, accessible products C1 Product pricing C2 Product distribution Section 3: Influencing consumer choice and behaviour D (20%) Responsible marketing policies and auditing of compliance D1 Marketing policy: all consumers D2 Marketing policy: specific arrangements regarding responsible marketing to children and teens D3 Auditing and compliance with policy E (2.5%) Supporting healthy diets and active lifestyles E1 Supporting employee health & wellness E2 Supporting breastfeeding mothers at work E3 Supporting consumer-oriented healthy eating and active lifestyle programs F (10%) Product labelling and use of health and nutrition claims F1 Product labelling F2 Health and nutrition claims G (5%) Influencing governments and policymakers, and stakeholder engagement G1 Lobbying and influencing governments and policymakers G2 Stakeholder engagement * Product Profile results are integrated as criterion B1 in Category B, which has seen its weight increased in the overall score. The second Global Index methodology draft will be shared with the Expert Group (EG) by the end of August, in preparation for a meeting that should take place during the first half of September. For this purpose, ATNF will also provide the EG members with an ad-hoc document describing the main changes proposed, including a description of the new scoring system and how it will affect the final company scores (especially taking into consideration the integration of the Product Profile into the Corporate Profile). This meeting should enable a more focused discussion, attending at the specific in-dicators proposed, before preparing the final methodology document. ATNF plans to share the updated Global Index methodology draft with stakeholders (including companies) by the end of September-October for further feedback and engagement. The Global Index methodology document will be final-ized in November so company engagement can start early 2020. Tokyo meeting with Global Index stakeholders To gain more insights on the relevance of the Global Index for Japanese companies and stakeholders in the region, ATNF organized a meeting in Tokyo (right) with the assistance of Ajinomoto, one of the companies in the Global Index. Companies, industry associations, representatives from four ministries, academics and other stakeholders affirmed the relevance of the Index to guide and support the nutri-tion agenda of Japanese multinational companies abroad as well as in Japan. For the Japanese con-text, reference was made to the specific needs of an ageing population which could be an element in the methodology of the future indexes.
As part of this Objective ATNI publishes two Global Indexes: the third Global Index (2018) and fourth Global Index (2020). In this quarter during and after summer 2019 the methodology re-vision was taken forward; a second methodology draft was shared and discussed with the Ex-pert Group (EG) in September. A selected group of stakeholders will be asked to comment and provide inputs to the methodology through an online survey in November 2019. The Global In-dex methodology document will be finalized in quarter 4 so company engagement can start early 2020. The Board approved the major revisions in the methodology (product profile inte-gration and undernutrition integration in one corporate profile algorithm) and the subsequent new category weightings as shown in table 1. Table 1: Global Index 2020 Corporate Profile Methodology Overview after revisions (‘old’ /pre-revision weightings in brackets) * Product Profile results are integrated as criterion B1 in Category B, which has seen its weight increased in the overall score. A start was made to get the data and criteria needed to select the companies for the 2020 Global Index. Company selection will be finalized in the last quarter of 2019.
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Activity report January - July 2017
NL-KVK-58279199-BMS/CF
Access to Nutrition Foundation
Objective 2: BMS/CF marketing policies and practices
Comprehensive analysis of companies’ BMS/CF marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes
Overall objective: publish comprehensive analysis of companies’ BMS marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes Jan-june 2017 Objective: Develop and publish BMS/CF methodologies, prepare and start research BMS 1 (Corporate profile) & 2 (in-country) for Global Index 2018. Prepare and start research BMS 1 for US Spotlight Index.
Consumers, CSO's, Governments, Private sector, Academia
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
To determine the role and measurements of responsible marketing of BMS for the 2018 Global Index, various roundtables, individual consultations and an online survey were held. Four companies (Nestle, Danone, FrieslandCampina and Abott) were actively engaged and participated in the online survey together with the International Special Dietary Foods Industries Association (ISDI). Overall, companies expressed their support for ATNF and are expected to stay engaged going forward. The BMS Expert Group (EG) collaborated with ATNF to assess responses. In May 2017, ATNF held consultation calls with its BMS Expert Group. The structure of the 2018 BMS assessment stays predominantly unchanged. To provide consistency between 2016 and 2018 results, no major changes are being made to the structure. BMS1 Corporate Profile & BMS2 In-country BMS marketing assessments will carry rated equally (50/50) The same goes for each of the two in-country studies. The maximum deduction on a company’s score can be 1.5 points. ATNF will be moving to using NetCode protocol instead of IGBM for the incountry assessments, and continually improving the methodology where possible. NetCode recently came into existence after a request was made by Member States to WHO, related to the need for practical and concrete guidelines and procedures for Code monitoring. ATNF’s whole approach will be extended to cover products marketed for infants and young children up to 36 months of age in line with WHA resolution 69.9 of May 2016. Westat is ATNF business service provider for BMS in-country assessments and will be conducting BMS studies in two selected countries in 2017. Each Westat study will be published when finished, i.e. on a rolling basis, accompanied by an ATNF summary report. Both countries’ results will be reflected fully in Index reports. ATNF presented the Index and the BMS component to a wide range of stakeholders in one of the in-country assessment countries mid-June. ATNF received wide support for a BMS in-country study as it would provide a baseline against which to measure the impact of the forthcoming new national regulations. It is highly likely that NGOs will draw on ATNF material for advocacy work in the future. Globally, only 38% of babies are exclusively bre astfed for the first 6 months . (WHO) Just 1 in 5 children is breastfed for 12 months in high - income countries, while a third of children aged between 6 months and 2 years receive no breast milk at all in low - and middle income countries. (WHO) WHO has se t target of increasing the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months to 50% by 2025. (WHO) If all children were optimally breastfed by the age of two, 800.000 infant lives could be saved every year. (WHO) Studies published in The Lancet in 20163 confirmed that babies fed exclusively on breast - milk for at least the first 6 months have the best chance of thriving through childhood and adolescence. (The Lancet) FACTS ABOUT BREASTFEEDING August 2017 15 Future alignment with FTSE4Good At a stakeholder consultation meeting in June, ATNF and FTSE presented a proposal for FTSE4Good to draw on ATNF’s NetCode studies from 2019. The FTSE4Good Index Series is designed to measure the performance of companies demonstrating strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. FTSE will combine the results from these studies with additional research done by PWC to determine whether BMS companies can stay on the FTSE4Good Index. ATNF will continue to engage with FTSE4Good and PWC to discuss details regarding such a collaboration.
• July: In July, the research team prepared and pre-populated the platform to go online for the selected companies to work in. 2018 Surveys were developed and last updates on the methodology were incorporated. In-country assessments, including training and data collection started in Thailand during the month of July. ATNF visited Thailand for these trainings and organized meetings with local stakeholders. • August: The BMS/Complementary Feeding (CF) Corporate Profile methodology was revised to incorporate feedback from stakeholders, and align to WHA resolution 69.9 that passed in May 2016. ATNF circulated in early August a comprehensive methodology document that explains the changes to BMS/CF1, as well as the full BMS/CF1 methodology, and the key elements of the BMS/CF2 assessment changes (e.g. NetCode). In-country assessments in Nigeria started in the month of August. • September: ATNF organized a company webinar for the companies that are assessed on the BMS/CF methodology (companies in the Global Index and US Index that also produce baby food plus the largest formula manufacturers globally and in the US) to share final methodologies and training in using the platform. Data Collection was finalized in Nigeria and ATNF visited the country to conduct local stakeholder meetings in Abuja.
• October: Data collection for the in-country study in Nigeria was finalized. Companies got access to the data-gathering platform to provide additional (confidential) information for the BMS1 Corporate Profile • November: Peer reviews for the BMS corporate profile were conducted. A BMS Expert Group meeting took place to discuss progress on BMS/CF research. • December: Preliminary results of in-country study in Thailand and Nigeria were drawn up. ATNF prepared a stakeholder meeting to present the Thailand results in January 2018 in Bangkok. A similar meeting is planned to take place in Nigeria in February 2018.
• Westat presented the findings of the Thailand assessment to local stakeholders (NGOs, Ministries, UN) in Bangkok. Participants joined from the Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, The National Health Commission Office, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Nursing Council, Thai Breastfeeding Center Foundation, WHO Country Office, Save the Children, Alive & Thrive and International Health Policy Program (Westat’s local partner for the Thailand assessment conducted). • Both the summary ATNF and full Westat report for the Thailand in-country assessment were published and the Nigeria reports were prepared for publication by the end of March, pending company fact-checks. The ATNF Summary report, and Westat full report on the Thailand BMS Marketing assessment were published on February 19. The publication of the report on the Nigeria BMS Marketing assessment was postponed to the second quarter of 2018. • Local stakeholders showed their appreciation for the Thailand study via responses in social media, as well as emails directly to the ATNF team. • Discussions continue to take place with FTSE and PwC on future collaboration. Further detailed steps will be discussed amongst the parties in early May. • The BMS Marketing chapter for the Global Index report was reviewed by the BMS Expert Group and finalised. • BMS Marketing scorecards were also finalised.
• Westat presented the findings of the Thailand assessment to local stakeholders (NGOs, Ministries, UN) in Bangkok. Participants joined from the Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, The National Health Commission Office, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Nursing Council, Thai Breastfeeding Center Foundation, WHO Country Office, Save the Children, Alive & Thrive and International Health Policy Program (Westat’s local partner for the Thailand assessment conducted). • Both the summary ATNF and full Westat report for the Thailand in-country assessment were published and the Nigeria reports were prepared for publication by the end of March, pending company fact-checks. The ATNF Summary report, and Westat full report on the Thailand BMS Marketing assessment were published on February 19. The publication of the report on the Nigeria BMS Marketing assessment was postponed to the second quarter of 2018. • Local stakeholders showed their appreciation for the Thailand study via responses in social media, as well as emails directly to the ATNF team. • Discussions continue to take place with FTSE and PwC on future collaboration. Further detailed steps will be discussed amongst the parties in early May. • The BMS Marketing chapter for the Global Index report was reviewed by the BMS Expert Group and finalised. • BMS Marketing scorecards were also finalised.
• After the Thailand in-country assessment was published in February, the Nigeria report was released in early April. “We are pleased that ATNF has undertaken this important study with Westat and OPM in Nigeria. The Government of Nigeria is committed to improving the rate of exclusive breastfeeding while sustaining the high rate of breastfeeding and curtailing the inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes.” Dr. Chris Isokpunwu, Head of Nutrition, Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria • Local stakeholders showed their appreciation for the assessment done via responses in social media, as well as emails to the ATNF team. • Discussions continue to take place with FTSE and PwC about future collaboration on these in-country studies. A detailed activity plan has been developed. • To follow up the publication of the Global Index 2018, ATNF hosted a Webinar in partnership with US-based NGO 1,000 Days, which examined how we can best move forward with the findings from the BMS Marketing assessment. Civil-society organizations such as NCD Alliance, UNICEF, Save the Children US, Helen Keller International and others such as the World Food Program and American Society of Paediatrics participated in the webinar.
• To follow up the publication of the Global Index 2018, all one-on-one meetings with BMS compa-nies have been completed, other than with Nestlé which will take place in-person in Vevey in Q1 of 2019. • ATNF – FTSE: Dialogue between FTSE4Good and ATNF continues, to align and agree an approach to conducting in-country assessments. Next steps include confirming budget allocations between FTSE and ATNF (from BMGF) and signing an agreement outlining the data ATNF will deliver to FTSE4Good. • ATNF – Westat: Feasibility of contracting Westat using three sub-contracts has been discussed in order to: • Make a head start on preparatory work needed for the next assessments while the logistical arrangements are being made with FTSE and BMGF. • Be better able to gauge the time and cost for each phase of the assessments (i.e.: the first phase of establishing in-country activities will influence the time and cost for the actual in-country work). • The feasibility of creating a database of images of incidences of non-compliance on ATNFs data platform has been discussed with 73bit and Westat, so that companies have access to the evi-dence and can use it to address the issues found.
• To follow up the publication of the Global Index 2018, all one-on-one meetings with BMS compa-nies have been completed, other than with Nestlé which will take place in-person in Vevey in Q1 of 2019. As per request from Danone, an additional call is planned in the first quarter of 2019 to further discuss the findings of 2018 and to look at next steps. • ATNF – FTSE: Dialogue between FTSE4Good and ATNF continues, to align and agree an approach to conducting in-country assessments. Next steps include confirming budget allocations between FTSE and ATNF and signing an agreement outlining the data ATNF will deliver to FTSE4Good. This and the selection of countries is planned to take place in Q1 of 2019.
ATNI is gearing up its preparations to undertake two further in-country assessments of BMS Marketing with Westat during 2019, to feed into the rankings of BMS companies within the 2020 Global Index. Moreover, we have been working to strengthen ATNI’s position as the recognized assessor of BMS Marketing practices by becoming the provider of data from the in-country assessments we conduct for each Global Index to FTSE Russell for use in its FTSE4Good Indexes, instead of PWC which has provided such data previously. It has now been agreed that BMGF, which has funded FTSE Russell’s assessments to date, will make ATNI the sole grantee for this work, transferring the funding allocated to FTSE Russell to ATNI. FTSE Russell will continue to sub-contract PWC to undertake certain tasks utilizing the data ATNI provides. We are in the final stages of finalizing the agreements with all parties. In March and April, ATNI will identify and agree the countries for two assessments in 2019 with FTSE4Good and our donors, and the BMS Marketing methodology will be reviewed. U.S. Spotlight Index • Apart from the follow up with individual companies as described above (Core Objective 1, Progress Global Indexes) the cooperation with Partnership for a Healthier America to organize thematic meetings is taking shape. ATNF is organising a roundtable during the PHA Summit in Chicago early April. Companies have showed interest in topics like Marketing to Children and Affordability and Accessibility. Further planning of meetings is discussed during the summit. • The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has shown interest in a second iteration of a U.S. Spotlight Index for 2021. An initial proposal was discussed and reviewed by RWJF and will lead to an invita-tion to submit an official proposal in April. Nigeria Spotlight Index We are still exploring funding options for a Nigeria Spotlight Index, to be conducted in 2019 and pub-lished in 2020. We expect to know if funding can be assured by mid-April.
ATNF continued the dialogue with FTSE Russell and BMGF to determine the role and measurements of responsible marketing of BMS for the next on-the-ground assessments and the 2020 Global Index. A proposal for supplement funding by BMGF for BMS was submitted and approved. Therefore, ATNF is ready to start with next in-country assessments, still using the Netcode protocol. What is new is the new role division between ATNF and FTSE and their implementing partners Westat and PWC. ATNF has agreed to sub-contract both Westat and PwC. Westat is the main service provider for ATNF’s BMS studies since their inception and PwC will be sub-contracted to do part of the work as they did for FTSE previously. Additionally, PwC will prepare the FTSE final report. All the data collection will be done by Westat. The two countries for the in-country assessments have now been selected and during this reporting period ATNF worked out a detailed planning of activities. The process is still ongoing and the assess-ment of the first country should start during Q3. The BMS Marketing assessment methodology is now finalised; all forms and tables are being updated based on the new NetCode protocol and WHA 69.9. Additionally, ATNF included an extra control step in the research process to ensure high quality of results. Westat will do a 100% quality check on all the incidences of non-compliance and the companies will have access to ATNF’s online platform to review the findings and provide feedback. ATNF is increasingly acknowledged as an outstanding independent party in the sector of BMS Market-ing and Code compliance. As such, ATNF was invited to attend and present its Thailand and Nigeria BMS marketing assessments at a WHO NetCode meeting in Geneva in April. In June, ATNF participat-ed in a ‘deep dive’ session organised by one of the major baby food manufacturers.
ATNI concluded the dialogue with FTSE Russell and BMGF and agreed on the roles and meas-urements of responsible marketing of BMS for the next on-the-ground assessments and the 2020 Global Index. ATNI has started with the preparations for the next in-country assessments, still using the NetCode protocol. Focus was given on setting up solid management and monitor-ing systems to make sure all processes run as smoothly as possible. The two countries for the in-country assessments were selected and during this reporting peri-od ATNI worked on finalising contracts with Westat and PwC. The contract with PwC is now fi-nalised and with Westat the preparatory contracts have been signed. Westat went on and re-cruited local partners in the two selected countries. Country names are confidential and will not be disclosed until the data collection is over. The process is still ongoing and the assessment of the first country should start in January 2020 and the data collection in the second one will fol-low right after in February 2020.
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NL-KVK-58279199-India Index
Access to Nutrition Foundation
Objective 3: Publish three India Indexes for c. 10-14 manufacturers in 2016, 2018 and 2020
Publish three India Indexes for c. 10-14 manufacturers in 2016, 2018 and 2020
Overall Objective: Publish three India Indexes for c. 10-14 manufacturers in 2016, 2018 and 2020
Consumers, CSO's, private sector, Governments, Academia
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS)
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
the Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
Next to the Global Index, ATNF develops and publishes Spotlight Indexes that score and rate the ten largest Food & Beverage manufacturers in each Spotlight Country. In 2013 ATNF piloted spotlight Indexes in Mexico, South Africa and India. The first Spotlight Index was the India Index, which was published in 2016. The first India Spotlight Index (2016) was well received and gained much media attention as well as interest from the public and private sphere. The full India Spotlight Index can be downloaded here After the launch of the 2016 India Spotlight Index, calls with all engaged companies in the India Index (7 out of 10) were set up. These companies had discussed the Index internally, at management level, and said that the Index provided new insights in nutrition. They have expressed interest in looking further into specific topics, such as marketing, employee health, Nutrient Profiling and undernutrition strategies. Many suggested that more Indian companies should be included in future indexes, e.g. growing soft drinks companies. Furthermore, the Indian government, FSSAI (Food Safety Standards Association India), expressed its commitment to continue working on nutrition, e.g. through improved labelling regulations and fortification standards to fight micronutrient deficiencies. The India Index results were discussed in an international investors webinar meeting in January to particularly discuss the rankings of the multinational companies in India with investors. In April, ATNF visited India, to discuss the impact of the first India Index as well as the roll out future India Indexes. Meetings were held with FSSAI, CII (Industry Association), GAIN India, TATATrust Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Dutch embassy, DFID India and several companies. All expressed their support of the India Spotlight Index. In June ATNF participated in the India AgriProcessing visit to the Netherlands, organized by “Rijksdienst Voor Ondernemend Nederland” (RVO), and was able to present the India Index to participants and further engage with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the Dutch Embassy in India, whom were all present. Several in-depth articles referring to the first India Index were written after the launch, confirming new developments, both government and industrial; • ‘CSR through food fortification’ – Published in January talks about how Food Fortification is a flagship corporate social responsibility initiative that can afford companies the opportunity to address a humanitarian challenge in an economically sustainable way. • ‘Leading Food And Beverages Brands Fail India’s Double Nutrition Challenge’ – published in March is a summary of India Spotlight Index findings and how F&B companies should be addressing the double burden. • ‘Salt-free, fat-free, sugar-free: The new mantra of food makers in a health-conscious India’ – published in March is addressing rising consumer demand for healthy products and how companies should meet this demand in order to grow • ‘Unfortified young India; published in March addresses the double burden and illustrates this with ATNI India data and analysis. ATNF developed and discussed the roll-out strategy for the India Index in its board meeting in May and concluded that for future Indexes ATNF will work on creating a deeper, more widespread awareness among the industry and other stakeholders about India’s nutrition challenges and articulate the need for the growing F&B industry to become a leading player in addressing these challenges. For this it needs to be more visible in India, e.g. through permanent on-the ground representation of ATNF, local research capacity, expanding the India Expert Group and intensified local partnerships with organizations such as CII, GAIN India and The Indian Nutrition Initiative (TINI). Indian funding would contribute to this mission. ATNF is currently writing a concept note for discussing future funding of the India Indexes with TATATrust Foundation. Next on the agenda Over summer ATNF will present and discuss the concept note with TATATrust Foundation and will further collaborate with CII on its nutrition and business agenda. In the fall, ATNF will start consultations as a preparation for the second India Index and it will organize in-depth meetings with industry, policymakers and civil society organizations. The Indexes will be presented at investor round-tables at the annual Asian Corporate Governance Association in India.
• The concept note to roll out the next India Spotlight Index was submitted and discussed with the Director of The Indian Nutrition Initiative (TINI/TATA Trust Foundation) in September. ATNF has been invited to present the Concept Note to the COO of the TATA Trust Foundation, the Strategy Director and Nutrition team in November.
• ATNF developed a concept for rolling out the next India Spotlight Index. This was first submitted and discussed with the Director of The Indian Nutrition Initiative (TINI/TATA Trust Foundation) in September (see Q3 report). • In November, ATNF visited India again to discuss its plans with companies, CSOs and with Indian based funders (the Dutch embassy, DFID, US AID, BMGF and Tata-Trust Foundation). There is good appetite to broaden the scope of the India Index by including more Indian companies and by zooming in on nutrition issues at Indian state level. Conversations about partnerships and funding will continue in the new year.
US Spotlight Index In September 2018, ATNF will publish the first US Spotlight Index. It will rank the ten largest F&B manufacturers in the US: nine that are also in the Global Index plus one other. The Index will score and rate the ten companies’ nutrition policies, practices and disclosure in the US, with specific attention paid to what they do to offer affordable healthy food to vulnerable consumers, such as children, and the urban and rural poor. US Index Corporate Profile research activities Q1: US Index is on track for a September 2018 launch • The preliminary results of the US Index are ready. • The drafting of the US Index report will start in May following the release of the Global Index, with input from RWJF, ATNF Expert Group and Board. • Two meetings are planned to coincide with the launch of the US Spotlight Index: a multi-stakeholder conference (potentially in collaboration with Partnership for Healthier America (PHA)) and an investor event with Bernstein. • ATNF + Burness (US PR agency) are planning US Index pre-launch events and media outreach at the Healthy Eating Research meetings (April), the Partnership for Healthier America conference (first week of May) and during the launch of the third Global Index 23 May. Nigeria Spotlight Index: ATNF continued discussions about the potential for a Nigeria Spotlight Index when visiting in February 2018. Several meetings were held with potential donors and interested stakeholders, among which were the Nigeria SUN Business Network, USAID, DFID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ministry of Agriculture, and the World Bank. The response was receptive but further assessments will need to take place to gauge the feasibility of funding a Nigeria Spotlight Index. Africa Spotlight Index: The Dutch Postcode Lottery (Postcode Loterij), to which ATNF submitted a funding proposal in September to develop a first Africa Access to Nutrition Index, informed us in February that the proposal has not been selected for the 2018 investments. There will be an evaluation scheduled.
US Spotlight Index In September 2018, ATNF will publish the first US Spotlight Index. It will rank the ten largest F&B manufacturers in the US: nine that are also in the Global Index plus one other. The Index will score and rate the ten companies’ nutrition policies, practices and disclosure in the US, with specific attention paid to what they do to offer affordable healthy food to vulnerable consumers, such as children, and the urban and rural poor. US Index Corporate Profile research activities Q1: US Index is on track for a September 2018 launch • The preliminary results of the US Index are ready. • The drafting of the US Index report will start in May following the release of the Global Index, with input from RWJF, ATNF Expert Group and Board. • Two meetings are planned to coincide with the launch of the US Spotlight Index: a multi-stakeholder conference (potentially in collaboration with Partnership for Healthier America (PHA)) and an investor event with Bernstein. • ATNF + Burness (US PR agency) are planning US Index pre-launch events and media outreach at the Healthy Eating Research meetings (April), the Partnership for Healthier America conference (first week of May) and during the launch of the third Global Index 23 May. Nigeria Spotlight Index: ATNF continued discussions about the potential for a Nigeria Spotlight Index when visiting in February 2018. Several meetings were held with potential donors and interested stakeholders, among which were the Nigeria SUN Business Network, USAID, DFID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ministry of Agriculture, and the World Bank. The response was receptive but further assessments will need to take place to gauge the feasibility of funding a Nigeria Spotlight Index. • Separate meetings took place with key people from the Ministry of Health and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), which both showed support for the idea of the develpment of a Nigeria Index. Africa Spotlight Index: • The Dutch Postcode Lottery (Postcode Loterij), to which ATNF submitted a funding proposal in September to develop a first Africa Access to Nutrition Index, informed us in February that the proposal has not been selected for the 2018 investments. There will be an evaluation scheduled.
The publication of the first U.S. Spotlight Index was postponed from September to November 2018. The report is being finalized. It will rank the ten largest food and beverage manufacturers in the United States: nine that are also in the Global Index plus one other. The Index will score and rate the ten companies on their nutrition policies and practices in the United States, with specific attention paid to what they do to offer affordable healthy food to vulnerable consumers, such as children, and the urban and rural poor. U.S. Index Corporate Profile research activities Q2: • The Expert Group has advised extensively on the report. • The Index is scheduled to be published early on November 15, immediately after which the CEOs/Senior VPs of the respective companies will be invited to join a breakfast meeting with ATNFs Executive Director. • A multi-stakeholder meeting is scheduled to take place on November 16 in Washington DC, followed by a BMS marketing roundtable. Additionally, an investor event is being organised for for November 19 with investment bank Bernstein in New York. In the week after the launch, a webinar will be offered to investors unable to attend the in-person meeting. • ATNF was present, and facilitated a presentation, at the Healthy Eating Research meetings (April), and Partnership for Healthier America conference (first week of May).
• A new senior program manager and a second research analyst joined the ATNF team in mid-September. They started preparations to visit India in the last quarter of 2018 to engage with companies and other local stakeholders (funders, experts, CSO’s and government) and plan for the second iteration of the India Spotlight Index to be produced in the course of 2019 and pub-lished at the end of 2019.
• ATNF’s senior program manager and research analyst visited India 20-30 November to engage with companies (all companies in the 2016 India Index were contacted) and other local stake-holders (funders, experts, CSO’s and government) and plan for the second iteration of the India Spotlight Index to be produced in the course of 2019 and published at the end of 2019. • With ATNF global expert group members Dr Kapil Yadav and Dr CS Pandav from India potential candidates were reviewed for setting up an India-specific expert group panel (from among others the Indian Council for Medical Research, the National Institute of Nutrition, the Scientific panel on fortification of FSSAI -the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India-, and FICCI -the Federa-tion of India Chambers Of Commerce & Industry). Also discussed were the options for a state/district level deep-dive. • Other topics discussed with the expert group members and other stakeholders included: ways to reducing methodology complexities/ addressing repetition in indicators; combining nutri-tion/undernutrition indicators; the plan to integrate product profile scores in the corporate profile and the need for enough time for companies to check product lists; capturing impact on popula-tions that lack access to healthy, affordable food the most/ defining priority populations; including more local companies in the next Index (suggestions gathered: segmenting according to sales per product category, use companies who signed up to FSSAI with reformulation pledges). • Organizations visited include: WHO India, UNICEF India, GAIN India, Bill & Melinda Gates Founda-tion India, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands. • ATNF has taken due note of the following ongoing FSSAI/ Government nutrition initiatives in In-dia: the Eat Right movement; the National Nutrition Strategy 2017; upcoming new labeling regu-lations and new regulations on advertising and nutrition claims, development of a new FSSAI Nu-trient Profiling System with WHO guidance, replacing CODEX with FSSAI regulations; an increased focus on fortification efforts (Anemia free India campaign, FSSAI new fortification rules). ATNF re-ceived positive reactions on our plan to start action research on Complementary Food/ Infant Feeding in India. • The importance of maintaining post-launch engagement efforts and in-between Index processes for wider impact, specifically through establishing local representation (exact form to be deter-mined) is another issue shared by several stakeholders. • Despite the high compliance rates registered in 2016 with the IMS Act on the marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes some stakeholders advised ATNF to repeat an on-the-ground assessment (BMS 2) but in a different metropolitan area and/or include rural settings.
• Following feedback and recommendations from companies and other stakeholders in 2017 and 2018 the number of companies to be assessed in the 2019 India Spotlight Index has been in-creased to 16 companies (in 2016 10 companies were selected, but only nine were ranked). Com-panies are selected based on 2018 sales revenues of packaged foods to consumers. 11 out of the 16 companies are companies headquartered in India, five are multinationals with headquarters outside India. • In anticipation of engaging with the investors of the listed companies among the 16 selected companies all their major investors were mapped. • ATNF staff visited India 5-15 March to engage with companies (all companies selected for the 2019 India Index were contacted) and other local stakeholders (funders, experts, CSO’s and gov-ernment). Eight companies attended a roundtable meeting to discuss our methodology and plan-ning for this year and the ATNF staff had one on one meetings with two more companies. These included two Indian companies that had not engaged before. Companies reacted positively to the proposed methodology changes (one overall ranking and streamlining, resulting in fewer indica-tors) and to ATNI providing more time for engagement with companies and for them to review product lists and preliminary findings. • ATNF global expert group members Dr Kapil Yadav and Dr CS Pandav from India indicated, be-cause of time constraints, that they will not be available to review the methodology and initial re-sults this year. With their advice we approached a larger group of local experts and civil society organisations active in nutrition to review our methodology. We found a large group ready to re-view (parts of) the draft methodology in April and initial results and analysis later in the process. These include the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), the Scientific panel on fortification of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the local Food Fortification Resource Centre (FFRC), The India Nutrition Initiative (TINI), and the India offices of: World Health Organisation (WHO); the World food Program; GAIN; Alive and Thrive; Save the Children; Oxfam; Centre for Responsible Business and the Food and agricultural Centre of Excellence of the Confederation of Indian Industry -CII-FACE-. Most of these organizations attended a separate roundtable meeting the ATNF team organized for civil society organisations in Delhi. • In a meeting with the CEO of the Government regulator FSSAI he confirmed the interest of the Government of India to follow the process and results of this year’s India Index. Amongst others to see the impact of the Eat Right India movement and many initiatives started in support; the National Nutrition Strategy 2017; upcoming new labelling regulations and new regulations on ad-vertising and nutrition claims, the fortification efforts (Anemia free India campaign, FSSAI new for-tification rules) etc. FSSAI will be present when ATNI launches the 2019 India Spotlight Index by the end of the year. • The importance of maintaining post-launch engagement efforts and in-between Index processes for wider impact was stressed again by different stakeholders. Specifically, ATNI was asked to ex-plore the option to follow-up actionable recommendations with companies with specific activities post launch. March 2019: ATNF staff visit Delhi and Mumbai. • Stakeholder consultations started for BMGF funded project to develop an improved Nutrient Profil-ing System addressing undernutrition with a micronutrient component and to incorporate it in fu-ture iterations of our Indexes. A literature search into existing nutrient profiling models that con-sider micro-nutrients is initiated through Professor Mike Rayner of Oxford University with partners at Laval University, Canada. Experts are contacted for input on how to add value to our Product Profiles by adding a micronutrient component, relevant to undernutrition • The contract with GAIN on a cooperation to develop a self-assessment tool in Sun Business Net-work countries for small and medium scale enterprises was signed end March 2019. In May ATNF will visit Nigeria to start preparations to develop this tool with the local SUN Business Network. A second country for the pilot is to be selected in April • Nutrition for Growth N4G summit 2020 Tokyo; ATNF is asked to advice and contribute to the prep-arations for this summit. ATNF is part of the working group on food systems for this summit, coor-dinated by DFIF and FAO, and is part of discussions with GAIN, DFID and WFP to develop concrete stepping stones towards this summit. The summit expects to take the opportunity to deliver a legacy towards achieving the SDG targets to end malnutrition by 2030 by positioning nutrition as an essential driver and by ensuring new, fresh and SMART commitments, also from the private sector.
With a methodology adapted to meet the local context and developments , ATNF research analysts in May compiled preliminary profiles/assessments for the selected sixteen Indian companies based on in-formation available in the public domain. Two webinars were conducted end of May to inform compa-nies on the use of the data gathering platform and further details on India Spotlight Index research process and planning. Seven companies attended the webinars. Others that were unable to attend were informed of its content via email. Companies were also informed about the possibility of sharing information under Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA), to share any relevant non-public information with ATNF analysts. In June and July, companies had access to the online data gathering platform to see the first reviews and provide additional information or evidence. A second review period will follow in August in which analysts had incorporated company comments and additional evidence. ATNF finalized the contract with India-based communications firm AvianWe and set out a communications plan with specific deliverables for the coming months. On 12th June, ATNF issued a press release among Indian media which featured an announcment of the companies being included in this iteration. The press release featured quotes from Inge Kauer and Mark Wijne drawing attention to the timeliness of this study. Reference was also made to the 2016 edition of the Index to raise the profile of the upcoming Index and reiterate the importance of company’s improved scores.
With a methodology adapted to meet the local context and developments, ATNI’s research ana-lysts finished an initial analysis of the 16 selected companies commitments, performance and disclosure this quarter. In July companies had access to the online data gathering platform to see the first reviews and provide additional information or evidence. A second review period followed in August after an-alysts had incorporated company comments and additional evidence. In August ATNI organised a visit to India to have face to face meetings with senior management in some of the companies in Kolkata, Chennai, Bengalore and Delhi to explain the rationale and the methodology of the second ATNI India Index and the options to engage in the research pahse. Two companies who had not yet actively engaged on the online platform, at that stage decided to engage. ATNI with its India-based communication counterpart AvianWe managed to get articles and interviews published in a variety of local outlets in this reporting period (see overview in section 5; outreach activities). End of August Inge Kauer was invited to speak at a National Nutrition Conclave in Delhi organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE) and participated in a panel with industry and CSO representatives.
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Access to Nutrition Foundation
Objective 4: Publish Product Profiles for all India Indexes
Product profile research into the healthiness of F&B company portfolios.
Overall objective: Publish Product Profiles for all India Indexes to gain insight into the healthiness of F&B company portfolios
consumers, CSOs, governments, private sector, Academia
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
Additional Objective 3 focuses on further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile assessments. Additional Product Profiling activities (not in the contract): • July/August: The George Institute (TGI), that is conducting the Product Profile assessment for ATNF, extracted nutrition data for companies’ products in nine markets (if available), including the US. US is one of the nine markets in the Product Profile for the Global Index. Products of the ten companies in the US market have been assessed through the Product Profiling exercise. • September: TGI nutrition content information was shared with companies to check or add to. A significant increase in company engagement was observed: 12 companies shared their own nutrition content data and another four responded in some way.
Additional Objective 3 focuses on further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile assessments. Additional Product Profiling activities (not in the contract): • October-December: The George Institute (TGI), that is conducting the Product Profile assessment for ATNF, analyzed collected data, together with sales data and started writing product profile reports, including a US market analysis. • ATNF had discussions with TGI and other experts (Mike Rayner) about initial findings of the Product Profile research. • In early 2018 ATNF will make final decisions on how to best integrated into the Global Index 2018 and will write the PP chapter for the Global Index report and the PP for the US Index report (Feb/March). Another verification-type activity that was conducted by ATNF in Q4, was an assignment on assessing company targets of companies that are also member of the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA). Several companies that are assessed by ATNF in the Global Index are also member of IFBA. For IFBA these companies disclosed several reformulation targets. ATNF assessed the quality of these targets. The results will be published in the Global Index 2018 in the Category about Product reformulation.
Additional Objective 3 focuses on further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile assessments. Additional Product Profile activities in Q1 2018 have been: • In early 2018, ATNF made a final decision on how best to integrate the Product Profile (PP) into the Global Index 2018 and the first draft of the PP chapter for the Global Index report was written. • A comparison between PP assessment findings regarding percentages of healthy products per company and company self-reported percentages of healthy products was completed. Results of this comparison were included in the draft chapter on Category B, Products, of the Global Index report. • The full-length report of the PP, prepared by The George Institute (TGI) in Q4 2017, was reviewed and arrangements were made to finalize it in Q1 2018 for publication in line with the Global Index report (in Q2). • The PP Chapter and the pre-final full-length TGI report were reviewed by the ATNF Expert Group. • The PP sub-analysis for the US Index report was postponed until Q2. Two additional and closely related verification-type activities were conducted by ATNF in partnership with TGI and Innova Market Insights, two organizations with historic nutrition label information databases. The objective was to perform two pilot studies to verify whether companies have made relevant progress in their efforts to reduce salt/sodium across their product portfolios. These assessments were set up and performed in Q1 2018, covering all companies assessed in the Global Index that were active on the Australian market between 2013-2017 in one study and all IFBA companies in four countries (Australia, India, US, UK) over the last decade. The objective was to add the results of these pilot studies to the PP chapter of the Global Index report.
Additional Objective 3 focuses on further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile assessments. Additional Product Profile activities in Q1 2018 have been: • In early 2018, ATNF made a final decision on how best to integrate the Product Profile (PP) into the Global Index 2018 and the first draft of the PP chapter for the Global Index report was written. • A comparison between PP assessment findings regarding percentages of healthy products per company and company self-reported percentages of healthy products was completed. Results of this comparison were included in the draft chapter on Category B, Products, of the Global Index report. • The full-length report of the PP, prepared by The George Institute (TGI) in Q4 2017, was reviewed and arrangements were made to finalize it in Q1 2018 for publication in line with the Global Index report (in Q2). • The PP Chapter and the pre-final full-length TGI report were reviewed by the ATNF Expert Group. • The PP sub-analysis for the US Index report was postponed until Q2. Two additional and closely related verification-type activities were conducted by ATNF in partnership with TGI and Innova Market Insights, two organizations with historic nutrition label information databases. The objective was to perform two pilot studies to verify whether companies have made relevant progress in their efforts to reduce salt/sodium across their product portfolios. These assessments were set up and performed in Q1 2018, covering all companies assessed in the Global Index that were active on the Australian market between 2013-2017 in one study and all IFBA companies in four countries (Australia, India, US, UK) over the last decade. The objective was to add the results of these pilot studies to the PP chapter of the Global Index report.
Additional Objective 3 focuses on further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile assessments. Additional Product Profiling activities (not in the contract) in Q2 2018 have been: • The nine-country Product Profile assessment was included within the Global Index 2018 on May 23. • The Product Profile for the US Index report, a sub-analysis of the nine-country Product Profile, with additional detail on the results for the US Index companies, was undertaken in Q2 and the first draft was written for inclusion in the US Index report. • An additional sub-analysis of the nine-country Product Profile, focusing on country-level differences in the average healthiness of packaged food and beverage products, was drafted and shared with the authors/editors of the Global Nutrition Report (GNR), in preparation of the GNR 2018 publication in Q4. Other verification-type activities completed by ATNF in Q1 2018 in collaboration with its research partners were assessments of the product reformulation targets of companies that are members of the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) as well as being included in the 2018 Global Index. In addition, historic evidence of sodium reductions in products on the Australian market during 2006-2017 was assessed. Reporting on these studies was finalized in Q2 and incorporated as case studies in the Product Profile section of the 2018 Global Index report. In June 2018, WHO invited ATNF to participate in a stakeholder consultation in London about its proposal to develop a new global mechanism to assess F&B sector companies’ progress in meeting global nutrition targets at a global and country level. The briefing papers for the meeting heavily referenced ATNI’s work. WHO envisioned that the mechanism would assess both the progress of F&B manufacturers’ in meeting a set of food composition targets, which WHO would establish in consultation with government and non-government actors, as well as their policies and commitments on nutrition labelling, promotion to children and adolescents and product accessibility, compared to WHO-set benchmarks derived from established WHO recommendations.
Additional Product Profiling activities (not in the contract) in Q3 were; • Finalizing the draft of the U.S. Index report chapter on the Product Profile assessment, which was a sub-study of the Global Index 2018 multi-country Product Profile assessment. • Developing a project proposal for funding by BMGF to explore options for an improved Nutrient Profiling System with a micronutrient component and to incorporate it in future iterations of our Indexes. This project aims to objectively assess how company products can contribute to address-ing undernutrition, focusing specifically on micronutrient deficiencies. The proposal was submitted to and discussed with BMGF in Q3. • Continued dialogue with GAIN on a cooperation to develop a self-assessment tool in Sun Business Network countries for small and medium scale enterprises.
• As planned for the Global Index 2020 the integration of the Product Profile results in category B (Products) of the Corporate Profile will be first applied to this year’s India Spotlight Index. Stake-holders in India (including the companies) were further informed during the visit in March and largely supported this development. It will create one overall ranking of the companies instead of two separate rankings. A comparison with the results of the 2016 Product Profile assessment to show development over time will be part of the analysis. • The Product Profile assessment will be done by The George Institute of Public Health like for the previous assessments. Companies will be informed about the product categories and specific prod-ucts that will be included in May (to review the lists).
As planned for the Global Index 2020, the integration of the Product Profile results in category B (Products) of the Corporate Profile will be first applied in this year’s India Spotlight Index. The Product Profile assessment will be performed by The George Institute of Public Health. In addition, a collaboration with Innova Market Insights was started. Both The George Institute and Innova Mar-ket Insights have product databases with nutrition information in India. For this project, the relevant data in both databases is combined to have the most complete and up-to-date product information to start the assessment with.
As planned for the Global Index 2020, the integration of the Product Profile results in category B (Products) of the Corporate Profile is first applied in this year’s India Spotlight Index. The Product Profile assessment is performed by The George Institute of Public Health. In addi-tion, a collaboration with Innova Market Insights was started. Both The George Institute and Innova Market Insights have product databases with nutrition information in India. For this pro-ject, the relevant data in both databases is combined to have the most complete and up-to-date product information to start the assessment with. In August companies reviewed initial lists of product categories and individual products that AT-NI selected for the analysis (all distinct products in the top 5 -by sales revenues- product cate-gories for each company). Some companies added newly introduced products to the lists or re-quested to remove products that were no longer produced. In September The George Institute started the product profile research based on the adapted product lists.
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NL-KVK-58279199-Outreach
Access to Nutrition Foundation
Objective 5: Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Overall Objective: Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Consumers, CSOs, Governements, private sector, Investors, Academia
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
During the first half of 2017, ATNF took part in several activities to extend outreach to different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact. Strategic alliances with Investors and Investment advisors AllianceBernstein is a large global investment management and research firm, which writes and sells research to its 85,000 investor clients. In May, the European F&B research (sell-side) team distributed a nutrition-focused report to its clients summarising the 2016 Global Index results, commenting on the companies it covers (Nestle, Unilever, Danone). On May 8th Bernstein hosted an event in New York City for its clients; ATNF presented at this event and received positive feedback with as a result another presentation of the ATNI in London for Bernsteins’ European clients. Danone and Nestle were also presenting, as was the head of nutrition for Oxford University. ATNF and Bernstein are keen on further exploring opportunities for collaboration. The Access to Nutrition Foundation Investor Steering Group Following the launch of the 2016 Global Index, some of our investor signatories offered to form a steering group to develop a collaborative engagement strategy that all investor signatories were invited to comment on and collaborate in implementing. Investor signatories have been engaging with listed companies to encourage performance improvements. ATNF organised a consultation event with European investor signatories on June 29th. The meeting was hosted by, signatory, CCLA. Stakeholder consultation process Investors were invited to contribute to methodology revisions for the 2018 Global Index via a structured stakeholder consultation process. Other outreach Social Media: ATNF’s Tweets were seen 14.1 K times on twitter and gained over 1100 new followers. Twitter is a medium very popular with our stakeholders and ATNF believes it to be a strong tool in our aim to position ourselves as a knowledge institute. Website and newsletter: The ATNF website has been updated with news and a social media/twitter plug in allows for visitors to see updates either by ATNF or by others mentioning ATNF or ATNI. During the first half of 2017, ATNF took part in several activities to extend outreach to different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact. Strategic alliances with Investors and Investment advisors AllianceBernstein is a large global investment management and research firm, which writes and sells research to its 85,000 investor clients. In May, the European F&B research (sell-side) team distributed a nutrition-focused report to its clients summarising the 2016 Global Index results, commenting on the companies it covers (Nestle, Unilever, Danone). On May 8th Bernstein hosted an event in New York City for its clients; ATNF presented at this event and received positive feedback with as a result another presentation of the ATNI in London for Bernsteins’ European clients. Danone and Nestle were also presenting, as was the head of nutrition for Oxford University. ATNF and Bernstein are keen on further exploring opportunities for collaboration. The Access to Nutrition Foundation Investor Steering Group Following the launch of the 2016 Global Index, some of our investor signatories offered to form a steering group to develop a collaborative engagement strategy that all investor signatories were invited to comment on and collaborate in implementing. Investor signatories have been engaging with listed companies to encourage performance improvements. ATNF organised a consultation event with European investor signatories on June 29th. The meeting was hosted by, signatory, CCLA. Stakeholder consultation process Investors were invited to contribute to methodology revisions for the 2018 Global Index via a structured stakeholder consultation process. Other outreach Social Media: ATNF’s Tweets were seen 14.1 K times on twitter and gained over 1100 new followers. Twitter is a medium very popular with our stakeholders and ATNF believes it to be a strong tool in our aim to position ourselves as a knowledge institute. Website and newsletter: The ATNF website has been updated with news and a social media/twitter plug in allows for visitors to see updates either by ATNF or by others mentioning ATNF or ATNI.
Investor engagement • Lead investor engagement with companies: in September, the Investor Working Group co-chairs sent emails to the Index companies to emphasize the importance of engaging in the Global and US Index research. Increasing the Investor Signatory base • Calls were held with the co-chairs of the Investor Working Group in August and September – and will continue on a regular basis. • ATNF has updated the Investor Signatory list and is innovating the subscription process. Also looking into developing other benefits to become ATNF signatory: access to documentation not published on ATNF website and additional bespoke support, per investor input at a meeting in London in June 2017. • ATNF prepared webinars for early November 2017 with Investors signatories to update regarding the 2018 Global Index and the US Spotlight Index and to discuss details and planning in regard to company engagement • ATNF has met with/spoken with various potential new signatories.
Investor engagement • ATNF engaged extensively with investors during the last quarter of 2017: webinars were organized for investors and, with Boston Common Asset Management, ATNF discussed the India Index in Mumbai with companies and investors after the ACGA Asia Business Dialogue conference. Increasing the Investor Signatory base • ATNF hosted an Investor Signatory webinar in November to update members about the 2018 Indexes and planned company engagement. • In light of the upcoming launch of both the 2018 Global Access to Nutrition Index and the first US Spotlight Index in 2018, ATNF's Investor Signatories are preparing a collective company engagement process to catalyse improvements in practice among companies they invest in based on Index outcomes and recommendations. • In the last quarter a number of new investor signatories joined ATNF including AXA Investments, Schroders, ACTIAM and Nationale Nederlanden Investment Partners (NNIP). ATNF has 60 Investor Signatories now with more than US$5 trillion of assets under management. For the full list of Investor signatories, please click here.
• A webinar was held on January 22 with those investors that had shown an interest in participating in the collaborative engagement process once the Index was launched. The objective was to discuss the Investor Signatory engagement plan: process and timeline and expectations for investor engagement. • ATNF worked with the co-chairs of the Investor Engagement Group to develop a briefing, an invitation and a sign-up sheet for the collaborative engagement, which ATNF sent out at the end of February. • ATNF held several calls with and had extensive interaction with the co-chairs of the Investor Engagement Group to discuss how best to organise and reach investors with the Global Index results. • BMO Global Asset Management, a UK-based signatory, asked ATNF to present to its Responsible Investment Advisory Committee to help inform its new approach to screening out F&B manufacturers that don’t operate responsibly. Their intention is to draw on the results of the Access to Nutrition Indexes to inform these decisions. • Achmea, a large Dutch insurance company became a new Investor Signatory bringing the total number of Signatories to 55. Other outreach activities • ATNF published a blog post in celebration of International Women’s Day on 8th March: Total number of Twitter impressions: 1,243. Total engagements: 31. Retweets: 5. Likes: 4. Replies: 2. Number of clicks on the link to blog post: 11 • As of 31 March 2018 @ATNIndex had a total of 1,359 Twitter followers • Between January 1st and March 26th ATNF gained 79 new Twitter followers • Since January, @ATNIndex tweets achieved a total of 19.7K impressions • ATNF presented its work to new staff at DGIS (March)
Investors • A webinar was held on January 22 with those investors that had shown an interest in participating in the collaborative engagement process once the Index was launched. The objective was to discuss the Investor Signatory engagement plan: process and timeline and expectations for investor engagement. • ATNF worked with the co-chairs of the Investor Engagement Group to develop a briefing, an invitation and a sign-up sheet for the collaborative engagement, which ATNF sent out at the end of February. • ATNF held several calls with and had extensive interaction with the co-chairs of the Investor Engagement Group to discuss how best to organise and reach investors with the Global Index results. • BMO Global Asset Management, a UK-based signatory, asked ATNF to present to its Responsible Investment Advisory Committee to help inform its new approach to screening out F&B manufacturers that don’t operate responsibly. Their intention is to draw on the results of the Access to Nutrition Indexes to inform these decisions. • Achmea, a large Dutch insurance company became a new Investor Signatory bringing the total number of Signatories to 55. Other outreach activities • ATNF published a blog post in celebration of International Women’s Day on 8th March: Total number of Twitter impressions: 1,243. Total engagements: 31. Retweets: 5. Likes: 4. Replies: 2. Number of clicks on the link to blog post: 11 • As of 31 March 2018 @ATNIndex had a total of 1,359 Twitter followers • Between January 1st and March 26th ATNF gained 79 new Twitter followers • Since January, @ATNIndex tweets achieved a total of 19.7K impressions • ATNF presented its work to new staff at DGIS (March)
• ATNF worked with investment bank Kepler Cheuvreux to organize the invitation-only investor meeting for the day of the 2018 Global Index launch. As previously noted, this was held on May 23rd, in London and a webinar for investors not able to attend in person took place on May 24. • ATNF continued to work with the co-chairs of the Investor Engagement Group to finalise the plans for collaborative investor engagement with the 2018 Global Index companies. ATNF provided to the investors the bespoke content for each company, based on the Global Index findings, to be included in the letters sent by the investors to request calls or meetings to discuss the issues raised. • Preparations began for an investor event for the launch of the US Index, in New York, hosted by Bernstein (though this has since been postponed to November). • ATNF had a call with a large Swiss asset management company that indicated it is interested in accessing (and potentially paying for) further detail on some of the Global Index, particularly the Product Profile data. Other outreach activities • Social Media: @ATNIndex now has a total of 1,812 Twitter followers. In the previous period the total was 1,359 Twitter followers. Between April and June 2018, @ATNIndex tweets earned a total of 299.9K. ATNF’s tweets earned 19.7K impressions in the previous three month period. • 2 – 4 May: PHA meeting – Washington D.C., US to maintain momentum and coordination around U.S. Index launch. The panel discussion was moderated by Partnership for a Healthier America. Panelists included ATNF Expert Group and Board member Shiriki Kumanyika, ATNF Investor Working Group Co-Chair Lauren Compere and Victoria Brown from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. • 8 -11 May: Strategic communications training, RWJF – Princeton, New Jersey, US • 24th May, 2018: ATNF participated in a panel discussion at the World Health Assembly. • 13 – 15 June: SUN Business retreat – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to discuss the proposed potential SME self-assessment tool and solicit feedback. • 28th June, 2018: BMS Marketing Assessment Webinar: Taking the findings forward. Blog post written about the Webinar here: https://www.accesstonutrition.org/media/bms-marketing-assessment-taking-findings-forward .
Investors • ATNF presented the Global Access to Nutrition Index 2018 on 14 September at the PRI In-Person annual conference, side event, San Francisco. • ATNF continued to work with the co-chairs of the Investor Engagement Group to support planned collaborative investor engagement with the 2018 U.S. Index companies and separately with Ab-bott, based on its 2018 Global Index results. • ATNF spoke to one investment management company (GAM, based in London) that was interest-ed in becoming a signatory and subsequently signed up. Other outreach activities • Social Media: @ATNIndex now has a total of 1,812 Twitter followers (1,721 followers at the end of June). Between July and September, @ATNIndex tweets earned a total of 62.2K impressions (pre-vious three month period: 299.9K impressions, due to launch of Global Index 2018) • 17 July: C3 Collaborating for Health, International Breakfast Seminar where experts from around the world are invited to present their work on NCD prevention to UK professionals. ATNF’s session was entitled: “The 2018 Global Access to Nutrition Index: Are the world’s largest F&B manufactur-ers making a positive contribution to addressing global nutrition crises?” • 19 July: ATNF joined over 100 organizations (including BMFG, Global Nutrition Report, GAIN, UKAID) in SPRING Project’s Call to Action for adolescent nutrition: “Better Data Now to Drive Bet-ter Policies and Programs in the Future“. • 30 – 31 August: SDG-Conference 'Towards Zero Hunger: Partnerships for Impact’, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands • Global monitoring mechanism. WHO has organized a stakeholder consultation, at a UNGA side-event on NCD’s September 2018, on tracking industry commitments regarding reformulation. A background paper prepared by WHO for this purpose referenced ATNF extensively. ATNF will par-ticipate in a WHO led consortium to develop a global monitoring mechanism that measures indus-try progress on commitments independently. • 24 September, UNGA side-event World Benchmarking Alliance Launch, New York • 26 September, UNGA side-event on UNICEF’s Approach to Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Childhood in combination with undernutrition programmes. • 27 September, UNGA side-event Independent Accountability Panel for Every Woman, Every Child, Every Adolescent (IAP), launch of the 2018 report: Private sector: who is accountable? for wom-en’s, children’s and adolescents’ health. The report referred to ATNI publicly ranking food compa-nies. • 28 September, International Forum on Food and Nutrition, Barilla Foundation, New York. ATNF was present for the session “How food systems and nutrition patters will affect and/or contribute to the achievement of the SDGs”. • A newsletter for all stakeholders was distributed and published on our website in September. • Examples of blog posts: o BMS Marketing Assessment: Taking the findings forward o Working Together to Help Consumers Eat Healthier: US Spotlight Index Launch o ATNF has moved! o U.S. Spotlight Index launch rescheduled
Investors • ATNF continued to work with the co-chairs of the Investor Engagement Group to support planned collaborative investor engagement with the 2018 Global and U.S. Index companies, including BMS manufacturing companies. • ATNF welcomed two new investor signatories during the quarter: Swiss investment management company GAM with CHF 139.1 billion in assets under management, and Robeco with EUR 171 bil-lion assets under management. Having engaged on the topic of nutrition for years and used our Indexes as a valuable resource, Robeco confirmed it wished to become a signatory and become actively involved in the collaborative engagement. Robeco manages a total of €171 billion, Includ-ing the assets of the clients it engages on behalf of, as well as its own assets under management. • Following the publication of the U.S. Index, a meeting for investors took place on November 19th in New York, which was co-hosted with Bernstein (a US based investment management firm). In addition, a webinar took place on November 29th, which eight investors participated in. ` Other outreach activities • 5-7 November: Food Systems for Children and Adolescents, Working Together to Secure Nutritious Diets. Florence, Italy. o High level consultation organized by UNICEF and GAIN, on (re-)defining a food systems approach to children’s diets. • 13 November: Aligning Accountability: Coordinating accountability initiatives on business impact on nutrition. Paris, France. o Discussed challenges and opportunities around aligning accountability mechanisms look-ing at the business impact on nutrition. • 28-30 November: Accelerating the end of Hunger and Malnutrition. Bangkok, Thailand. (picture next page left) o ATNF hosted a well-attended side event entitled “Monitoring the efforts made by the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers to tackle undernutrition”. The results of the Global Index 2018 were presented and panellists from Alive & Thrive, Food Industry Asia, UNICEF, GAIN and SBN Nigeria discussed how we can further monitor and strength-en the role the private sector is playing in ending undernutrition and working towards a world with zero hunger. Representatives from FrieslandCampina and Ajinomoto provided responses to the results of the Global Index, and a lively discussion took place among panellists and the audience. • 28-30 November: Healthy Children, Healthy Weight, Leaders Advance. RWJF Meeting. St Louis, USA. (picture next page top right)
Investors ATNI’s Investor Signatories continued to engage with Index companies during the quarter. ATNI met with the very large investment manager UBS Asset Management to explain our Indexes in depth and to press them to become a signatory, which they have been considering for some time. They have not yet made a decision though indicated their interest in principle. In January, ATNI wrote to the ten largest shareholders in each of the 5 listed baby food companies we assess and rank, presenting our materials and offering a briefing. Three responded, of which we have briefed one. We also had a call with Save The Children Norway who have been engaging with Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the country’s enormous sovereign wealth fund. Save The Children were aware of our work but wanted further input as to how investors could use it and how they should suggest NBIM monitors the companies’ responses to its engagement. In January and March, ATNF participated in two in investor workshops in London through the Plating up Progress initiative, a collaboration between the Food and Climate Research Network based at Oxford Uni-versity and the U.K. Food Foundation. Plating Up Progress is working to develop a set of metrics that in-vestors can press food companies to adopt in their reporting, and to guide their policies and practices, to demonstrate their contribution to creating a sustainable, healthy food system. As the first quarter of the year is when many investment organisations publish their 2018 reports, we have noticed an uptick in references to ATNI and investors’ use of our Indexes and related materials. Other outreach activities, meetings, conferences ATNF in February became a member of the Netherlands Working Group on International Nutrition, a plat-form with corporate, CSO and government members to promote nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive approaches in development strategies of Dutch stakeholders. As part of the Meridian process ATNF, NGO participants, BMGF, WHO and UNICEF in February in New York provided updates about their work and discussed how to take various elements of the Meridian process forward. February 20-21 ATNF attended the co-create consortium meeting in London organized by World Cancer Research Fund International & EU Horizon 2020; Confronting Obesity: Co-creating policies with youth. ATNF’s research manager participated in the 4th Hidden Hunger conference, Feb 27 - March 1, Stuttgart, University of Hohenheim. This was an excellent opportunity to consult global experts on ATNF’s plan to develop a micro-nutrient enhanced nutrient profiling system. March 15 and 15 ATNF was represented at a Nestle stakeholder convening; Nutrition in the first 1000 days of life. End March ATNF provided input at a UNICEF/WHO workshop to develop a ‘Toolkit for Policymakers to Im-plement the WHO Recommendations on Marketing Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children’. Sub-sequently separate meetings were held on March 29 with UNICEF and WHO nutrition experts. March 6-8 World Benchmarking Alliance Allies met in Mumbai to review planning and progress towards the 5 overarching benchmarks WBA wants to launch in 2020. Their new Food and Agriculture value chain benchmark of 200 companies will be presented at N4G summit in 2020 in Japan. Allies will receive a foundational document with the proposed methodology for the benchmarks early April. ATNI is part of food systems working group to plan for the Tokyo 2020 Nutrition for Growth -N4G- summit and in February and March had meetings to discuss how corporate engagement and commitment can be strengthened.
Investors During this quarter ATNF continued to monitor and support collaborative engagement with Global/U.S. companies as needed. ATNF host quarterly collaborative engagement working group meeting, and the May meeting saw company investor leads update the group with engagement activity to date. The use of tracking sheets for investment activity was discussed. ATNF worked closely with design agency Kummer & Herman this quarter to begin developing a password protected investor portal, a place for investors to log in and access investor-specific documents. The portal will allow investors to compare companies scores on a range of indicators, and enables investor leads to keep track of their engagement with companies. ATNF has continued its collaboration with Food Foundation and Food Climate Research Network, on the Plating Up Progress project. Will Nicholson of Food Foundation authored a guest blog on the ATNF website to celebrate the launch of the program New Website Work on the new ATNF website has been continuing with a brainstorming phase recently coming to a close. Feedback was gathered from the stakeholders identified in our communications strategy to gain insights on how the website can be optimized specifically for ATNF’s audiences. A new website layout has been proposed and new features of the site include: a PDF generator so visitors can customize the view of information they need, trends over time section, scorecard comparison tool, improved data visualization across the site, password protected investor portal, sharable items, news and ‘in the media’ section, pho-tographs by professional photographer, interactive world map, agenda/events calendar. A new ‘long-read’ style of reporting is being adopted which will feature a web-based report with customizable PDFs. This is an interactive, concise, and accessible way of reporting that helps tell a story in a modern and exciting way. In the next phase of the process, the designers will present the new look and feel of the site along-side the first wireframes. In phase three (second half of 2019), the website will be developed and created. New branding ‘ATNI’ and prospectus With the launch in summer of a prospectus introducing its activities to all new stakeholders, including potential funders, the foundation also soft-launches a slightly different and new branding choosing ‘Ac-cess to Nutrition Initiative’ as the new standard nominator for the organization and its programs. This better covers the diverse activities and tools beyond the Indexes of the organization and still allows the use the acronym ATNI which most stakeholders know the organization best by. The use of the legal name of the foundation (which will not change) and the acronym ATNF will be limited to legal documents and other places where the status of the organization as employer or legal entity is relevant. Next editions of this progress report will therefore also use ATNI as the default acronym to refer to the organization. Other outreach activities, meetings, conferences EAT Forum, Stockholm ATNF attended the EAT Forum in Stockholm in June where the follow-up on the EAT-Lancet commission report ‘Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’ was the central theme. In sessions organized by GAIN, WBCSD/Fresh, UNICEF companies men-tioned ATNF as the nutrition accountability mechanism they work with and would want to keep using. The Hague Conference: “Building business contribution for the 2020 Global Nutrition Sum-mit” June 25-26, ATNF in collaboration with GAIN co-hosted the “Building business contribution for the 2020 Global Nutrition Summit” (right). The meeting was hosted by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement and the Netherlands Working group on international Nutrition (NWGN). The meeting brought together over 100 participants, including a variety of government representatives, consumer groups, food companies, and NGOs/CSOs. The key objectives of the meeting were to reach consensus on: (a) the overall level of ambition of businesses; (b) a set of public-private engagement principles leading up to Japan 2020; (c) priority areas on which commitments will be developed to be presented, and (d) SMART business to launch at Japan 2020. ATNF had a prominent place at the event with various high-profile speakers referring to our work. ATNF’s executive director Inge Kauer facilitated a panel discussion on how businesses see nutrition challenges and opportunities ahead of the Tokyo 2020 summit. ATNF also hosted a working session on Responsible Marketing to Children which was very well attended and had panelists from WHO, UNICEF, Mars, IFBA and the World Obesity Federation. Besides calling for stronger regulatory frameworks, independent nutrient profiling, and independent monitoring, the session identified the Olympics as a unique opportunity to showcase what responsible marketing and education on healthy option could look like. The outcomes of the working group sessions and the overall conference were collated in a concluding statement for the Japanese Government preparing for the 2020 Global Nutrition Summit. GAIN Donor meeting, Ireland ATNF in April was invited to attend and speak at a meeting for donors of GAIN in Dublin. ATNF presented the plan for the development of a ‘Nutrition Business Monitor’ tool for small and medium sized enterprises. This project is funded by GAIN through its ’Making markets work for nutrition’ program. The tool will ini-tially be piloted in Nigeria and Bangladesh among member companies of the local SUN Business networks. ATNF donor meeting, London In May, ATNF organized a meeting for its main donors, hosted by DFID in London. Interested DFID col-leagues were invited to a presentation by ATNF’s executive director on the BMS marketing assessment undertaken for the Global Indexes as well as the on the ground assessments in specific markets. Representatives from BMGF, UK DFID and DGIS (online attendance) reviewed and discussed the options for ATNF’s next multi-year strategic planning (2020-2023). WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism meeting, Geneva In June a follow-up meeting was organized by WHO with ATNF and Informas representatives to discuss the next steps to develop a global monitoring mechanism on company commitments to contribute to the SDG’s and other nutrition targets as set by WHO and the world Health assembly. EAT Lancet report launch in the Netherlands In June, ATNF attended the Netherlands launch of the EAT Lancet Sustainable diets report. The event took place in the Hague also presenting the findings of the 2019 Global Food Policy Report. A clear mes-sage emerged from both reports and the subsequent discussions: the global food system crisis is acceler-ating. Addressing these complex challenges will require of context specific solutions and multiple stake-holders working together. In this regard, it was promising to see so many stakeholders present at the event Panelists at the launch of the EAT Lancet Sustainable diets report
Investors During this quarter, ATNI continued to monitor and support collaborative engagements with Global Index and U.S. Spotlight Index companies. The group is currently working on developing a tracking sheet to monitor engagement with investors. Work also continued with ShareAction – a UK based not-for-profit organization that campaigns with investors on nutrition issues – to shape investor engagement around childhood obesity and sugar. This project falls under the sub-grant with ShareAction which supports their Healthy Mar-kets campaign. On September 18th we jointly released the results of an assessment of the nutri-tional quality of the product portfolios of 18 major food companies in the UK. There was much social media outreach about this publication and a blog was posted on the ATNI website. Share-Action authored a feature on this topic too. The next phase commenced in the Plating Up Progress project which is geared toward driving integrated ‘sustainable food system’ reporting metrics for food retailers and out-of-home sec-tors. Together with our website developers, a password protected investor portal is being developed, with a first design being made. This portal will allow investors to log in and access relevant doc-uments, information about collaborative engagements, and give access to the new scorecard comparison tool and trends over time data visualisation tool, New Website The third phase of the development of the new website is underway which is the content and website development phase. Having completed a detailed brainstorming and planning phase, website developers Kummer & Herman have begun designing and creating the new homepage, a Global Index long-read (below), interactive tools, investor platform and the new scorecards for the India Spotlight Index. The new site will feature an easily navigable dashboard for users to easily use all the new features of the site. New branding ‘ATNI’ and prospectus The prospectus was first used at different conferences and network gatherings this quarter and received positive feedback. It is also available online here: https://www.accesstonutrition.org/sites/us18.atnindex.org/files/atni_prospectus_final.pdf New Access to Nutrition Initiative brochures Communications update An overview of media appearances for ATNI can be found below. ATNI continued working with AvianWe to pursue media opportunities ahead of the launch of the India Spotlight Index. The Na-tional Nutrition Conclave was a good opportunity to increase visibility, Inge was interviewed for a number of articles and videos. Communications agency AvianWe prepared an overview of all our features so far which is available for download here. July 15, 2019 Outlook India Why Food & Beverage companies can and must be part of the solution to India's nutrition challenges Link to article Link to article July 22, 2019 CSR Wire The CGF and GAIN join forces on employee health Link to article Link to article August 22, 2019 Outlook India Video: India has shown progress in tackling malnutrition Link to video August 30, 2019 Financial Ex-press Consumer trend towards healthier products: Food and beverage manufacturers should make healthier products more affordable Link to article Septem-ber, 2019 Food & Bever-age News Undernutrition and obesity challenges in India Print-ed Septem-ber 5, 2019 Health World, Economic Times Disclosing nutritional information to consumers continues to be a challenge Link to article Septem-ber 17, 2019 FNB News Undernutrition and obesity challenges in India Link to article Septem-ber Food Tank Non-Profit Working to Improve Global Food and Beverage Com-panies Link to article Septem-ber 16, 2019 Nuffood Spec-trum Interview: Inge Kauer, Executive Director, Access to Nutrition Foundation Link to video Septem-ber 26. 2019 Nutra Ingredi-ents Unilever vows to work with third party to test the nutrient lev-els in Mexican products after report highlights shortcomings Link to video In line with the communications plan, we actively posted on the ATNI blog, articles featured can be read below: • WATCH: Highlights from 'Building business contribution for the 2020 Global Nutrition Sum-mit' • Nutrition Business Monitor: A new self-assessment tool for SMEs • JUST RELEASED: Assessment of the healthiness of packaged foods and beverages in the UK Nutrition for Growth N4G/ Global Nutrition Summit 2020 Tokyo Since February 2019, ATNI has been part of the food systems working group, and co-lead of the working group on accountability, to plan for the Tokyo 2020 Nutrition for Growth(N4G) summit. The outcomes of the working group sessions and the overall conference held in The Hague in June on “Building the business contribution for the 2020 Global Nutrition Summit” were collated in a con-cluding statement for the Japanese Government as it prepares for the 2020 N4G Summit. The Government of Japan has established a new advisory committee, which ATNI will participate in. ATNI is also an observer in the Business Constituency Group. ATNI has proposed to the Govern-ment of Japan and organizers of the N4G to develop a set of Investor Expectations on Nutrition (or similar name), to echo similar sets of expectations on climate change, lobbying on climate change and other ESG issues. Proposed approach is to evolve the current Investor Statement into these Investor Expectations, with anchor investors being major Dutch, British and Japanese pension funds (in the first instance) invited by their governments; then ATNI could invite our current investor signatory base and many other institutional investors to add their voice.
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Access to Nutrition Foundation
Objective 6: Develop Action Research activities in key areas to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Develop Action Research activities in key areas to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Develop Action Research activities in key areas to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Consumers, CSOs, Investors, Academia, private sector, Governments
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
Investors ATNI’s Investor Signatories continued to engage with Index companies during the quarter. ATNI met with the very large investment manager UBS Asset Management to explain our Indexes in depth and to press them to become a signatory, which they have been considering for some time. They have not yet made a decision though indicated their interest in principle. In January, ATNI wrote to the ten largest shareholders in each of the 5 listed baby food companies we assess and rank, presenting our materials and offering a briefing. Three responded, of which we have briefed one. We also had a call with Save The Children Norway who have been engaging with Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the country’s enormous sovereign wealth fund. Save The Children were aware of our work but wanted further input as to how investors could use it and how they should suggest NBIM monitors the companies’ responses to its engagement. In January and March, ATNF participated in two in investor workshops in London through the Plating up Progress initiative, a collaboration between the Food and Climate Research Network based at Oxford Uni-versity and the U.K. Food Foundation. Plating Up Progress is working to develop a set of metrics that in-vestors can press food companies to adopt in their reporting, and to guide their policies and practices, to demonstrate their contribution to creating a sustainable, healthy food system. As the first quarter of the year is when many investment organisations publish their 2018 reports, we have noticed an uptick in references to ATNI and investors’ use of our Indexes and related materials. Other outreach activities, meetings, conferences ATNF in February became a member of the Netherlands Working Group on International Nutrition, a plat-form with corporate, CSO and government members to promote nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive approaches in development strategies of Dutch stakeholders. As part of the Meridian process ATNF, NGO participants, BMGF, WHO and UNICEF in February in New York provided updates about their work and discussed how to take various elements of the Meridian process forward. February 20-21 ATNF attended the co-create consortium meeting in London organized by World Cancer Research Fund International & EU Horizon 2020; Confronting Obesity: Co-creating policies with youth. ATNF’s research manager participated in the 4th Hidden Hunger conference, Feb 27 - March 1, Stuttgart, University of Hohenheim. This was an excellent opportunity to consult global experts on ATNF’s plan to develop a micro-nutrient enhanced nutrient profiling system. March 15 and 15 ATNF was represented at a Nestle stakeholder convening; Nutrition in the first 1000 days of life. End March ATNF provided input at a UNICEF/WHO workshop to develop a ‘Toolkit for Policymakers to Im-plement the WHO Recommendations on Marketing Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children’. Sub-sequently separate meetings were held on March 29 with UNICEF and WHO nutrition experts. March 6-8 World Benchmarking Alliance Allies met in Mumbai to review planning and progress towards the 5 overarching benchmarks WBA wants to launch in 2020. Their new Food and Agriculture value chain benchmark of 200 companies will be presented at N4G summit in 2020 in Japan. Allies will receive a foundational document with the proposed methodology for the benchmarks early April. ATNI is part of food systems working group to plan for the Tokyo 2020 Nutrition for Growth -N4G- summit and in February and March had meetings to discuss how corporate engagement and commitment can be strengthened.
In 2019, ATNF starts Action Research into two topics which are important for our indexes but where con-clusive evidence, international standards and company best-practices are lacking or only just emerging. 1) Action Research on Accessibility and Affordability ATNF has contracted Carnstone Partners to perform initial mappings and other assessments, including collating statistics on the distribution, presence and/or market penetration of (healthy) products in LMIC markets. The goal is to find out why companies are struggling to show good performance in this category? What might be the potential barriers that are preventing them from doing well? The map-ping also will identify ideas to drive improvement in affordability and accessibility across brands and achieve commitments from senior management within some F&B manufacturers to pilot or implement those ideas wholesale. Eventually, the results are to inform future iterations of the methodology. This work is due to start in the third quarter of 2019. 2) Action Research on Complementary Foods ATNF has been in contact with WHO, who would publish their findings on adapting the WHO Europe model for marketing foods to children, validating it and running pilot assessments in July 2019. The WHO assessment will be one important starting point for the research. ATNF will explore whether and how the complementary foods made by the manufacturers ATNF engages with could contribute to im-proving young children’s diets, for example by undertaking the first-ever Product Profile of such foods using the WHO model, and/or other activities, with a focus on LMICs.
In 2019, ATNI started Action Research into two topics which are important for our indexes but where conclusive evidence, international standards and company best-practices are lacking or only just emerging. The initial goal is to refine and strengthen our indicators in the index and help prior-itizing countries where we could do spotlight indexes or other country specific monitoring. 1) Action Research on Accessibility and Affordability ATNI has contracted Carnstone Partners to undertake an initial mapping and to collate statistics on the distribution, presence and/or market penetration of (healthy) products in LMIC markets. The goal is to find out why companies are struggling to perform well in the category in the ATNI In-dexes focusing on access to and affordability of healthy products and identify barriers that might prevent them from doing well. This initial research will identify ideas of how to drive improvement in affordability and accessibility across brands and achieve commitments from senior management within some F&B manufacturers to pilot or implement the ideas wholesale. The intention is also that the insights gained will inform future iterations of the methodology. 2) Action Research on Complementary Foods ATNI attended the launch of the WHO Europe new Nutrient Profiling System for Complementary Foods and accompanying research on the composition, labelling and claims used on such foods in 4 WHO Europe-region member states. This WHO NPS and research will be an important starting point for ATNI’s proposed research. ATNI will explore whether and how the complementary foods made by the manufacturers ATNI engages with (and other companies) could contribute to improv-ing young children’s diets, for example, by undertaking the first-ever Product Profile of such foods using the WHO model, and/or other activities, with a focus on LMICs.
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79510
48527
NL-KVK-58279199-M&E
Access to Nutrition Foundation
Objective 7: Develop measurement and evaluations.
Develop measurement and evaluations.
Develop measurement and evaluations.
Consumers, governments, CSO's, investors, academia, private sector
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
0
0
18208
NL-KVK-58279199-Feasibility Study
Access to Nutrition Foundation
Objective 8: Conduct Feasibility Study on expansion and innovation.
Feasibility Study on expansion and innovation.
Feasibility Study on expansion and innovation.
ATNF, board, funders, other stakeholders
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
The Access to Nutrition Foundation is currently in the process of a strategic review to study what the future of the Foundation should look like. Carnstone was appointed to conduct this review and has completed interviews with around 25 key stakeholders by the end of May 2017. ATNF has received the first draft of the report in mid-June and will discuss the full draft of the report with Board and funders on July 6th, in New York. Carnstone will finalise their report, based on feedback received, by July 20th. The report will propose potential business models for expansion of ATNF activities, for instance increasing the number of Spotlight Country Indexes or expanding the scope of the Index from F&B manufacturers to other players in the food supply chain.
• Carnstone conducted a feasibility study with the aim of exploring future scaling up activities for the Access to Nutrition Foundation including developing Access to Nutrition Indexes for other parts of the supply chain and expanding to other Spotlight Indexes. The study was discussed with the ATNF board in-person meeting in New York early July. • As a follow up to the board meeting, ATNF started making a Prospectus: to be our ‘calling card’ with prospective funders.
• Carnstone conducted a feasibility study with the aim of exploring future scaling up activities for the Access to Nutrition Foundation including developing Access to Nutrition Indexes for other parts of the supply chain and expanding to other Spotlight Indexes. The study was discussed with the ATNF board in-person meeting in New York early July. In Q4 ATNF continued to work on the Prospectus. This will be presented in the board meeting in January 2018.
• Carnstone was commissioned in April 2017 to assess the feasibility of ATNF scaling up its activities and expanding its strategy, including by, for example, developing new Access to Nutrition Indexes for other parts of the supply chain, expanding to other Spotlight Indexes as well as the potential for ATNF to evolve the private sector accountability tools it offers and expand related activities. The study was discussed with the ATNF Board for the second time at the board meeting on January 30. • During Q1, individual calls or meetings were held with Board members to solicit their final input to the study, plus it was shared with DFID and DGIS to give these funders the opportunity to make final comments. BMGF had already provided comments at an earlier stage. Next steps • By end October 2018: ATNF to draft Prospectus. ATNF’s comms agencies and Carnstone will be given the opportunity to comment. • December 2018: Draft Prospectus to be reviewed by the Board • March 2019: Final Prospectus to be approved by the Board • April 2019: Prospectus finalised, printed and in use.
• Carnstone was commissioned in April 2017 to assess the feasibility of ATNF scaling up its activities and expanding its strategy, including by, for example, developing new Access to Nutrition Indexes for other parts of the supply chain, expanding to other Spotlight Indexes as well as the potential for ATNF to evolve the private sector accountability tools it offers and expand related activities. The study was discussed with the ATNF Board for the second time at the January 2018 board meeting. • The strategy was finalised in March 2018, based on final input from Board members, DFID, DGIS and BMGF. Next steps • December 2018: Draft Prospectus to be reviewed by the Board • March 2019: Final Prospectus to be approved by the Board • April 2019: Prospectus finalised, printed and in use.
• ATNF drafted a Prospectus, as agreed as part of the strategic review, for potential new partners and funders which could also serve to inform a wider audience about our work. Next steps • December 2018: Draft Prospectus for new funders and partners to be reviewed by the Board • March 2019: Final Prospectus to be approved by the Board • April 2019: Prospectus finalised, printed and in use.
• ATNF drafted a Prospectus, as agreed as part of the strategic review, for potential new partners and funders which could also serve to inform a wider audience about our work. The draft Prospec-tus was reviewed by the Board in December 2018. Next steps • March 2019: Final Prospectus to be approved by the Board • April 2019: Prospectus finalised, printed and in use.
• ATNF drafted a Prospectus, as agreed as part of the strategic review, for potential new partners and funders which could also serve to inform a wider audience about our work. The draft Prospectus was reviewed by the Board in December 2018, finalised in March and ready for publication on the website and further use early April 2019.
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35878
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NL-KVK-58279199-DGIS-annual-report
Access to Nutrition Foundation
DGIS - Annual Activity Report- 2019
Annual Report 2019 for DGIS
the Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
1. Introduction The Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI), an independent non-profit organization based in the Netherlands, is dedicated to driving changes in the global nutrition landscape by tracking and assessing the food industry’s attempts to tackle undernutrition, obesity and diet-related chronic diseases through designing and delivering a range of accountability tools. The organization influences the industries’ contribution to address global nutrition challenges, by objectively assessing the food industry and publishing Global and Spotlight Country Nutrition Indexes and by developing new accountability tools and studies to support this. ATNI aims to encourage companies both to increase access to healthy products and to responsibly exercise their influence on consumers’ choice and behavior. The organization in 2019 worked on a wide range and growing number of activities to drive the private sector’s performance on healthy affordable diets beyond its flagship Global Index and Spotlight Country Indexes. To reflect the strategic choice to expand the scope of its benchmarking work and develop new accountability tools, a new name and branding (with adapted logo) was chosen and introduced in 2019: ‘Access to Nutrition Initiative’. The acronym ATNI coincides with that of the Access to Nutrition Index, well known by all stakeholders working with, or making use of the organization's products over the last six years. With a new design agency all the groundwork was done for the organization’s new interactive website along with the new house style and branding to be launched early 2020. The organization’s legal status as foundation and registration in The Netherlands as the ‘Stichting Access to Nutrition Foundation’ does not change. Throughout 2019, the organization has done the necessary preparatory work such as industry engagement, data collection, and data processing, required for the launch of the second iteration of the India Spotlight Index in February 2020. Additionally, the preparatory work for the second US Spotlight Index has been started to facilitate the assessment in 2020 and launching the report in the second quarter of 2021. In 2019, ATNI has done an intensive revision of the methodology for the Global Index to adopt the most recent contextual changes and to incorporate stakeholders’ feedback for the Global Index 2020. Working with and supported by the Global Alliance on Improved Nutrition (GAIN), ATNI started the design and development of a self-assessment tool for small and medium-sized companies in countries with rapidly emerging food and beverage (F&B) industries that have a national Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network. The tool aims to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be aware of their role and opportunities to improve nutrition and benchmark their performance against their peers and larger companies. In Nigeria and Bangladesh, a total of 50 SMEs and civil society organizations and government agencies are helping to build this tool and make it as relevant as possible for the local context. A first draft version of the tool will be tested in these countries early 2020. ATNI took part in the preparations for the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit planned for 2020. The organization was invited to be part of different working groups (on data & accountability and food systems) to set the agenda and set the stage for meaningful and specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART) commitments by all stakeholders and specifically the private sector. Along with GAIN, ATNI has organized an international conference in The Hague to build business commitments for N4G. The World Health Organization (WHO) asked ATNI to help set up a global monitoring mechanism to track company reformulation efforts on salt and added sugar. In November, ATNI has published the UK Product Profile Report which revealed that some 18 largest F&B manufacturers in the U.K need to increase their sales of healthy products to demonstrate that they are serious about making a meaningful contribution to consumers’ diets and public health. This should also help address the mounting business risks associated with poor diets, deal with or be prepared for regulatory intervention and the impacts on productivity among their workforces. In collaboration with ShareAction and with funding from the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, ATNI took first steps to look at the vital role the retail sector has to play in providing affordable, healthy diets to all consumers. To expand the scope of its work to this part of the food value chain, ATNI studied the UK food retail sector to shed light on the commitments and contributions of the ten largest UK food and drink retailers in regard to promoting healthy food and helping consumers to move away from high fat, salt and sugar products. The results will be presented in a report early 2020. After summer, ATNI has started action research to investigate two Index topics, namely 1: Access and Affordability of healthy food and 2: Nutrition quality of complementary foods for young children. In these categories, companies in general score low or international guidelines and standards are lacking. Since the launch of the first Global Index in 2013, more than 72 investment firms have become signatories to the Access to Nutrition Index Investor Statement, with over $7 trillion assets under management. We are pleased to mention that complementing the multi-year core funding that ATNI receives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UK Department for International Development in 2019 our organization has additionally received support from GAIN for the Nutrition Business Monitor project and the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust through ShareAction for the work on the UK Product Profile and the retailer study. At the end of 2019, ATNI also signed an agreement with Irish Aid to fund the development of new accountability tools to increase transparency around baby food companies’ lobbying and influencing of policymaking processes and with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) for the launch of the second U.S. Spotlight Index. Our team has grown steadily up to 12 by end 2019 and one additional staff member is to join the team in early 2020. Looking back at 2019, ATNI is increasingly recognized as an independent authority on benchmarking F&B industry's efforts to contribute to better nutrition. Most of the companies assessed in the Indexes have been supportive and engaged during the research phase. Also, after the launch of the reports, they have actively communicated for validating the scores and followed up on the recommendations. Our engagement with companies for the upcoming Indexes has witnessed engagement, enthusiasm as well as a great commitment to improving their overall scores and contributions to tackle malnutrition. Our work is being increasingly recognized by the stakeholders engaged in the global nutrition landscape, including international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, civil society organizations and investors. Inge Kauer, Executive Director, Access to Nutrition Foundation 2. Global Index The third Global Access to Nutrition Index 2018, assessing the 22 globally largest F&Bmanufacturers, has revealed that while the companies started increasingly emphasizing on their efforts to introduce better diets, still serious concerns remained on the healthiness of the product portfolios. ATNI, in 2018 and 2019, during the post-launch engagements shared this message with the companies which encouraged transformation and initiated changes. Listed companies (like Keurig Dr Pepper and Kraft Heinz) that did not actively engage during the Global and US Index 2018 research phase did show interest to discuss the findings of the 2018 Index and to actively engage in the iterations process for the upcoming Global Index 2020. In 2019, ATNI received some noteworthy recognition from the companies that it has assessed. Several companies, recognizing ATNI’s Product Profile, indicated considering the Health Star Rating as an independent nutrient profiling system besides its internal system. ATNI’s initiatives have been on the agenda of some companies’ Board meetings and influenced their strategy discussions. One company team indicated that the Index was a useful tool to drive their internal thinking and contributing to a portfolio with more ‘nutrition positive’ products. Another company mentioned that ATNI’s outreach at international fora and conferences was remarkable. In March 2019, Coca Cola’s board reportedly opposed a shareholders resolution to report ‘an assessment of risks to Coke's finances and reputation associated with changing scientific understanding of the role of sugar in disease causation’ as the Access to Nutrition Foundation, an independent nonprofit, already produces reports about Coke that address sugar and public health. ATNI continued consulting with all stakeholders, including the companies to gather feedback on the methodology review for the upcoming Global Access to Nutrition Index 2020. During the post-launch consultation process of Global Index 2018, ATNI received recommendations for the Index to reduce complexity and perceived duplications as well as incorporate vital changes and improvements that companies had initiated. Considering the feedback, in 2019, ATNI started a revision process for the Global Index methodology for the upcoming Global Index 2020. ATNI selected 25 companies in total for the Global Index 2020 iteration. The three new/additional companies are Keurig Dr Pepper (American company that was assessed for the U.S. Spotlight Index 2018, but not for the Global Index), China Mengniu and Yili (Chinese companies). In the last quarter of the year, ATNI went through a consultation process with all the companies to discuss the main changes and novelties of the Global Index methodology. The proposed main changes were also duly presented and discussed with the ATNI Expert Group and Board. Changes in Global Index 2020 Methodology • In the Global Index 2018, the Corporate Profile and Product Profile were presented as separate outputs with different scores and rankings. The methodology review led to integrate the Product Profile results into Category B of the Corporate Profile to offer one overall Index ranking. For the Global Index 2020, these changes imply that the Product Profile being incorporated into Category B will carry 20% of the total Index weight. • In the Global Index 2018, the company-wide actions for preventing and addressing undernutrition (among the populations at risk in developing countries) were assessed within an undernutrition section. The undernutrition indicators were not applied to companies that derived less than 5% of their F&B revenues from non-OECD markets. In the Global Index 2020 methodology, the commitment of companies to specifically address the needs and key nutritional priorities for populations at-risk is considered relevant for both developed and developing countries. As a result, how comprehensively a company covers various forms of malnutrition, is based on the company’s market presence and the specific micronutrient deficiencies/undernutrition issues in all markets. • For the Global Index 2018 iteration, ATNI focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); particularly with regards to reaching Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all). In the Global Index 2020 new methodology, ATNI has also incorporated indicators assessing companies’ efforts in reducing the per capita food loss and waste along F&Bproduction and supply chains (from the post-harvest stage to the retail and consumer levels), in line with Sustainable Development Goal 12 (target 12.3). Stakeholders consultation and feedback on updated methodology Companies selected for the Global Index 2020 assessment were invited to take part in an online survey at the end of 2019. Overall, the stakeholders have received the revised methodology positively. Most of the companies that responded support the integration of the Product Profile into Category B (Formulating Appropriate Products). The consultation also involved investors as an important group of stakeholders in the overall process of the methodology revision. In December 2019, ATNI organized a webinar to collate feedback from the investors. The investor group has particularly appreciated the incorporation of the food loss and food waste concepts to the methodology. The combined stakeholders’ feedback was considered to finalize the Global Index methodology, which will be submitted to the Expert Group members for further review in January 2020. 3. Monitoring marketing of breast-milk substitutes and complementary foods Because of the importance of infant and young child nutrition (IYCN), each edition of the Global Access to Nutrition Index includes a breast-milk substitutes (BMS)/complementary foods (CF) Marketing sub-ranking that scores and ranks the world’s largest baby food manufacturers’ marketing policies, and practices and disclosure. This analysis assesses the extent to which these companies market their products in line with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (The Code) and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions, including WHA 69.9 (together referred to as The Code) . We use a comprehensive, robust and published methodology to do so, developed with the advice of WHO, UNICEF and many other international experts and not-for-profit organizations dedicated to improving infant and young child nutrition (IYCN). ATNI’s work In 2019, ATNI started preparing for the two assessments that will feed into the BMS/CF Marketing sub-ranking of the Global Index 2020. Whereas for the previous Index only six companies were included in this sub-ranking, for the next Global Index ATNI is extending its coverage to the ten largest baby food companies globally: Danone, FrieslandCampina, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Abbott, RB/Mead Johnson Nutrition (RB/MJN), Pepsico, Feihe International, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group and China Mengniu Dairy. Two emerging markets were selected in which NetCode studies will be undertaken to assess the extent of marketing of BMS and CF products. ATNI has again contracted Westat to conduct these studies. The BMS/CF Marketing assessment, including the two country reports, will be completed in 2020. New partnerships Additionally, ATNI partnered with FTSE Russell. In recent years, ATNI and FTSE Russell have conducted similar but separate in-country verification exercises of companies’ BMS Marketing. From 2019 onwards, ATNI will provide data to FTSE Russell from our in-country NetCode studies, to feed into its approach to determine whether BMS companies meet its criteria for inclusion in its FTSE4Good Indexes. ATNI will continue to apply its criteria and methodology as previously for its Indexes. For more information on the agreement between FTSE Russell and ATNI, please read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). How ATNI’s work on BMS and CF Marketing is viewed and used ATNI is now widely recognized among key stakeholders that work on this topic as providing the definitive analysis of the major baby food companies’ marketing policies and practices. We publish a wide range of materials for use by stakeholders, including a dedicated chapter within each Global Index report, separate Scorecards for each BMS company, a summary report of each – and in-country studies of marketing practices, as well as Westat’s full technical reports of those studies. Some major institutional investors, such as Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) and BMO Global Asset Management, use our analysis to inform their engagement with these companies. The purpose of their engagement is to encourage companies to adopt policies and practices that implement The Code. ATNI has been approached by B-Lab, the organization that created B-Corp certification. B-Lab is planning to introduce new BMS Marketing standards, which any company wanting to become a B-Corp must meet. It is proposing to tie companies’ qualification for B Corp certification to a percentage score on our BMS/CF Marketing sub-ranking. Within the auspices of the N4G Summit, efforts are being made to encourage baby food companies to commit to full Code compliance by 2030, and to announce and take a major step forwards from their current policies and/or practices within 2020. Further, they are being asked to publish an action plan that sets out how they will achieve Code compliance over the next decade. ATNI has been proposed as the organization that will track companies’ implementation of those action plans. 4. India Spotlight Index, 2020 Company selection and engagement process Preparations for the second Access to Nutrition India Spotlight Index 2020, that started at the end of 2018, continued throughout 2019. The Index has built upon the analysis and the recognition that ATNI received from most stakeholders on the first India Index in 2016. The Index had been broadly recognized as influential in driving positive changes among Indian F&B companies to emphasis on diet, nutrition and health issues. The Index also aimed to broadly complement the efforts made by other stakeholders, including the Government-led Eat Right India movement, to address all forms of malnutrition. ATNI research in 2019 mainly focused on the contribution made by the 16 largest F&B manufacturers in India. The research investigated the companies’ policies, practices and disclosure related to nutrition uptake. The second India Spotlight Index covers the same topics and takes the same broad approach to assess, score and rank the companies as the first iteration. However, the methodology was updated to incorporate relevant feedback from companies, civil society stakeholders and a review panel of experts in India consisting of: • Dr. Rajan Sankar, Director Nutrition and Vivek Arora, Senior Advisor, Tata Trusts; • Rohini Saran, Deputy Lead Food Fortification Resource Centre, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI); • Dr. Avula Laxmaiah, Scientist ‘G’ & Head, Public Health, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) Hyderabad, India; • Devyani Hari, Director Programmes, Centre for Responsible Business (CRB); • Rachna Sujay, Senior Technical Advisor Diffusion States, Alive & Thrive; • Dr. Antaryami Dash, Advisor Nutrition, Save the Children India; • Shiva Mudgil, Vice President, RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness, Rabobank India. Based on 2018 retail sales, the 16 largest F&B manufacturers were selected for the India Spotlight Index 2020. These companies together accounted for 31% of India’s packaged F&B market share with a combined total retail sale of just over INR 1800 billion (approximately equivalent to EUR 21.89 billion). Eleven out of the sixteen companies have headquarters based in India and the other five are multinationals with headquarters elsewhere. Multiple stakeholders such as funders, nutrition experts, CSOs and Government bodies were consulted through roundtable meetings in early 2019. Eight companies and the industry association CII (the Confederation of Indian Industry) participated in a private sector roundtable, discussing the methodology and planning of the research. The ATNI team engaged with two more companies through separate meetings. Multi-stakeholder engagement The following civil society and public sector organizations participated in separate roundtables or were consulted separately on the methodology and during the research process. Research phase In May 2019, ATNI, organized webinars to inform companies on the use of the data gathering platform and further details on the India Spotlight Index research process and planning. Seven companies attended the webinars, and the rest of the companies were informed on the process through one-on-one meetings. Over summer, companies had the opportunity to access the online data gathering platform to see the first assessment and provide additional information or evidence. In August 2019, ATNI organized a visit to India for face-to-face meetings with senior management in some of the companies based in Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi. The main agenda of the meetings was explaining – (a) the rationale and the mmethodology of the second ATNI India Index to the companies; (b) the importance for the companies to engage in the research process and the options to do so. Two new companies subsequently announced to participate in the research process actively. ATNI and its India-based communication partner AvianWe, also received remarkable attention from the print media with articles and interviews published in different local outlets during 2019 (see overview in the section outreach activities). End of August 2019, the Executive Director of ATNI, Inge Kauer was invited to speak at a National Nutrition Conclave in Delhi, organized by the Confederation of the Indian Industry's Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE), and participated in a panel with industry and CSO representatives. Eight out of sixteen companies, selected for the second India Index, actively engaged during the research phase to provide additional information and evidence on organizations’ policies and practices. Four other companies that either participated in meetings (that the ATNI team organized to explain the methodology and research process) or met with ATNI staff individually, finally did not make use of the option to exchange information through ATNI's online data gathering platform in the research phase. The remaining four companies declined to engage due to other priorities. ATNI will further explore how best to encourage these companies to participate in the future Indexes. There was a substantial increase (from 3 in 2016 to 7 for the 2020 Index) in the number of companies providing data on their product lists for the Product Profile product assessments, which contributed significantly to the quality of the assessment. Analysis and launch preparation The subsequent analysis, quality checks and verifications and scoring of companies continued during the last quarter of 2019. Experts from ATNI’s global Expert Group and in India from GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), CII (the Confederation of Indian Industry) and FSSAI (the Government Food Safety and Standards Authority), and Tata Trusts TINI (The India Nutrition Initiative)reviewed the main findings and messages. For each company, individual summary reports of main findings (the company scorecard) were drafted and shared with the companies for them to crosscheck any factual inconsistencies and disclosure of non-public data. This summary did not indicate how the companies scored and ranked in the overall Index. ATNI commissioned the George Institute for Global Health (The George Institute) to conduct the Product Profile assessment for the 16 companies selected in the India Index 2020. And they also analyzed changes in the nutritional profile of packaged F&B products from 11 large companies in India over a three-year period. 1456 products marketed in India by the 16 companies were analyzed in the Product Profile assessment. Innova Market Insights (Innova), a commercial knowledge supplier for the F&B industry, provided additional product composition data. Because of the extra efforts put in the company engagement and the consequently required longer research period, ATNI decided in consultation with stakeholders in India (Industry and Government) to postpone the launch of the second Index to February 2020. 5. Investor Engagement Collaborative Company Engagement by ATNI’s Investor Signatories During 2019, ATNI continued to support a group of 31 of its 72 Investor Signatories that signed up to engage with the 18 listed companies included in the Global and US Indexes published in 2018. ATNI hosted quarterly calls with this investor group during the year to facilitate coordination of their work. Some of these investors requested briefing calls from ATNI before their engagement calls with companies, to ensure that they were entirely up to speed on their performance on the Index(es) in critical areas. Towards the end of the year, each investor leading the engagement with a company completed a tool to capture their discussions with the company, in order to be able to review the collaborative engagement process. A consultant was hired to undertake this review, which is due to be completed by April 2020. ATNI will use it to inform the ways in which we support our investor signatories. We hope to be able to substantially increase the number of investor signatories as our capacity to support them grows with the advent of new funding in this area. ATNI encourages major investors to engage with baby food companies about their BMS marketing In January, ATNI wrote to the ten largest shareholders in each of the five listed baby food companies that we assess and rank (Nestlé, Danone, Abbott, RB and KraftHeinz). We outlined our comprehensive approach to assessing these companies’ BMS marketing policies and practices and enclosed the relevant materials. We offered each investor a briefing call on the performance of the companies they were shareholders of. While few responded, as we expected, one that did was NBIM. On a follow-up call with NBIM, it outlined its active engagement with ten BMS companies in which it had shareholdings. NBIM noted that it had used our materials, which it finds comprehensive and helped determine which questions to ask. Partnership with ShareAction on its Healthy Markets campaign Work also continued with ShareAction – a UK based not-for-profit organization that campaigns with investors on nutrition issues – to inform and shape investor engagement through its Healthy Markets campaign. On September 18th, ATNI published the first-ever Product Profile for the UK. This report presented an analysis of the nutritional quality of the product portfolios of 18 of the largest food manufacturers that sell their products in the UK. It found that 69% of more than 3,000 products analysed did not meet the healthy standard of a Health Star Rating of 3.5 and that 85% of the products were unsuitable to be marketed to children. The publication attracted a lot of social media activity. ATNI also posted a blog about it, and ShareAction authored a feature. ATNI started work to adapt its standard Index methodology used to assess manufacturers to retailers’ business models, with input from several UK experts. Once finalized, ATNI hired a consultant to undertake research on the reporting of the UK’s ten largest supermarket chains on diets, nutrition and health. This research was completed by the end of the year. The consultant began to draft the final report, and preparations began to launch the report in Q1 2020, in close consultation with ShareAction and the funder of this work, Guys & St Thomas’s Charity. Support for Plating Up Progress Throughout the year, ATNI served on the advisory group for a new UK-focused initiative called Plating Up Progress, a collaboration between the Food and Climate Research Network based at Oxford University and the UK Food Foundation. Plating Up Progress is working to develop a set of metrics that investors can press food companies to adopt in their reporting, and to guide their policies and practices, to demonstrate their contribution to creating a sustainable, healthy food system. In January and March 2019, ATNI participated in two Plating up Progress investor workshops in London and provided comments on the two reports that were published during the year. Investor Portal Together with our website developers, a password-protected investor portal on our website has been under development during the year. This portal will allow ATNI’s Investor Signatories to log in to access relevant ATNI documents, information about collaborative engagement and serve as a repository of investor-authored or investor-relevant reports on nutrition. The portal will be launched in 2020. 6. Development of new spotlight indexes and accountability tools Nutrition Business Monitor ATNI partnered with GAIN and the SUN Business Network (SBN) in the “Nutrition Business Monitor” project designed to develop and pilot a new voluntary self-assessment tool for SMEs in the F&B sector. The tool aims to help SMEs review where they stand regarding their nutritional policies and practices and provide them with recommendations on how to improve. Along with the SBN in Nigeria and Bangladesh, ATNI organized a series of roundtables which were instrumental in bringing together feedback and input from in total 50 CSOs and Government bodies and Companies to design the tool compatible to the local context. The ATNI team also took the opportunity to get insight into the national business environment, the challenges and opportunities in the F&B sector through individual meetings with relevant authorities and company visits. Collating all the relevant feedback and input from both countries, the ATNI team developed the draft indicators, the weighting, the scoring and the recommendations to construct the first version. The draft version was later presented in the SUN Global Gathering, in November 2019 in Nepal where it was reviewed by SBN coordinators, GAIN directors, as well as SMEs and other stakeholders. The feedback and input from this session were then incorporated to design the final tool. During those sessions, some SBN networks manifested their interest to test the tool as well and see how it could be used in their countries. Following the completion of the final version, ATNI started the work with its IT provider to create the tool online. The first draft of the tool will be finalized in February and presented in the two countries in the first half of 2020. The tool is now divided into five categories: Management and Products, Marketing, Workforce programs, Labelling and Engagement and it contains in total 27 main indicators. The user-friendly design of the tool will allow the companies to fill this in within 1-2 hours and to easily navigate to different sections. U.S. Spotlight Index In 2019, ATNI received funding from RWJF for the second iteration of an U.S. Spotlight Index to be published in 2021. To take the U.S. Spotlight initiative forward, the ATNI team proceeded in 2019 with the methodology review ensuring its alignment with the Global Index 2020 methodology. The revised methodology will be submitted to the U.S. Expert Group after consultations with stakeholders early 2020. A U.S.-based Research and Engagement adviser will be recruited in the first quarter of 2020. 7. Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit and aligning global accountability mechanisms Nutrition for Growth In 2019, ATNI took part in the preparations for the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit planned for 2020. The organization was invited to be part of different working groups. ATNI has been part of a food systems working group, and co-lead the working group on accountability to form the agenda and set the stage for meaningful and SMART commitments by all stakeholders and specifically, the private sector. With GAIN, ATNI has organized an international conference in The Hague in June 2019 to build business commitments for N4G (see box). After summer, the Government of Japan has established a new advisory group in which ATNI participates as the former co-lead of the accountability working group. ATNI is also an observer in the Business Constituency Group (consisting of the major global industry associations: the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), Food Industry Asia (FIA), the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA), the SBN and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). ATNI has proposed to the Government of Japan and organizers of the N4G to develop a set of Investor Expectations on Nutrition, to echo a similar set of expectations on climate change, lobbying on climate change and other ESG issues. The proposed approach is to evolve the current Investor Statement into these Investor Expectations. WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism During an UNGA side-event on NCD’s in September 2018, the WHO announced its desire to develop a mechanism to track how the world’s largest F&B manufacturers are aligning their commitments, targets and practices to WHO guidance and recommendations. The background paper prepared by WHO for this purpose referenced ATNI extensively. ATNI has been invited to co-lead the design and delivery of the Mechanism, in collaboration with WHO. ATNI has since participated in several WHO-led calls to discuss the development of a Global monitoring mechanism and has presented a proposal to WHO for a Global Corporate Action Tracker on nutrition (working title: GCAT). Initially, GCAT will track company progress concerning product development and reformulation, marketing to children, nutrition labelling and the use of nutrition content and health claims. GCAT in future also has the potential to be expanded monitoring other aspects of business practice related to nutrition such as – (a) methodology to assess the levels of industrial trans-fat or sodium in companies’ products; (b) a mechanism to evaluate companies’ progress at a national level led by TGI and INFORMAS, respectively. ATNI aims to publish the first report coinciding with the Nutrition for Growth summit in 2020 in Tokyo (N4G 2020). Aligning Accountability Mechanisms, WBA and GAIN ATNI is one of the allies of the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) and participated in 2019 in several consultations to inform WBA’s plans for an overarching benchmark on Food and Agriculture (a first edition is foreseen for 2021) to facilitate a transformation in the food system. ATNI is ready to provide expertise to the WBA team for building this benchmark that will make use of a few indicators included in the ATNI Indexes. ATNI and WBA will align to avoid any duplications and companies being approached twice with the same questions. GAIN and the SBN in 2018 organized a workshop with civil society and industry to map existing accountability mechanism in nutrition. ATNI participated and provided input for the consequent report, entitled “A review of Business Accountability Mechanisms in Nutrition” and published in March 2019. GAIN and SBN announced a follow-up workshop in early 2020 in cooperation with the CGF to align accountability mechanisms in nutrition and come up with a framework for this alignment. 8. Outreach activities Communications update: interactive website and new house style/branding The organization in 2019 worked on a wide range and a growing number of activities to drive the private sector’s performance on healthy affordable diets beyond its flagship Global Index and Spotlight Country Indexes. To reflect the strategic choice to expand the scope of its benchmarking work and to develop new accountability tools, a new name and branding (with adapted logo) were chosen and introduced in 2019: ‘Access to Nutrition Initiative’. The acronym ATNI coincides with that of the Access to Nutrition Index, well known by all stakeholders working with, or making use of the organization's products over the last six years. With a new design agency, all the groundwork was done for the organization’s new interactive website along with the new house style and branding to be launched early 2020. The organization’s legal status as foundation and registration in The Netherlands as the ‘Stichting Access to Nutrition Foundation’ did not change. Key outreach activities, meetings, conferences in 2019 India media outreach In India, while working on the research and analysis for the 2020 India Spotlight Index, with its local communication/ PR partner AvianWe, ATNI has been successful in being visible in media throughout 2019 to sensitize stakeholders in the food system and consumers alike on the importance of private sector accountability on nutrition issues. An overview of these articles and features in different media outlets can be found on ATNI’s website. January - February Netherlands Working Group on International Nutrition ATNI joined the Netherlands Working Group on International Nutrition, a platform with corporate, CSO and government members to promote nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive approaches in development strategies of Dutch stakeholders. Plating up Progress ATNI participated in investor workshops in London for Plating up Progress; a collaboration between the Food and Climate Research Network based at Oxford University and the U.K. Food Foundation. Confronting Obesity February 20-21 ATNI attended the co-create consortium meeting in London organized by World Cancer Research Fund International & EU Horizon 2020; Confronting Obesity: Co-creating policies with youth. Hidden Hunger conference ATNI’s research manager participated in the 4th Hidden Hunger conference, Feb 27 - March 1, Stuttgart, University of Hohenheim. ATNI benefitted from the opportunity to consult global experts on ATNI’s plan to develop a micro-nutrient enhanced nutrient profiling system. March Nutrition in the first 1000 days of life ATNI was represented at a Nestlé stakeholder convening on Nutrition in the first 1000 days of life. World Benchmarking Alliance Allies meeting Mumbai On March 6-8, the World Benchmarking Alliance Allies met in Mumbai to review planning and progress towards the 5 overarching benchmarks WBA wants to launch in 2020. Their new Food and Agriculture value chain benchmark of 200 companies will be presented at N4G summit in 2020 in Japan. UNICEF/WHO workshop on Marketing Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children At the end of March, ATNI provided input at a UNICEF/WHO workshop to develop a ‘Toolkit for Policymakers to Implement the WHO Recommendations on Marketing Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children’. Subsequently, separate meetings were held on March 29 with UNICEF and WHO nutrition experts. April Tokyo meeting with Global Index stakeholders To gain more insights on the relevance of the Global Index for Japanese companies and stakeholders in the region, ATNI organized a meeting in April in Tokyo with the assistance of Ajinomoto, one of the companies in the Global Index. Companies, industry associations, representatives from four ministries, academics and other stakeholders affirmed the relevance of the Index to guide and support the nutrition agenda of Japanese multinational companies abroad as well as in Japan. For the Japanese context, reference was made to the specific needs of an ageing population which could be an element in the methodology of the future indexes. GAIN Donor meeting, Ireland In April, ATNI was invited to attend and speak at a meeting for donors of GAIN in Dublin. ATNI presented the plan for the development of a ‘Nutrition Business Monitor’ tool for SMEs. This project is funded by GAIN through its ’Making markets work for nutrition’ program. The tool will initially be piloted in Nigeria and Bangladesh among member companies of the local SBNs. Partnership for a Healthier America Summit in Chicago ATNI organized a networking lunch during the PHA Summit in Chicago on 2 April. The aim was to discuss what the largest F&B companies in the US are doing to help consumers make healthier choices about what they eat and drink using the results of the ATNI U.S. Spotlight Index 2018 as starting point. May ATNI donor meeting, London In May, ATNI organized a meeting for its main donors, hosted by DFID in London. Interested DFID colleagues were invited to a presentation by ATNF’s executive director on the BMS marketing assessment undertaken for the Global Indexes as well as the on the ground assessments in specific markets. Representatives from BMGF, UK DFID and DGIS reviewed and discussed the options for ATNI’s next multi-year strategic planning (2020-2023). June EAT Forum, Stockholm ATNI attended the EAT Forum in Stockholm in June where the follow-up on the EAT-Lancet commission report ‘Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’ was the central theme. In sessions organized by GAIN, WBCSD/Fresh, UNICEF companies mentioned ATNI as the nutrition accountability mechanism they work with and would want to keep using. NBM roundtables in Nigeria and Bangladesh (June-August) ATNI travelled to Nigeria and Bangladesh, the two countries where the Nutrition Business Monitor project will roll out. In each country, we organized two roundtables; one for companies and one for CSOs and policymakers, where we presented our initial thought on how the NBM tool should look like in terms of structure and indicators. July - August Better Nutrition for a Healthier Workforce ATNI attended the 2-day roundtable organized by GAIN in Geneva in cooperation with the CGF in Geneva. The participants were stakeholders from companies with or interested in workforce programs, CSOs, UNICEF, ILO and other stakeholders involved in the supply chain. GAIN and CGF are working on developing a workforce nutrition toolkit for companies that will be launched in early 2020. National Nutrition Conclave India At the end of August 2019, the Executive Director of ATNF, Inge Kauer was invited to speak at a National Nutrition Conclave in Delhi, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry's Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (CII-FACE), and participated in a panel with industry and CSO representatives. October UNICEF State of the World’s Children 2019 ATNI was invited to provide its perspective on the role of the food industry to tackle malnutrition in the UNICEF's State of the World's Children 2019 report. For the first time in 20 years, UNICEF’s flagship report examined the issue of children, food and nutrition, providing a fresh perspective on a rapidly evolving challenge. ATNI’s work was featured in a two-page (pp 138-139) article in the report by Executive Director Inge Kauer. The report was released in October 2019 and ATNI attended the launch event in London. World food Day ATNI featured a blog on World Food Day, titled 'Acknowledging progress and prompting change' and combined this with a social media outreach plan to celebrate the day. November - December SUN Global Gathering (Kathmandu, Nepal) The bi-annual Global Gathering of the Scaling up Nutrition movement brings together stakeholders from the nutrition sphere; from governments and policy makers, to UN agencies, CSOs and businesses. The stakeholders represent the member countries of SUN as well as international organizations working in those countries. ATNI was there to present the progress of the NBM project to the various SBNs and relevant stakeholders, as well as participate in discussions for the upcoming Nutrition for Growth Summit that will take place in Japan in December 2020. Companies and investor organizations mentioning ATNI in public statements A quickscan of company and investor organizations websites and public communications found 16 companies mentioning ATNI’s work, as well as 32 investor organizations. The following box includes some examples of how they refer to ATNI. “We worked with the Access to Nutrition Index Foundation to develop an evidence-based approach that can be applied to our analysis. Based on their scientific methodology, we can now identify companies that sell unhealthy food products.” – EQ Investors “[T]he Access to Nutrition Foundation (the ‘ATNF’), a respected independent nonprofit organization, (…) already produces credible reports covering our Company that encompass sugar and public health (…). We believe it is important that our shareowners know that our Company acknowledges the ATNF findings and recognizes the role the Company must play in addressing health challenges.” – Coca-Cola “The Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF), a respected independent non-profit organization, (…) publishes reports that not only provide a robust assessment of PepsiCo’s goals and performance, but a critical analysis and benchmarking on efforts of other leading food and beverage manufacturers to improve consumers’ access to nutritious foods and beverages.” – PepsiCo “Engagement with PepsiCo on nutrition has been limited during the year. That said we were pleased to see the company increase its score on the new Access to Nutrition Index rankings.” – CCLA Investment Management “This result is encouraging and we consider it a recognition of our efforts to give substance to our purpose nourishing by nature” – FrieslandCampina CEO Hein Schumacher on FrieslandCampina’s performance in the Global Index 2018 “The evaluation performed by ATNI and its 2018 Nutrition Index regarding the strength of our H&W strategy has led us to improve our actions, commitments, practices, and performance to have a positive influence our consumers [sic!] so they may achieve better lifestyles and balanced diets.” – Grupo Bimbo “Campbell uses the report to help inform nutrition strategy and best practices in policy development, transparency and communication on nutrition issues.” – Campbell 9. Action research In 2019, ATNI initiated Action Research on two topics which are central to our Indexes but where conclusive evidence, international standards and company best-practice is lacking or only just emerging. Action Research is designed to advance knowledge and understanding of the selected topics and ultimately to improve companies’ performance on them. 1. Affordability and accessibility of healthy foods: ATNI Indexes reveal that the companies tend to score most poorly on Category C, which assesses their policies, practices and disclosure on improving the affordability and accessibility of healthy foods in markets around the world. Affordability and accessibility are essentially determined by two core business functions: pricing and distribution. They are not therefore subject to international bodies’ standards, guidelines or regulation. ATNI initiated this piece of Action Research to investigate how food companies address nutrition considerations within their pricing and distribution activities, with a view to providing guidance about how they could improve their performance in these crucial areas. Moreover, the intention was to inform future ATNI Index methodologies. ATNI commissioned Carnstone Partners, a UK-based consultancy, to undertake the first phase of this research. They started by collating statistics on the presence and nature of Index companies’ businesses, and the market penetration of their products, in three key LMICs (Nigeria, India and Mexico), and in the UK market. They then undertook a series of interviews with industry experts to answer the following questions: • How do companies organize their marketing and distribution activities in these markets? • Why are companies struggling to perform well in this area? What might be the potential barriers preventing them from doing so? • How could some of those barriers be overcome? The first phase of the research was completed by the end of 2019. Carnstone will finalize their report and make their recommendations to ATNI in early 2020. 2. Complementary Foods Commercially produced complementary foods are increasingly becoming part of young children’s diets. Children everywhere need a healthy balanced diet appropriate to their age and stage of development. In LMICs, highly nutritious and appropriately fortified complementary foods are particularly important. During 2019, ATNI undertook research and consulted several organizations including UNICEF, GAIN, HKI and First Steps Nutrition. Their input has helped shape this Action Research. During 2020, ATNI intends to establish a blueprint for assessing the scale, growth and players in individual countries’ markets in respect of commercially produced complementary foods, and the role they are playing in young children’s diets. Moreover, ATNI intends to pilot a Product Profile for complementary foods using the newly developed WHO Europe Nutrient Profiling model, in one emerging market. 10. Monitoring and Evaluation In September 2019, ATNI recruited a Program Manager who started the development of an internal M&E framework. In 2020 ATNI intends to enhance its current measurement and evaluation to better articulate and evidence the impact of the Indexes and its other work. ATNI itself will carry out an external review of its key activities and outputs. As part of developing a robust M&E system for ATNI the team reviewed and updated the theory of change based on the outlines for a new strategic plan 2020-2024 approved by the Board. 11. Risks The organization has adopted a risk management policy end 2019 describing how risks are identified, recorded in a risk register that also includes mitigation strategy, and how they are managed. At the organizational level ATNI identifies risks continuously through the stream of the regular staff meetings as well as in the context of the quarterly Board meeting. The results are reviewed by and discussed with the audit and risk committee in the Board at least annually. Independence ATNI maintained its independence in 2019 by not accepting any funding from industry and not having board or expert group members (recently) employed by food manufacturers. Company engagement In the research process for the second India Index, more companies provided data for the Product Profile assessment; eight out of 16 companies assessed used the opportunity to engage and provide additional information to ATNI actively. Companies to be assessed in the 2020 Global Index in large numbers actively asked ATNI for details of the methodology and planning for the 2020 Global Index. 17 out of 22 companies approached participated in a webinar organized for the purpose end 2019 and expressed their appreciation for the initiative. Impact in low income countries Ongoing projects to make sure that ATNI products make an impact in low-income countries as in high-income markets gained momentum in 2019. The Nutrition Business Monitor, a self-assessment tool for SMEs in emerging markets is not yet tested or finalized but could count on a lot of interest of SBNs in countries beyond Bangladesh and Nigeria (where the tool is piloted). In the project to develop a ‘micronutrient enhanced’ Nutrient Profiling System experts and companies were consulted to come to a set-up assessing 6 micronutrients (iron, vitamins A, B12, D, folate, iodine). This will be tested with companies in India in 2020. Visibility/external profile ATNI has been substantially visible and active in international conferences and events on food and nutrition in 2019 (like the EAT Forum, the Hague Conference on Building Business Commitments for N4G preparations) including stakeholder meetings with other members of the World Benchmarking Alliance. Civil society organizations and companies alike expressed their appreciation for ATNI’s products and the wish that ATNI keeps its focus on in-depth analysis of nutrition and health impacts. Competing mechanisms A new Food and Agriculture system benchmark planned by the World Benchmarking Alliance will cover more companies. Additionally, the benchmark will include environmental and social impacts derived from companies. The benchmark will only include a few indicators to look at nutrition (by making use of ATNI’s expertise) but will not provide in-depth analysis as ATNI products do. Balance resources with expectations, Safeguarding policy The ATNI team has grown steadily up to 12 by end 2019 to match the growing number of projects and plans for 2020 and beyond, and one additional staff member is to join the team in early 2020. New staff members in 2019 were asked to sign a code of conduct and were trained on the safeguarding policy. Value for Money To ensure it delivers value for money ATNI has a constant dialogue with suppliers and sub-contractors on price levels of services provided. No significant new risks emerged in 2019 to be added to the risk register nor were changes observed in the likelihood of risks to occur or the severity of their impacts. ATNI did develop a risk management policy in 2019 that was reviewed by and adopted by the Board end 2019. 12. 2019 in Pictures ¬
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1. Introduction The Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI), an independent non-profit organization based in the Netherlands, is dedicated to driving changes in the global nutrition landscape by tracking and assessing the food industry’s attempts to tackle undernutrition, obesity and diet-related chronic diseases through designing and delivering a range of accountability tools. The organization influences the industries’ contribution to address global nutrition challenges, by objectively assessing the food industry and publishing Global and Spotlight Country Nutrition Indexes and by developing new accountability tools and studies to support this. ATNI aims to encourage companies both to increase access to healthy products and to responsibly exercise their influence on consumers’ choice and behavior. The organization in 2019 worked on a wide range and growing number of activities to drive the private sector’s performance on healthy affordable diets beyond its flagship Global Index and Spotlight Country Indexes. To reflect the strategic choice to expand the scope of its benchmarking work and develop new accountability tools, a new name and branding (with adapted logo) was chosen and introduced in 2019: ‘Access to Nutrition Initiative’. The acronym ATNI coincides with that of the Access to Nutrition Index, well known by all stakeholders working with, or making use of the organization's products over the last six years. With a new design agency all the groundwork was done for the organization’s new interactive website along with the new house style and branding to be launched early 2020. The organization’s legal status as foundation and registration in The Netherlands as the ‘Stichting Access to Nutrition Foundation’ does not change. Throughout 2019, the organization has done the necessary preparatory work such as industry engagement, data collection, and data processing, required for the launch of the second iteration of the India Spotlight Index in February 2020. Additionally, the preparatory work for the second US Spotlight Index has been started to facilitate the assessment in 2020 and launching the report in the second quarter of 2021. In 2019, ATNI has done an intensive revision of the methodology for the Global Index to adopt the most recent contextual changes and to incorporate stakeholders’ feedback for the Global Index 2020. Working with and supported by the Global Alliance on Improved Nutrition (GAIN), ATNI started the design and development of a self-assessment tool for small and medium-sized companies in countries with rapidly emerging food and beverage (F&B) industries that have a national Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network. The tool aims to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be aware of their role and opportunities to improve nutrition and benchmark their performance against their peers and larger companies. In Nigeria and Bangladesh, a total of 50 SMEs and civil society organizations and government agencies are helping to build this tool and make it as relevant as possible for the local context. A first draft version of the tool will be tested in these countries early 2020. ATNI took part in the preparations for the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit planned for 2020. The organization was invited to be part of different working groups (on data & accountability and food systems) to set the agenda and set the stage for meaningful and specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART) commitments by all stakeholders and specifically the private sector. Along with GAIN, ATNI has organized an international conference in The Hague to build business commitments for N4G. The World Health Organization (WHO) asked ATNI to help set up a global monitoring mechanism to track company reformulation efforts on salt and added sugar. In November, ATNI has published the UK Product Profile Report which revealed that some 18 largest F&B manufacturers in the U.K need to increase their sales of healthy products to demonstrate that they are serious about making a meaningful contribution to consumers’ diets and public health. This should also help address the mounting business risks associated with poor diets, deal with or be prepared for regulatory intervention and the impacts on productivity among their workforces. In collaboration with ShareAction and with funding from the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, ATNI took first steps to look at the vital role the retail sector has to play in providing affordable, healthy diets to all consumers. To expand the scope of its work to this part of the food value chain, ATNI studied the UK food retail sector to shed light on the commitments and contributions of the ten largest UK food and drink retailers in regard to promoting healthy food and helping consumers to move away from high fat, salt and sugar products. The results will be presented in a report early 2020. After summer, ATNI has started action research to investigate two Index topics, namely 1: Access and Affordability of healthy food and 2: Nutrition quality of complementary foods for young children. In these categories, companies in general score low or international guidelines and standards are lacking. Since the launch of the first Global Index in 2013, more than 72 investment firms have become signatories to the Access to Nutrition Index Investor Statement, with over $7 trillion assets under management. We are pleased to mention that complementing the multi-year core funding that ATNI receives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UK Department for International Development in 2019 our organization has additionally received support from GAIN for the Nutrition Business Monitor project and the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust through ShareAction for the work on the UK Product Profile and the retailer study. At the end of 2019, ATNI also signed an agreement with Irish Aid to fund the development of new accountability tools to increase transparency around baby food companies’ lobbying and influencing of policymaking processes and with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) for the launch of the second U.S. Spotlight Index. Our team has grown steadily up to 12 by end 2019 and one additional staff member is to join the team in early 2020. Looking back at 2019, ATNI is increasingly recognized as an independent authority on benchmarking F&B industry's efforts to contribute to better nutrition. Most of the companies assessed in the Indexes have been supportive and engaged during the research phase. Also, after the launch of the reports, they have actively communicated for validating the scores and followed up on the recommendations. Our engagement with companies for the upcoming Indexes has witnessed engagement, enthusiasm as well as a great commitment to improving their overall scores and contributions to tackle malnutrition. Our work is being increasingly recognized by the stakeholders engaged in the global nutrition landscape, including international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, civil society organizations and investors. Inge Kauer, Executive Director, Access to Nutrition Foundation 2. Global Index The third Global Access to Nutrition Index 2018, assessing the 22 globally largest F&Bmanufacturers, has revealed that while the companies started increasingly emphasizing on their efforts to introduce better diets, still serious concerns remained on the healthiness of the product portfolios. ATNI, in 2018 and 2019, during the post-launch engagements shared this message with the companies which encouraged transformation and initiated changes. Listed companies (like Keurig Dr Pepper and Kraft Heinz) that did not actively engage during the Global and US Index 2018 research phase did show interest to discuss the findings of the 2018 Index and to actively engage in the iterations process for the upcoming Global Index 2020. In 2019, ATNI received some noteworthy recognition from the companies that it has assessed. Several companies, recognizing ATNI’s Product Profile, indicated considering the Health Star Rating as an independent nutrient profiling system besides its internal system. ATNI’s initiatives have been on the agenda of some companies’ Board meetings and influenced their strategy discussions. One company team indicated that the Index was a useful tool to drive their internal thinking and contributing to a portfolio with more ‘nutrition positive’ products. Another company mentioned that ATNI’s outreach at international fora and conferences was remarkable. In March 2019, Coca Cola’s board reportedly opposed a shareholders resolution to report ‘an assessment of risks to Coke's finances and reputation associated with changing scientific understanding of the role of sugar in disease causation’ as the Access to Nutrition Foundation, an independent nonprofit, already produces reports about Coke that address sugar and public health. ATNI continued consulting with all stakeholders, including the companies to gather feedback on the methodology review for the upcoming Global Access to Nutrition Index 2020. During the post-launch consultation process of Global Index 2018, ATNI received recommendations for the Index to reduce complexity and perceived duplications as well as incorporate vital changes and improvements that companies had initiated. Considering the feedback, in 2019, ATNI started a revision process for the Global Index methodology for the upcoming Global Index 2020. ATNI selected 25 companies in total for the Global Index 2020 iteration. The three new/additional companies are Keurig Dr Pepper (American company that was assessed for the U.S. Spotlight Index 2018, but not for the Global Index), China Mengniu and Yili (Chinese companies). In the last quarter of the year, ATNI went through a consultation process with all the companies to discuss the main changes and novelties of the Global Index methodology. The proposed main changes were also duly presented and discussed with the ATNI Expert Group and Board. Changes in Global Index 2020 Methodology • In the Global Index 2018, the Corporate Profile and Product Profile were presented as separate outputs with different scores and rankings. The methodology review led to integrate the Product Profile results into Category B of the Corporate Profile to offer one overall Index ranking. For the Global Index 2020, these changes imply that the Product Profile being incorporated into Category B will carry 20% of the total Index weight. • In the Global Index 2018, the company-wide actions for preventing and addressing undernutrition (among the populations at risk in developing countries) were assessed within an undernutrition section. The undernutrition indicators were not applied to companies that derived less than 5% of their F&B revenues from non-OECD markets. In the Global Index 2020 methodology, the commitment of companies to specifically address the needs and key nutritional priorities for populations at-risk is considered relevant for both developed and developing countries. As a result, how comprehensively a company covers various forms of malnutrition, is based on the company’s market presence and the specific micronutrient deficiencies/undernutrition issues in all markets. • For the Global Index 2018 iteration, ATNI focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); particularly with regards to reaching Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all). In the Global Index 2020 new methodology, ATNI has also incorporated indicators assessing companies’ efforts in reducing the per capita food loss and waste along F&Bproduction and supply chains (from the post-harvest stage to the retail and consumer levels), in line with Sustainable Development Goal 12 (target 12.3). Stakeholders consultation and feedback on updated methodology Companies selected for the Global Index 2020 assessment were invited to take part in an online survey at the end of 2019. Overall, the stakeholders have received the revised methodology positively. Most of the companies that responded support the integration of the Product Profile into Category B (Formulating Appropriate Products). The consultation also involved investors as an important group of stakeholders in the overall process of the methodology revision. In December 2019, ATNI organized a webinar to collate feedback from the investors. The investor group has particularly appreciated the incorporation of the food loss and food waste concepts to the methodology. The combined stakeholders’ feedback was considered to finalize the Global Index methodology, which will be submitted to the Expert Group members for further review in January 2020. 3. Monitoring marketing of breast-milk substitutes and complementary foods Because of the importance of infant and young child nutrition (IYCN), each edition of the Global Access to Nutrition Index includes a breast-milk substitutes (BMS)/complementary foods (CF) Marketing sub-ranking that scores and ranks the world’s largest baby food manufacturers’ marketing policies, and practices and disclosure. This analysis assesses the extent to which these companies market their products in line with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (The Code) and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions, including WHA 69.9 (together referred to as The Code) . We use a comprehensive, robust and published methodology to do so, developed with the advice of WHO, UNICEF and many other international experts and not-for-profit organizations dedicated to improving infant and young child nutrition (IYCN). ATNI’s work In 2019, ATNI started preparing for the two assessments that will feed into the BMS/CF Marketing sub-ranking of the Global Index 2020. Whereas for the previous Index only six companies were included in this sub-ranking, for the next Global Index ATNI is extending its coverage to the ten largest baby food companies globally: Danone, FrieslandCampina, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Abbott, RB/Mead Johnson Nutrition (RB/MJN), Pepsico, Feihe International, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group and China Mengniu Dairy. Two emerging markets were selected in which NetCode studies will be undertaken to assess the extent of marketing of BMS and CF products. ATNI has again contracted Westat to conduct these studies. The BMS/CF Marketing assessment, including the two country reports, will be completed in 2020. New partnerships Additionally, ATNI partnered with FTSE Russell. In recent years, ATNI and FTSE Russell have conducted similar but separate in-country verification exercises of companies’ BMS Marketing. From 2019 onwards, ATNI will provide data to FTSE Russell from our in-country NetCode studies, to feed into its approach to determine whether BMS companies meet its criteria for inclusion in its FTSE4Good Indexes. ATNI will continue to apply its criteria and methodology as previously for its Indexes. For more information on the agreement between FTSE Russell and ATNI, please read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). How ATNI’s work on BMS and CF Marketing is viewed and used ATNI is now widely recognized among key stakeholders that work on this topic as providing the definitive analysis of the major baby food companies’ marketing policies and practices. We publish a wide range of materials for use by stakeholders, including a dedicated chapter within each Global Index report, separate Scorecards for each BMS company, a summary report of each – and in-country studies of marketing practices, as well as Westat’s full technical reports of those studies. Some major institutional investors, such as Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) and BMO Global Asset Management, use our analysis to inform their engagement with these companies. The purpose of their engagement is to encourage companies to adopt policies and practices that implement The Code. ATNI has been approached by B-Lab, the organization that created B-Corp certification. B-Lab is planning to introduce new BMS Marketing standards, which any company wanting to become a B-Corp must meet. It is proposing to tie companies’ qualification for B Corp certification to a percentage score on our BMS/CF Marketing sub-ranking. Within the auspices of the N4G Summit, efforts are being made to encourage baby food companies to commit to full Code compliance by 2030, and to announce and take a major step forwards from their current policies and/or practices within 2020. Further, they are being asked to publish an action plan that sets out how they will achieve Code compliance over the next decade. ATNI has been proposed as the organization that will track companies’ implementation of those action plans. 4. India Spotlight Index, 2020 Company selection and engagement process Preparations for the second Access to Nutrition India Spotlight Index 2020, that started at the end of 2018, continued throughout 2019. The Index has built upon the analysis and the recognition that ATNI received from most stakeholders on the first India Index in 2016. The Index had been broadly recognized as influential in driving positive changes among Indian F&B companies to emphasis on diet, nutrition and health issues. The Index also aimed to broadly complement the efforts made by other stakeholders, including the Government-led Eat Right India movement, to address all forms of malnutrition. ATNI research in 2019 mainly focused on the contribution made by the 16 largest F&B manufacturers in India. The research investigated the companies’ policies, practices and disclosure related to nutrition uptake. The second India Spotlight Index covers the same topics and takes the same broad approach to assess, score and rank the companies as the first iteration. However, the methodology was updated to incorporate relevant feedback from companies, civil society stakeholders and a review panel of experts in India consisting of: • Dr. Rajan Sankar, Director Nutrition and Vivek Arora, Senior Advisor, Tata Trusts; • Rohini Saran, Deputy Lead Food Fortification Resource Centre, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI); • Dr. Avula Laxmaiah, Scientist ‘G’ & Head, Public Health, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) Hyderabad, India; • Devyani Hari, Director Programmes, Centre for Responsible Business (CRB); • Rachna Sujay, Senior Technical Advisor Diffusion States, Alive & Thrive; • Dr. Antaryami Dash, Advisor Nutrition, Save the Children India; • Shiva Mudgil, Vice President, RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness, Rabobank India. Based on 2018 retail sales, the 16 largest F&B manufacturers were selected for the India Spotlight Index 2020. These companies together accounted for 31% of India’s packaged F&B market share with a combined total retail sale of just over INR 1800 billion (approximately equivalent to EUR 21.89 billion). Eleven out of the sixteen companies have headquarters based in India and the other five are multinationals with headquarters elsewhere. Multiple stakeholders such as funders, nutrition experts, CSOs and Government bodies were consulted through roundtable meetings in early 2019. Eight companies and the industry association CII (the Confederation of Indian Industry) participated in a private sector roundtable, discussing the methodology and planning of the research. The ATNI team engaged with two more companies through separate meetings. Multi-stakeholder engagement The following civil society and public sector organizations participated in separate roundtables or were consulted separately on the methodology and during the research process. Research phase In May 2019, ATNI, organized webinars to inform companies on the use of the data gathering platform and further details on the India Spotlight Index research process and planning. Seven companies attended the webinars, and the rest of the companies were informed on the process through one-on-one meetings. Over summer, companies had the opportunity to access the online data gathering platform to see the first assessment and provide additional information or evidence. In August 2019, ATNI organized a visit to India for face-to-face meetings with senior management in some of the companies based in Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi. The main agenda of the meetings was explaining – (a) the rationale and the mmethodology of the second ATNI India Index to the companies; (b) the importance for the companies to engage in the research process and the options to do so. Two new companies subsequently announced to participate in the research process actively. ATNI and its India-based communication partner AvianWe, also received remarkable attention from the print media with articles and interviews published in different local outlets during 2019 (see overview in the section outreach activities). End of August 2019, the Executive Director of ATNI, Inge Kauer was invited to speak at a National Nutrition Conclave in Delhi, organized by the Confederation of the Indian Industry's Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE), and participated in a panel with industry and CSO representatives. Eight out of sixteen companies, selected for the second India Index, actively engaged during the research phase to provide additional information and evidence on organizations’ policies and practices. Four other companies that either participated in meetings (that the ATNI team organized to explain the methodology and research process) or met with ATNI staff individually, finally did not make use of the option to exchange information through ATNI's online data gathering platform in the research phase. The remaining four companies declined to engage due to other priorities. ATNI will further explore how best to encourage these companies to participate in the future Indexes. There was a substantial increase (from 3 in 2016 to 7 for the 2020 Index) in the number of companies providing data on their product lists for the Product Profile product assessments, which contributed significantly to the quality of the assessment. Analysis and launch preparation The subsequent analysis, quality checks and verifications and scoring of companies continued during the last quarter of 2019. Experts from ATNI’s global Expert Group and in India from GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), CII (the Confederation of Indian Industry) and FSSAI (the Government Food Safety and Standards Authority), and Tata Trusts TINI (The India Nutrition Initiative)reviewed the main findings and messages. For each company, individual summary reports of main findings (the company scorecard) were drafted and shared with the companies for them to crosscheck any factual inconsistencies and disclosure of non-public data. This summary did not indicate how the companies scored and ranked in the overall Index. ATNI commissioned the George Institute for Global Health (The George Institute) to conduct the Product Profile assessment for the 16 companies selected in the India Index 2020. And they also analyzed changes in the nutritional profile of packaged F&B products from 11 large companies in India over a three-year period. 1456 products marketed in India by the 16 companies were analyzed in the Product Profile assessment. Innova Market Insights (Innova), a commercial knowledge supplier for the F&B industry, provided additional product composition data. Because of the extra efforts put in the company engagement and the consequently required longer research period, ATNI decided in consultation with stakeholders in India (Industry and Government) to postpone the launch of the second Index to February 2020. 5. Investor Engagement Collaborative Company Engagement by ATNI’s Investor Signatories During 2019, ATNI continued to support a group of 31 of its 72 Investor Signatories that signed up to engage with the 18 listed companies included in the Global and US Indexes published in 2018. ATNI hosted quarterly calls with this investor group during the year to facilitate coordination of their work. Some of these investors requested briefing calls from ATNI before their engagement calls with companies, to ensure that they were entirely up to speed on their performance on the Index(es) in critical areas. Towards the end of the year, each investor leading the engagement with a company completed a tool to capture their discussions with the company, in order to be able to review the collaborative engagement process. A consultant was hired to undertake this review, which is due to be completed by April 2020. ATNI will use it to inform the ways in which we support our investor signatories. We hope to be able to substantially increase the number of investor signatories as our capacity to support them grows with the advent of new funding in this area. ATNI encourages major investors to engage with baby food companies about their BMS marketing In January, ATNI wrote to the ten largest shareholders in each of the five listed baby food companies that we assess and rank (Nestlé, Danone, Abbott, RB and KraftHeinz). We outlined our comprehensive approach to assessing these companies’ BMS marketing policies and practices and enclosed the relevant materials. We offered each investor a briefing call on the performance of the companies they were shareholders of. While few responded, as we expected, one that did was NBIM. On a follow-up call with NBIM, it outlined its active engagement with ten BMS companies in which it had shareholdings. NBIM noted that it had used our materials, which it finds comprehensive and helped determine which questions to ask. Partnership with ShareAction on its Healthy Markets campaign Work also continued with ShareAction – a UK based not-for-profit organization that campaigns with investors on nutrition issues – to inform and shape investor engagement through its Healthy Markets campaign. On September 18th, ATNI published the first-ever Product Profile for the UK. This report presented an analysis of the nutritional quality of the product portfolios of 18 of the largest food manufacturers that sell their products in the UK. It found that 69% of more than 3,000 products analysed did not meet the healthy standard of a Health Star Rating of 3.5 and that 85% of the products were unsuitable to be marketed to children. The publication attracted a lot of social media activity. ATNI also posted a blog about it, and ShareAction authored a feature. ATNI started work to adapt its standard Index methodology used to assess manufacturers to retailers’ business models, with input from several UK experts. Once finalized, ATNI hired a consultant to undertake research on the reporting of the UK’s ten largest supermarket chains on diets, nutrition and health. This research was completed by the end of the year. The consultant began to draft the final report, and preparations began to launch the report in Q1 2020, in close consultation with ShareAction and the funder of this work, Guys & St Thomas’s Charity. Support for Plating Up Progress Throughout the year, ATNI served on the advisory group for a new UK-focused initiative called Plating Up Progress, a collaboration between the Food and Climate Research Network based at Oxford University and the UK Food Foundation. Plating Up Progress is working to develop a set of metrics that investors can press food companies to adopt in their reporting, and to guide their policies and practices, to demonstrate their contribution to creating a sustainable, healthy food system. In January and March 2019, ATNI participated in two Plating up Progress investor workshops in London and provided comments on the two reports that were published during the year. Investor Portal Together with our website developers, a password-protected investor portal on our website has been under development during the year. This portal will allow ATNI’s Investor Signatories to log in to access relevant ATNI documents, information about collaborative engagement and serve as a repository of investor-authored or investor-relevant reports on nutrition. The portal will be launched in 2020. 6. Development of new spotlight indexes and accountability tools Nutrition Business Monitor ATNI partnered with GAIN and the SUN Business Network (SBN) in the “Nutrition Business Monitor” project designed to develop and pilot a new voluntary self-assessment tool for SMEs in the F&B sector. The tool aims to help SMEs review where they stand regarding their nutritional policies and practices and provide them with recommendations on how to improve. Along with the SBN in Nigeria and Bangladesh, ATNI organized a series of roundtables which were instrumental in bringing together feedback and input from in total 50 CSOs and Government bodies and Companies to design the tool compatible to the local context. The ATNI team also took the opportunity to get insight into the national business environment, the challenges and opportunities in the F&B sector through individual meetings with relevant authorities and company visits. Collating all the relevant feedback and input from both countries, the ATNI team developed the draft indicators, the weighting, the scoring and the recommendations to construct the first version. The draft version was later presented in the SUN Global Gathering, in November 2019 in Nepal where it was reviewed by SBN coordinators, GAIN directors, as well as SMEs and other stakeholders. The feedback and input from this session were then incorporated to design the final tool. During those sessions, some SBN networks manifested their interest to test the tool as well and see how it could be used in their countries. Following the completion of the final version, ATNI started the work with its IT provider to create the tool online. The first draft of the tool will be finalized in February and presented in the two countries in the first half of 2020. The tool is now divided into five categories: Management and Products, Marketing, Workforce programs, Labelling and Engagement and it contains in total 27 main indicators. The user-friendly design of the tool will allow the companies to fill this in within 1-2 hours and to easily navigate to different sections. U.S. Spotlight Index In 2019, ATNI received funding from RWJF for the second iteration of an U.S. Spotlight Index to be published in 2021. To take the U.S. Spotlight initiative forward, the ATNI team proceeded in 2019 with the methodology review ensuring its alignment with the Global Index 2020 methodology. The revised methodology will be submitted to the U.S. Expert Group after consultations with stakeholders early 2020. A U.S.-based Research and Engagement adviser will be recruited in the first quarter of 2020. 7. Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit and aligning global accountability mechanisms Nutrition for Growth In 2019, ATNI took part in the preparations for the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit planned for 2020. The organization was invited to be part of different working groups. ATNI has been part of a food systems working group, and co-lead the working group on accountability to form the agenda and set the stage for meaningful and SMART commitments by all stakeholders and specifically, the private sector. With GAIN, ATNI has organized an international conference in The Hague in June 2019 to build business commitments for N4G (see box). After summer, the Government of Japan has established a new advisory group in which ATNI participates as the former co-lead of the accountability working group. ATNI is also an observer in the Business Constituency Group (consisting of the major global industry associations: the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), Food Industry Asia (FIA), the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA), the SBN and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). ATNI has proposed to the Government of Japan and organizers of the N4G to develop a set of Investor Expectations on Nutrition, to echo a similar set of expectations on climate change, lobbying on climate change and other ESG issues. The proposed approach is to evolve the current Investor Statement into these Investor Expectations. WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism During an UNGA side-event on NCD’s in September 2018, the WHO announced its desire to develop a mechanism to track how the world’s largest F&B manufacturers are aligning their commitments, targets and practices to WHO guidance and recommendations. The background paper prepared by WHO for this purpose referenced ATNI extensively. ATNI has been invited to co-lead the design and delivery of the Mechanism, in collaboration with WHO. ATNI has since participated in several WHO-led calls to discuss the development of a Global monitoring mechanism and has presented a proposal to WHO for a Global Corporate Action Tracker on nutrition (working title: GCAT). Initially, GCAT will track company progress concerning product development and reformulation, marketing to children, nutrition labelling and the use of nutrition content and health claims. GCAT in future also has the potential to be expanded monitoring other aspects of business practice related to nutrition such as – (a) methodology to assess the levels of industrial trans-fat or sodium in companies’ products; (b) a mechanism to evaluate companies’ progress at a national level led by TGI and INFORMAS, respectively. ATNI aims to publish the first report coinciding with the Nutrition for Growth summit in 2020 in Tokyo (N4G 2020). Aligning Accountability Mechanisms, WBA and GAIN ATNI is one of the allies of the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) and participated in 2019 in several consultations to inform WBA’s plans for an overarching benchmark on Food and Agriculture (a first edition is foreseen for 2021) to facilitate a transformation in the food system. ATNI is ready to provide expertise to the WBA team for building this benchmark that will make use of a few indicators included in the ATNI Indexes. ATNI and WBA will align to avoid any duplications and companies being approached twice with the same questions. GAIN and the SBN in 2018 organized a workshop with civil society and industry to map existing accountability mechanism in nutrition. ATNI participated and provided input for the consequent report, entitled “A review of Business Accountability Mechanisms in Nutrition” and published in March 2019. GAIN and SBN announced a follow-up workshop in early 2020 in cooperation with the CGF to align accountability mechanisms in nutrition and come up with a framework for this alignment. 8. Outreach activities Communications update: interactive website and new house style/branding The organization in 2019 worked on a wide range and a growing number of activities to drive the private sector’s performance on healthy affordable diets beyond its flagship Global Index and Spotlight Country Indexes. To reflect the strategic choice to expand the scope of its benchmarking work and to develop new accountability tools, a new name and branding (with adapted logo) were chosen and introduced in 2019: ‘Access to Nutrition Initiative’. The acronym ATNI coincides with that of the Access to Nutrition Index, well known by all stakeholders working with, or making use of the organization's products over the last six years. With a new design agency, all the groundwork was done for the organization’s new interactive website along with the new house style and branding to be launched early 2020. The organization’s legal status as foundation and registration in The Netherlands as the ‘Stichting Access to Nutrition Foundation’ did not change. Key outreach activities, meetings, conferences in 2019 India media outreach In India, while working on the research and analysis for the 2020 India Spotlight Index, with its local communication/ PR partner AvianWe, ATNI has been successful in being visible in media throughout 2019 to sensitize stakeholders in the food system and consumers alike on the importance of private sector accountability on nutrition issues. An overview of these articles and features in different media outlets can be found on ATNI’s website. January - February Netherlands Working Group on International Nutrition ATNI joined the Netherlands Working Group on International Nutrition, a platform with corporate, CSO and government members to promote nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive approaches in development strategies of Dutch stakeholders. Plating up Progress ATNI participated in investor workshops in London for Plating up Progress; a collaboration between the Food and Climate Research Network based at Oxford University and the U.K. Food Foundation. Confronting Obesity February 20-21 ATNI attended the co-create consortium meeting in London organized by World Cancer Research Fund International & EU Horizon 2020; Confronting Obesity: Co-creating policies with youth. Hidden Hunger conference ATNI’s research manager participated in the 4th Hidden Hunger conference, Feb 27 - March 1, Stuttgart, University of Hohenheim. ATNI benefitted from the opportunity to consult global experts on ATNI’s plan to develop a micro-nutrient enhanced nutrient profiling system. March Nutrition in the first 1000 days of life ATNI was represented at a Nestlé stakeholder convening on Nutrition in the first 1000 days of life. World Benchmarking Alliance Allies meeting Mumbai On March 6-8, the World Benchmarking Alliance Allies met in Mumbai to review planning and progress towards the 5 overarching benchmarks WBA wants to launch in 2020. Their new Food and Agriculture value chain benchmark of 200 companies will be presented at N4G summit in 2020 in Japan. UNICEF/WHO workshop on Marketing Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children At the end of March, ATNI provided input at a UNICEF/WHO workshop to develop a ‘Toolkit for Policymakers to Implement the WHO Recommendations on Marketing Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children’. Subsequently, separate meetings were held on March 29 with UNICEF and WHO nutrition experts. April Tokyo meeting with Global Index stakeholders To gain more insights on the relevance of the Global Index for Japanese companies and stakeholders in the region, ATNI organized a meeting in April in Tokyo with the assistance of Ajinomoto, one of the companies in the Global Index. Companies, industry associations, representatives from four ministries, academics and other stakeholders affirmed the relevance of the Index to guide and support the nutrition agenda of Japanese multinational companies abroad as well as in Japan. For the Japanese context, reference was made to the specific needs of an ageing population which could be an element in the methodology of the future indexes. GAIN Donor meeting, Ireland In April, ATNI was invited to attend and speak at a meeting for donors of GAIN in Dublin. ATNI presented the plan for the development of a ‘Nutrition Business Monitor’ tool for SMEs. This project is funded by GAIN through its ’Making markets work for nutrition’ program. The tool will initially be piloted in Nigeria and Bangladesh among member companies of the local SBNs. Partnership for a Healthier America Summit in Chicago ATNI organized a networking lunch during the PHA Summit in Chicago on 2 April. The aim was to discuss what the largest F&B companies in the US are doing to help consumers make healthier choices about what they eat and drink using the results of the ATNI U.S. Spotlight Index 2018 as starting point. May ATNI donor meeting, London In May, ATNI organized a meeting for its main donors, hosted by DFID in London. Interested DFID colleagues were invited to a presentation by ATNF’s executive director on the BMS marketing assessment undertaken for the Global Indexes as well as the on the ground assessments in specific markets. Representatives from BMGF, UK DFID and DGIS reviewed and discussed the options for ATNI’s next multi-year strategic planning (2020-2023). June EAT Forum, Stockholm ATNI attended the EAT Forum in Stockholm in June where the follow-up on the EAT-Lancet commission report ‘Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’ was the central theme. In sessions organized by GAIN, WBCSD/Fresh, UNICEF companies mentioned ATNI as the nutrition accountability mechanism they work with and would want to keep using. NBM roundtables in Nigeria and Bangladesh (June-August) ATNI travelled to Nigeria and Bangladesh, the two countries where the Nutrition Business Monitor project will roll out. In each country, we organized two roundtables; one for companies and one for CSOs and policymakers, where we presented our initial thought on how the NBM tool should look like in terms of structure and indicators. July - August Better Nutrition for a Healthier Workforce ATNI attended the 2-day roundtable organized by GAIN in Geneva in cooperation with the CGF in Geneva. The participants were stakeholders from companies with or interested in workforce programs, CSOs, UNICEF, ILO and other stakeholders involved in the supply chain. GAIN and CGF are working on developing a workforce nutrition toolkit for companies that will be launched in early 2020. National Nutrition Conclave India At the end of August 2019, the Executive Director of ATNF, Inge Kauer was invited to speak at a National Nutrition Conclave in Delhi, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry's Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (CII-FACE), and participated in a panel with industry and CSO representatives. October UNICEF State of the World’s Children 2019 ATNI was invited to provide its perspective on the role of the food industry to tackle malnutrition in the UNICEF's State of the World's Children 2019 report. For the first time in 20 years, UNICEF’s flagship report examined the issue of children, food and nutrition, providing a fresh perspective on a rapidly evolving challenge. ATNI’s work was featured in a two-page (pp 138-139) article in the report by Executive Director Inge Kauer. The report was released in October 2019 and ATNI attended the launch event in London. World food Day ATNI featured a blog on World Food Day, titled 'Acknowledging progress and prompting change' and combined this with a social media outreach plan to celebrate the day. November - December SUN Global Gathering (Kathmandu, Nepal) The bi-annual Global Gathering of the Scaling up Nutrition movement brings together stakeholders from the nutrition sphere; from governments and policy makers, to UN agencies, CSOs and businesses. The stakeholders represent the member countries of SUN as well as international organizations working in those countries. ATNI was there to present the progress of the NBM project to the various SBNs and relevant stakeholders, as well as participate in discussions for the upcoming Nutrition for Growth Summit that will take place in Japan in December 2020. Companies and investor organizations mentioning ATNI in public statements A quickscan of company and investor organizations websites and public communications found 16 companies mentioning ATNI’s work, as well as 32 investor organizations. The following box includes some examples of how they refer to ATNI. “We worked with the Access to Nutrition Index Foundation to develop an evidence-based approach that can be applied to our analysis. Based on their scientific methodology, we can now identify companies that sell unhealthy food products.” – EQ Investors “[T]he Access to Nutrition Foundation (the ‘ATNF’), a respected independent nonprofit organization, (…) already produces credible reports covering our Company that encompass sugar and public health (…). We believe it is important that our shareowners know that our Company acknowledges the ATNF findings and recognizes the role the Company must play in addressing health challenges.” – Coca-Cola “The Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF), a respected independent non-profit organization, (…) publishes reports that not only provide a robust assessment of PepsiCo’s goals and performance, but a critical analysis and benchmarking on efforts of other leading food and beverage manufacturers to improve consumers’ access to nutritious foods and beverages.” – PepsiCo “Engagement with PepsiCo on nutrition has been limited during the year. That said we were pleased to see the company increase its score on the new Access to Nutrition Index rankings.” – CCLA Investment Management “This result is encouraging and we consider it a recognition of our efforts to give substance to our purpose nourishing by nature” – FrieslandCampina CEO Hein Schumacher on FrieslandCampina’s performance in the Global Index 2018 “The evaluation performed by ATNI and its 2018 Nutrition Index regarding the strength of our H&W strategy has led us to improve our actions, commitments, practices, and performance to have a positive influence our consumers [sic!] so they may achieve better lifestyles and balanced diets.” – Grupo Bimbo “Campbell uses the report to help inform nutrition strategy and best practices in policy development, transparency and communication on nutrition issues.” – Campbell 9. Action research In 2019, ATNI initiated Action Research on two topics which are central to our Indexes but where conclusive evidence, international standards and company best-practice is lacking or only just emerging. Action Research is designed to advance knowledge and understanding of the selected topics and ultimately to improve companies’ performance on them. 1. Affordability and accessibility of healthy foods: ATNI Indexes reveal that the companies tend to score most poorly on Category C, which assesses their policies, practices and disclosure on improving the affordability and accessibility of healthy foods in markets around the world. Affordability and accessibility are essentially determined by two core business functions: pricing and distribution. They are not therefore subject to international bodies’ standards, guidelines or regulation. ATNI initiated this piece of Action Research to investigate how food companies address nutrition considerations within their pricing and distribution activities, with a view to providing guidance about how they could improve their performance in these crucial areas. Moreover, the intention was to inform future ATNI Index methodologies. ATNI commissioned Carnstone Partners, a UK-based consultancy, to undertake the first phase of this research. They started by collating statistics on the presence and nature of Index companies’ businesses, and the market penetration of their products, in three key LMICs (Nigeria, India and Mexico), and in the UK market. They then undertook a series of interviews with industry experts to answer the following questions: • How do companies organize their marketing and distribution activities in these markets? • Why are companies struggling to perform well in this area? What might be the potential barriers preventing them from doing so? • How could some of those barriers be overcome? The first phase of the research was completed by the end of 2019. Carnstone will finalize their report and make their recommendations to ATNI in early 2020. 2. Complementary Foods Commercially produced complementary foods are increasingly becoming part of young children’s diets. Children everywhere need a healthy balanced diet appropriate to their age and stage of development. In LMICs, highly nutritious and appropriately fortified complementary foods are particularly important. During 2019, ATNI undertook research and consulted several organizations including UNICEF, GAIN, HKI and First Steps Nutrition. Their input has helped shape this Action Research. During 2020, ATNI intends to establish a blueprint for assessing the scale, growth and players in individual countries’ markets in respect of commercially produced complementary foods, and the role they are playing in young children’s diets. Moreover, ATNI intends to pilot a Product Profile for complementary foods using the newly developed WHO Europe Nutrient Profiling model, in one emerging market. 10. Monitoring and Evaluation In September 2019, ATNI recruited a Program Manager who started the development of an internal M&E framework. In 2020 ATNI intends to enhance its current measurement and evaluation to better articulate and evidence the impact of the Indexes and its other work. ATNI itself will carry out an external review of its key activities and outputs. As part of developing a robust M&E system for ATNI the team reviewed and updated the theory of change based on the outlines for a new strategic plan 2020-2024 approved by the Board. 11. Risks The organization has adopted a risk management policy end 2019 describing how risks are identified, recorded in a risk register that also includes mitigation strategy, and how they are managed. At the organizational level ATNI identifies risks continuously through the stream of the regular staff meetings as well as in the context of the quarterly Board meeting. The results are reviewed by and discussed with the audit and risk committee in the Board at least annually. Independence ATNI maintained its independence in 2019 by not accepting any funding from industry and not having board or expert group members (recently) employed by food manufacturers. Company engagement In the research process for the second India Index, more companies provided data for the Product Profile assessment; eight out of 16 companies assessed used the opportunity to engage and provide additional information to ATNI actively. Companies to be assessed in the 2020 Global Index in large numbers actively asked ATNI for details of the methodology and planning for the 2020 Global Index. 17 out of 22 companies approached participated in a webinar organized for the purpose end 2019 and expressed their appreciation for the initiative. Impact in low income countries Ongoing projects to make sure that ATNI products make an impact in low-income countries as in high-income markets gained momentum in 2019. The Nutrition Business Monitor, a self-assessment tool for SMEs in emerging markets is not yet tested or finalized but could count on a lot of interest of SBNs in countries beyond Bangladesh and Nigeria (where the tool is piloted). In the project to develop a ‘micronutrient enhanced’ Nutrient Profiling System experts and companies were consulted to come to a set-up assessing 6 micronutrients (iron, vitamins A, B12, D, folate, iodine). This will be tested with companies in India in 2020. Visibility/external profile ATNI has been substantially visible and active in international conferences and events on food and nutrition in 2019 (like the EAT Forum, the Hague Conference on Building Business Commitments for N4G preparations) including stakeholder meetings with other members of the World Benchmarking Alliance. Civil society organizations and companies alike expressed their appreciation for ATNI’s products and the wish that ATNI keeps its focus on in-depth analysis of nutrition and health impacts. Competing mechanisms A new Food and Agriculture system benchmark planned by the World Benchmarking Alliance will cover more companies. Additionally, the benchmark will include environmental and social impacts derived from companies. The benchmark will only include a few indicators to look at nutrition (by making use of ATNI’s expertise) but will not provide in-depth analysis as ATNI products do. Balance resources with expectations, Safeguarding policy The ATNI team has grown steadily up to 12 by end 2019 to match the growing number of projects and plans for 2020 and beyond, and one additional staff member is to join the team in early 2020. New staff members in 2019 were asked to sign a code of conduct and were trained on the safeguarding policy. Value for Money To ensure it delivers value for money ATNI has a constant dialogue with suppliers and sub-contractors on price levels of services provided. No significant new risks emerged in 2019 to be added to the risk register nor were changes observed in the likelihood of risks to occur or the severity of their impacts. ATNI did develop a risk management policy in 2019 that was reviewed by and adopted by the Board end 2019. 12. 2019 in Pictures ¬
DGIS Annual Report - 2019
1. Introduction The Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI), an independent non-profit organization based in the Netherlands, is dedicated to driving changes in the global nutrition landscape by tracking and assessing the food industry’s attempts to tackle undernutrition, obesity and diet-related chronic diseases through designing and delivering a range of accountability tools. The organization influences the industries’ contribution to address global nutrition challenges, by objectively assessing the food industry and publishing Global and Spotlight Country Nutrition Indexes and by developing new accountability tools and studies to support this. ATNI aims to encourage companies both to increase access to healthy products and to responsibly exercise their influence on consumers’ choice and behavior. The organization in 2019 worked on a wide range and growing number of activities to drive the private sector’s performance on healthy affordable diets beyond its flagship Global Index and Spotlight Country Indexes. To reflect the strategic choice to expand the scope of its benchmarking work and develop new accountability tools, a new name and branding (with adapted logo) was chosen and introduced in 2019: ‘Access to Nutrition Initiative’. The acronym ATNI coincides with that of the Access to Nutrition Index, well known by all stakeholders working with, or making use of the organization's products over the last six years. With a new design agency all the groundwork was done for the organization’s new interactive website along with the new house style and branding to be launched early 2020. The organization’s legal status as foundation and registration in The Netherlands as the ‘Stichting Access to Nutrition Foundation’ does not change. Throughout 2019, the organization has done the necessary preparatory work such as industry engagement, data collection, and data processing, required for the launch of the second iteration of the India Spotlight Index in February 2020. Additionally, the preparatory work for the second US Spotlight Index has been started to facilitate the assessment in 2020 and launching the report in the second quarter of 2021. In 2019, ATNI has done an intensive revision of the methodology for the Global Index to adopt the most recent contextual changes and to incorporate stakeholders’ feedback for the Global Index 2020. Working with and supported by the Global Alliance on Improved Nutrition (GAIN), ATNI started the design and development of a self-assessment tool for small and medium-sized companies in countries with rapidly emerging food and beverage (F&B) industries that have a national Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network. The tool aims to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be aware of their role and opportunities to improve nutrition and benchmark their performance against their peers and larger companies. In Nigeria and Bangladesh, a total of 50 SMEs and civil society organizations and government agencies are helping to build this tool and make it as relevant as possible for the local context. A first draft version of the tool will be tested in these countries early 2020. ATNI took part in the preparations for the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit planned for 2020. The organization was invited to be part of different working groups (on data & accountability and food systems) to set the agenda and set the stage for meaningful and specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART) commitments by all stakeholders and specifically the private sector. Along with GAIN, ATNI has organized an international conference in The Hague to build business commitments for N4G. The World Health Organization (WHO) asked ATNI to help set up a global monitoring mechanism to track company reformulation efforts on salt and added sugar. In November, ATNI has published the UK Product Profile Report which revealed that some 18 largest F&B manufacturers in the U.K need to increase their sales of healthy products to demonstrate that they are serious about making a meaningful contribution to consumers’ diets and public health. This should also help address the mounting business risks associated with poor diets, deal with or be prepared for regulatory intervention and the impacts on productivity among their workforces. In collaboration with ShareAction and with funding from the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, ATNI took first steps to look at the vital role the retail sector has to play in providing affordable, healthy diets to all consumers. To expand the scope of its work to this part of the food value chain, ATNI studied the UK food retail sector to shed light on the commitments and contributions of the ten largest UK food and drink retailers in regard to promoting healthy food and helping consumers to move away from high fat, salt and sugar products. The results will be presented in a report early 2020. After summer, ATNI has started action research to investigate two Index topics, namely 1: Access and Affordability of healthy food and 2: Nutrition quality of complementary foods for young children. In these categories, companies in general score low or international guidelines and standards are lacking. Since the launch of the first Global Index in 2013, more than 72 investment firms have become signatories to the Access to Nutrition Index Investor Statement, with over $7 trillion assets under management. We are pleased to mention that complementing the multi-year core funding that ATNI receives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UK Department for International Development in 2019 our organization has additionally received support from GAIN for the Nutrition Business Monitor project and the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust through ShareAction for the work on the UK Product Profile and the retailer study. At the end of 2019, ATNI also signed an agreement with Irish Aid to fund the development of new accountability tools to increase transparency around baby food companies’ lobbying and influencing of policymaking processes and with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) for the launch of the second U.S. Spotlight Index. Our team has grown steadily up to 12 by end 2019 and one additional staff member is to join the team in early 2020. Looking back at 2019, ATNI is increasingly recognized as an independent authority on benchmarking F&B industry's efforts to contribute to better nutrition. Most of the companies assessed in the Indexes have been supportive and engaged during the research phase. Also, after the launch of the reports, they have actively communicated for validating the scores and followed up on the recommendations. Our engagement with companies for the upcoming Indexes has witnessed engagement, enthusiasm as well as a great commitment to improving their overall scores and contributions to tackle malnutrition. Our work is being increasingly recognized by the stakeholders engaged in the global nutrition landscape, including international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, civil society organizations and investors. Inge Kauer, Executive Director, Access to Nutrition Foundation 2. Global Index The third Global Access to Nutrition Index 2018, assessing the 22 globally largest F&Bmanufacturers, has revealed that while the companies started increasingly emphasizing on their efforts to introduce better diets, still serious concerns remained on the healthiness of the product portfolios. ATNI, in 2018 and 2019, during the post-launch engagements shared this message with the companies which encouraged transformation and initiated changes. Listed companies (like Keurig Dr Pepper and Kraft Heinz) that did not actively engage during the Global and US Index 2018 research phase did show interest to discuss the findings of the 2018 Index and to actively engage in the iterations process for the upcoming Global Index 2020. In 2019, ATNI received some noteworthy recognition from the companies that it has assessed. Several companies, recognizing ATNI’s Product Profile, indicated considering the Health Star Rating as an independent nutrient profiling system besides its internal system. ATNI’s initiatives have been on the agenda of some companies’ Board meetings and influenced their strategy discussions. One company team indicated that the Index was a useful tool to drive their internal thinking and contributing to a portfolio with more ‘nutrition positive’ products. Another company mentioned that ATNI’s outreach at international fora and conferences was remarkable. In March 2019, Coca Cola’s board reportedly opposed a shareholders resolution to report ‘an assessment of risks to Coke's finances and reputation associated with changing scientific understanding of the role of sugar in disease causation’ as the Access to Nutrition Foundation, an independent nonprofit, already produces reports about Coke that address sugar and public health. ATNI continued consulting with all stakeholders, including the companies to gather feedback on the methodology review for the upcoming Global Access to Nutrition Index 2020. During the post-launch consultation process of Global Index 2018, ATNI received recommendations for the Index to reduce complexity and perceived duplications as well as incorporate vital changes and improvements that companies had initiated. Considering the feedback, in 2019, ATNI started a revision process for the Global Index methodology for the upcoming Global Index 2020. ATNI selected 25 companies in total for the Global Index 2020 iteration. The three new/additional companies are Keurig Dr Pepper (American company that was assessed for the U.S. Spotlight Index 2018, but not for the Global Index), China Mengniu and Yili (Chinese companies). In the last quarter of the year, ATNI went through a consultation process with all the companies to discuss the main changes and novelties of the Global Index methodology. The proposed main changes were also duly presented and discussed with the ATNI Expert Group and Board. Changes in Global Index 2020 Methodology • In the Global Index 2018, the Corporate Profile and Product Profile were presented as separate outputs with different scores and rankings. The methodology review led to integrate the Product Profile results into Category B of the Corporate Profile to offer one overall Index ranking. For the Global Index 2020, these changes imply that the Product Profile being incorporated into Category B will carry 20% of the total Index weight. • In the Global Index 2018, the company-wide actions for preventing and addressing undernutrition (among the populations at risk in developing countries) were assessed within an undernutrition section. The undernutrition indicators were not applied to companies that derived less than 5% of their F&B revenues from non-OECD markets. In the Global Index 2020 methodology, the commitment of companies to specifically address the needs and key nutritional priorities for populations at-risk is considered relevant for both developed and developing countries. As a result, how comprehensively a company covers various forms of malnutrition, is based on the company’s market presence and the specific micronutrient deficiencies/undernutrition issues in all markets. • For the Global Index 2018 iteration, ATNI focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); particularly with regards to reaching Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all). In the Global Index 2020 new methodology, ATNI has also incorporated indicators assessing companies’ efforts in reducing the per capita food loss and waste along F&Bproduction and supply chains (from the post-harvest stage to the retail and consumer levels), in line with Sustainable Development Goal 12 (target 12.3). Stakeholders consultation and feedback on updated methodology Companies selected for the Global Index 2020 assessment were invited to take part in an online survey at the end of 2019. Overall, the stakeholders have received the revised methodology positively. Most of the companies that responded support the integration of the Product Profile into Category B (Formulating Appropriate Products). The consultation also involved investors as an important group of stakeholders in the overall process of the methodology revision. In December 2019, ATNI organized a webinar to collate feedback from the investors. The investor group has particularly appreciated the incorporation of the food loss and food waste concepts to the methodology. The combined stakeholders’ feedback was considered to finalize the Global Index methodology, which will be submitted to the Expert Group members for further review in January 2020. 3. Monitoring marketing of breast-milk substitutes and complementary foods Because of the importance of infant and young child nutrition (IYCN), each edition of the Global Access to Nutrition Index includes a breast-milk substitutes (BMS)/complementary foods (CF) Marketing sub-ranking that scores and ranks the world’s largest baby food manufacturers’ marketing policies, and practices and disclosure. This analysis assesses the extent to which these companies market their products in line with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (The Code) and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions, including WHA 69.9 (together referred to as The Code) . We use a comprehensive, robust and published methodology to do so, developed with the advice of WHO, UNICEF and many other international experts and not-for-profit organizations dedicated to improving infant and young child nutrition (IYCN). ATNI’s work In 2019, ATNI started preparing for the two assessments that will feed into the BMS/CF Marketing sub-ranking of the Global Index 2020. Whereas for the previous Index only six companies were included in this sub-ranking, for the next Global Index ATNI is extending its coverage to the ten largest baby food companies globally: Danone, FrieslandCampina, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Abbott, RB/Mead Johnson Nutrition (RB/MJN), Pepsico, Feihe International, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group and China Mengniu Dairy. Two emerging markets were selected in which NetCode studies will be undertaken to assess the extent of marketing of BMS and CF products. ATNI has again contracted Westat to conduct these studies. The BMS/CF Marketing assessment, including the two country reports, will be completed in 2020. New partnerships Additionally, ATNI partnered with FTSE Russell. In recent years, ATNI and FTSE Russell have conducted similar but separate in-country verification exercises of companies’ BMS Marketing. From 2019 onwards, ATNI will provide data to FTSE Russell from our in-country NetCode studies, to feed into its approach to determine whether BMS companies meet its criteria for inclusion in its FTSE4Good Indexes. ATNI will continue to apply its criteria and methodology as previously for its Indexes. For more information on the agreement between FTSE Russell and ATNI, please read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). How ATNI’s work on BMS and CF Marketing is viewed and used ATNI is now widely recognized among key stakeholders that work on this topic as providing the definitive analysis of the major baby food companies’ marketing policies and practices. We publish a wide range of materials for use by stakeholders, including a dedicated chapter within each Global Index report, separate Scorecards for each BMS company, a summary report of each – and in-country studies of marketing practices, as well as Westat’s full technical reports of those studies. Some major institutional investors, such as Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) and BMO Global Asset Management, use our analysis to inform their engagement with these companies. The purpose of their engagement is to encourage companies to adopt policies and practices that implement The Code. ATNI has been approached by B-Lab, the organization that created B-Corp certification. B-Lab is planning to introduce new BMS Marketing standards, which any company wanting to become a B-Corp must meet. It is proposing to tie companies’ qualification for B Corp certification to a percentage score on our BMS/CF Marketing sub-ranking. Within the auspices of the N4G Summit, efforts are being made to encourage baby food companies to commit to full Code compliance by 2030, and to announce and take a major step forwards from their current policies and/or practices within 2020. Further, they are being asked to publish an action plan that sets out how they will achieve Code compliance over the next decade. ATNI has been proposed as the organization that will track companies’ implementation of those action plans. 4. India Spotlight Index, 2020 Company selection and engagement process Preparations for the second Access to Nutrition India Spotlight Index 2020, that started at the end of 2018, continued throughout 2019. The Index has built upon the analysis and the recognition that ATNI received from most stakeholders on the first India Index in 2016. The Index had been broadly recognized as influential in driving positive changes among Indian F&B companies to emphasis on diet, nutrition and health issues. The Index also aimed to broadly complement the efforts made by other stakeholders, including the Government-led Eat Right India movement, to address all forms of malnutrition. ATNI research in 2019 mainly focused on the contribution made by the 16 largest F&B manufacturers in India. The research investigated the companies’ policies, practices and disclosure related to nutrition uptake. The second India Spotlight Index covers the same topics and takes the same broad approach to assess, score and rank the companies as the first iteration. However, the methodology was updated to incorporate relevant feedback from companies, civil society stakeholders and a review panel of experts in India consisting of: • Dr. Rajan Sankar, Director Nutrition and Vivek Arora, Senior Advisor, Tata Trusts; • Rohini Saran, Deputy Lead Food Fortification Resource Centre, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI); • Dr. Avula Laxmaiah, Scientist ‘G’ & Head, Public Health, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) Hyderabad, India; • Devyani Hari, Director Programmes, Centre for Responsible Business (CRB); • Rachna Sujay, Senior Technical Advisor Diffusion States, Alive & Thrive; • Dr. Antaryami Dash, Advisor Nutrition, Save the Children India; • Shiva Mudgil, Vice President, RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness, Rabobank India. Based on 2018 retail sales, the 16 largest F&B manufacturers were selected for the India Spotlight Index 2020. These companies together accounted for 31% of India’s packaged F&B market share with a combined total retail sale of just over INR 1800 billion (approximately equivalent to EUR 21.89 billion). Eleven out of the sixteen companies have headquarters based in India and the other five are multinationals with headquarters elsewhere. Multiple stakeholders such as funders, nutrition experts, CSOs and Government bodies were consulted through roundtable meetings in early 2019. Eight companies and the industry association CII (the Confederation of Indian Industry) participated in a private sector roundtable, discussing the methodology and planning of the research. The ATNI team engaged with two more companies through separate meetings. Multi-stakeholder engagement The following civil society and public sector organizations participated in separate roundtables or were consulted separately on the methodology and during the research process. Research phase In May 2019, ATNI, organized webinars to inform companies on the use of the data gathering platform and further details on the India Spotlight Index research process and planning. Seven companies attended the webinars, and the rest of the companies were informed on the process through one-on-one meetings. Over summer, companies had the opportunity to access the online data gathering platform to see the first assessment and provide additional information or evidence. In August 2019, ATNI organized a visit to India for face-to-face meetings with senior management in some of the companies based in Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi. The main agenda of the meetings was explaining – (a) the rationale and the mmethodology of the second ATNI India Index to the companies; (b) the importance for the companies to engage in the research process and the options to do so. Two new companies subsequently announced to participate in the research process actively. ATNI and its India-based communication partner AvianWe, also received remarkable attention from the print media with articles and interviews published in different local outlets during 2019 (see overview in the section outreach activities). End of August 2019, the Executive Director of ATNI, Inge Kauer was invited to speak at a National Nutrition Conclave in Delhi, organized by the Confederation of the Indian Industry's Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE), and participated in a panel with industry and CSO representatives. Eight out of sixteen companies, selected for the second India Index, actively engaged during the research phase to provide additional information and evidence on organizations’ policies and practices. Four other companies that either participated in meetings (that the ATNI team organized to explain the methodology and research process) or met with ATNI staff individually, finally did not make use of the option to exchange information through ATNI's online data gathering platform in the research phase. The remaining four companies declined to engage due to other priorities. ATNI will further explore how best to encourage these companies to participate in the future Indexes. There was a substantial increase (from 3 in 2016 to 7 for the 2020 Index) in the number of companies providing data on their product lists for the Product Profile product assessments, which contributed significantly to the quality of the assessment. Analysis and launch preparation The subsequent analysis, quality checks and verifications and scoring of companies continued during the last quarter of 2019. Experts from ATNI’s global Expert Group and in India from GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), CII (the Confederation of Indian Industry) and FSSAI (the Government Food Safety and Standards Authority), and Tata Trusts TINI (The India Nutrition Initiative)reviewed the main findings and messages. For each company, individual summary reports of main findings (the company scorecard) were drafted and shared with the companies for them to crosscheck any factual inconsistencies and disclosure of non-public data. This summary did not indicate how the companies scored and ranked in the overall Index. ATNI commissioned the George Institute for Global Health (The George Institute) to conduct the Product Profile assessment for the 16 companies selected in the India Index 2020. And they also analyzed changes in the nutritional profile of packaged F&B products from 11 large companies in India over a three-year period. 1456 products marketed in India by the 16 companies were analyzed in the Product Profile assessment. Innova Market Insights (Innova), a commercial knowledge supplier for the F&B industry, provided additional product composition data. Because of the extra efforts put in the company engagement and the consequently required longer research period, ATNI decided in consultation with stakeholders in India (Industry and Government) to postpone the launch of the second Index to February 2020. 5. Investor Engagement Collaborative Company Engagement by ATNI’s Investor Signatories During 2019, ATNI continued to support a group of 31 of its 72 Investor Signatories that signed up to engage with the 18 listed companies included in the Global and US Indexes published in 2018. ATNI hosted quarterly calls with this investor group during the year to facilitate coordination of their work. Some of these investors requested briefing calls from ATNI before their engagement calls with companies, to ensure that they were entirely up to speed on their performance on the Index(es) in critical areas. Towards the end of the year, each investor leading the engagement with a company completed a tool to capture their discussions with the company, in order to be able to review the collaborative engagement process. A consultant was hired to undertake this review, which is due to be completed by April 2020. ATNI will use it to inform the ways in which we support our investor signatories. We hope to be able to substantially increase the number of investor signatories as our capacity to support them grows with the advent of new funding in this area. ATNI encourages major investors to engage with baby food companies about their BMS marketing In January, ATNI wrote to the ten largest shareholders in each of the five listed baby food companies that we assess and rank (Nestlé, Danone, Abbott, RB and KraftHeinz). We outlined our comprehensive approach to assessing these companies’ BMS marketing policies and practices and enclosed the relevant materials. We offered each investor a briefing call on the performance of the companies they were shareholders of. While few responded, as we expected, one that did was NBIM. On a follow-up call with NBIM, it outlined its active engagement with ten BMS companies in which it had shareholdings. NBIM noted that it had used our materials, which it finds comprehensive and helped determine which questions to ask. Partnership with ShareAction on its Healthy Markets campaign Work also continued with ShareAction – a UK based not-for-profit organization that campaigns with investors on nutrition issues – to inform and shape investor engagement through its Healthy Markets campaign. On September 18th, ATNI published the first-ever Product Profile for the UK. This report presented an analysis of the nutritional quality of the product portfolios of 18 of the largest food manufacturers that sell their products in the UK. It found that 69% of more than 3,000 products analysed did not meet the healthy standard of a Health Star Rating of 3.5 and that 85% of the products were unsuitable to be marketed to children. The publication attracted a lot of social media activity. ATNI also posted a blog about it, and ShareAction authored a feature. ATNI started work to adapt its standard Index methodology used to assess manufacturers to retailers’ business models, with input from several UK experts. Once finalized, ATNI hired a consultant to undertake research on the reporting of the UK’s ten largest supermarket chains on diets, nutrition and health. This research was completed by the end of the year. The consultant began to draft the final report, and preparations began to launch the report in Q1 2020, in close consultation with ShareAction and the funder of this work, Guys & St Thomas’s Charity. Support for Plating Up Progress Throughout the year, ATNI served on the advisory group for a new UK-focused initiative called Plating Up Progress, a collaboration between the Food and Climate Research Network based at Oxford University and the UK Food Foundation. Plating Up Progress is working to develop a set of metrics that investors can press food companies to adopt in their reporting, and to guide their policies and practices, to demonstrate their contribution to creating a sustainable, healthy food system. In January and March 2019, ATNI participated in two Plating up Progress investor workshops in London and provided comments on the two reports that were published during the year. Investor Portal Together with our website developers, a password-protected investor portal on our website has been under development during the year. This portal will allow ATNI’s Investor Signatories to log in to access relevant ATNI documents, information about collaborative engagement and serve as a repository of investor-authored or investor-relevant reports on nutrition. The portal will be launched in 2020. 6. Development of new spotlight indexes and accountability tools Nutrition Business Monitor ATNI partnered with GAIN and the SUN Business Network (SBN) in the “Nutrition Business Monitor” project designed to develop and pilot a new voluntary self-assessment tool for SMEs in the F&B sector. The tool aims to help SMEs review where they stand regarding their nutritional policies and practices and provide them with recommendations on how to improve. Along with the SBN in Nigeria and Bangladesh, ATNI organized a series of roundtables which were instrumental in bringing together feedback and input from in total 50 CSOs and Government bodies and Companies to design the tool compatible to the local context. The ATNI team also took the opportunity to get insight into the national business environment, the challenges and opportunities in the F&B sector through individual meetings with relevant authorities and company visits. Collating all the relevant feedback and input from both countries, the ATNI team developed the draft indicators, the weighting, the scoring and the recommendations to construct the first version. The draft version was later presented in the SUN Global Gathering, in November 2019 in Nepal where it was reviewed by SBN coordinators, GAIN directors, as well as SMEs and other stakeholders. The feedback and input from this session were then incorporated to design the final tool. During those sessions, some SBN networks manifested their interest to test the tool as well and see how it could be used in their countries. Following the completion of the final version, ATNI started the work with its IT provider to create the tool online. The first draft of the tool will be finalized in February and presented in the two countries in the first half of 2020. The tool is now divided into five categories: Management and Products, Marketing, Workforce programs, Labelling and Engagement and it contains in total 27 main indicators. The user-friendly design of the tool will allow the companies to fill this in within 1-2 hours and to easily navigate to different sections. U.S. Spotlight Index In 2019, ATNI received funding from RWJF for the second iteration of an U.S. Spotlight Index to be published in 2021. To take the U.S. Spotlight initiative forward, the ATNI team proceeded in 2019 with the methodology review ensuring its alignment with the Global Index 2020 methodology. The revised methodology will be submitted to the U.S. Expert Group after consultations with stakeholders early 2020. A U.S.-based Research and Engagement adviser will be recruited in the first quarter of 2020. 7. Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit and aligning global accountability mechanisms Nutrition for Growth In 2019, ATNI took part in the preparations for the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit planned for 2020. The organization was invited to be part of different working groups. ATNI has been part of a food systems working group, and co-lead the working group on accountability to form the agenda and set the stage for meaningful and SMART commitments by all stakeholders and specifically, the private sector. With GAIN, ATNI has organized an international conference in The Hague in June 2019 to build business commitments for N4G (see box). After summer, the Government of Japan has established a new advisory group in which ATNI participates as the former co-lead of the accountability working group. ATNI is also an observer in the Business Constituency Group (consisting of the major global industry associations: the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), Food Industry Asia (FIA), the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA), the SBN and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). ATNI has proposed to the Government of Japan and organizers of the N4G to develop a set of Investor Expectations on Nutrition, to echo a similar set of expectations on climate change, lobbying on climate change and other ESG issues. The proposed approach is to evolve the current Investor Statement into these Investor Expectations. WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism During an UNGA side-event on NCD’s in September 2018, the WHO announced its desire to develop a mechanism to track how the world’s largest F&B manufacturers are aligning their commitments, targets and practices to WHO guidance and recommendations. The background paper prepared by WHO for this purpose referenced ATNI extensively. ATNI has been invited to co-lead the design and delivery of the Mechanism, in collaboration with WHO. ATNI has since participated in several WHO-led calls to discuss the development of a Global monitoring mechanism and has presented a proposal to WHO for a Global Corporate Action Tracker on nutrition (working title: GCAT). Initially, GCAT will track company progress concerning product development and reformulation, marketing to children, nutrition labelling and the use of nutrition content and health claims. GCAT in future also has the potential to be expanded monitoring other aspects of business practice related to nutrition such as – (a) methodology to assess the levels of industrial trans-fat or sodium in companies’ products; (b) a mechanism to evaluate companies’ progress at a national level led by TGI and INFORMAS, respectively. ATNI aims to publish the first report coinciding with the Nutrition for Growth summit in 2020 in Tokyo (N4G 2020). Aligning Accountability Mechanisms, WBA and GAIN ATNI is one of the allies of the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) and participated in 2019 in several consultations to inform WBA’s plans for an overarching benchmark on Food and Agriculture (a first edition is foreseen for 2021) to facilitate a transformation in the food system. ATNI is ready to provide expertise to the WBA team for building this benchmark that will make use of a few indicators included in the ATNI Indexes. ATNI and WBA will align to avoid any duplications and companies being approached twice with the same questions. GAIN and the SBN in 2018 organized a workshop with civil society and industry to map existing accountability mechanism in nutrition. ATNI participated and provided input for the consequent report, entitled “A review of Business Accountability Mechanisms in Nutrition” and published in March 2019. GAIN and SBN announced a follow-up workshop in early 2020 in cooperation with the CGF to align accountability mechanisms in nutrition and come up with a framework for this alignment. 8. Outreach activities Communications update: interactive website and new house style/branding The organization in 2019 worked on a wide range and a growing number of activities to drive the private sector’s performance on healthy affordable diets beyond its flagship Global Index and Spotlight Country Indexes. To reflect the strategic choice to expand the scope of its benchmarking work and to develop new accountability tools, a new name and branding (with adapted logo) were chosen and introduced in 2019: ‘Access to Nutrition Initiative’. The acronym ATNI coincides with that of the Access to Nutrition Index, well known by all stakeholders working with, or making use of the organization's products over the last six years. With a new design agency, all the groundwork was done for the organization’s new interactive website along with the new house style and branding to be launched early 2020. The organization’s legal status as foundation and registration in The Netherlands as the ‘Stichting Access to Nutrition Foundation’ did not change. Key outreach activities, meetings, conferences in 2019 India media outreach In India, while working on the research and analysis for the 2020 India Spotlight Index, with its local communication/ PR partner AvianWe, ATNI has been successful in being visible in media throughout 2019 to sensitize stakeholders in the food system and consumers alike on the importance of private sector accountability on nutrition issues. An overview of these articles and features in different media outlets can be found on ATNI’s website. January - February Netherlands Working Group on International Nutrition ATNI joined the Netherlands Working Group on International Nutrition, a platform with corporate, CSO and government members to promote nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive approaches in development strategies of Dutch stakeholders. Plating up Progress ATNI participated in investor workshops in London for Plating up Progress; a collaboration between the Food and Climate Research Network based at Oxford University and the U.K. Food Foundation. Confronting Obesity February 20-21 ATNI attended the co-create consortium meeting in London organized by World Cancer Research Fund International & EU Horizon 2020; Confronting Obesity: Co-creating policies with youth. Hidden Hunger conference ATNI’s research manager participated in the 4th Hidden Hunger conference, Feb 27 - March 1, Stuttgart, University of Hohenheim. ATNI benefitted from the opportunity to consult global experts on ATNI’s plan to develop a micro-nutrient enhanced nutrient profiling system. March Nutrition in the first 1000 days of life ATNI was represented at a Nestlé stakeholder convening on Nutrition in the first 1000 days of life. World Benchmarking Alliance Allies meeting Mumbai On March 6-8, the World Benchmarking Alliance Allies met in Mumbai to review planning and progress towards the 5 overarching benchmarks WBA wants to launch in 2020. Their new Food and Agriculture value chain benchmark of 200 companies will be presented at N4G summit in 2020 in Japan. UNICEF/WHO workshop on Marketing Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children At the end of March, ATNI provided input at a UNICEF/WHO workshop to develop a ‘Toolkit for Policymakers to Implement the WHO Recommendations on Marketing Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children’. Subsequently, separate meetings were held on March 29 with UNICEF and WHO nutrition experts. April Tokyo meeting with Global Index stakeholders To gain more insights on the relevance of the Global Index for Japanese companies and stakeholders in the region, ATNI organized a meeting in April in Tokyo with the assistance of Ajinomoto, one of the companies in the Global Index. Companies, industry associations, representatives from four ministries, academics and other stakeholders affirmed the relevance of the Index to guide and support the nutrition agenda of Japanese multinational companies abroad as well as in Japan. For the Japanese context, reference was made to the specific needs of an ageing population which could be an element in the methodology of the future indexes. GAIN Donor meeting, Ireland In April, ATNI was invited to attend and speak at a meeting for donors of GAIN in Dublin. ATNI presented the plan for the development of a ‘Nutrition Business Monitor’ tool for SMEs. This project is funded by GAIN through its ’Making markets work for nutrition’ program. The tool will initially be piloted in Nigeria and Bangladesh among member companies of the local SBNs. Partnership for a Healthier America Summit in Chicago ATNI organized a networking lunch during the PHA Summit in Chicago on 2 April. The aim was to discuss what the largest F&B companies in the US are doing to help consumers make healthier choices about what they eat and drink using the results of the ATNI U.S. Spotlight Index 2018 as starting point. May ATNI donor meeting, London In May, ATNI organized a meeting for its main donors, hosted by DFID in London. Interested DFID colleagues were invited to a presentation by ATNF’s executive director on the BMS marketing assessment undertaken for the Global Indexes as well as the on the ground assessments in specific markets. Representatives from BMGF, UK DFID and DGIS reviewed and discussed the options for ATNI’s next multi-year strategic planning (2020-2023). June EAT Forum, Stockholm ATNI attended the EAT Forum in Stockholm in June where the follow-up on the EAT-Lancet commission report ‘Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’ was the central theme. In sessions organized by GAIN, WBCSD/Fresh, UNICEF companies mentioned ATNI as the nutrition accountability mechanism they work with and would want to keep using. NBM roundtables in Nigeria and Bangladesh (June-August) ATNI travelled to Nigeria and Bangladesh, the two countries where the Nutrition Business Monitor project will roll out. In each country, we organized two roundtables; one for companies and one for CSOs and policymakers, where we presented our initial thought on how the NBM tool should look like in terms of structure and indicators. July - August Better Nutrition for a Healthier Workforce ATNI attended the 2-day roundtable organized by GAIN in Geneva in cooperation with the CGF in Geneva. The participants were stakeholders from companies with or interested in workforce programs, CSOs, UNICEF, ILO and other stakeholders involved in the supply chain. GAIN and CGF are working on developing a workforce nutrition toolkit for companies that will be launched in early 2020. National Nutrition Conclave India At the end of August 2019, the Executive Director of ATNF, Inge Kauer was invited to speak at a National Nutrition Conclave in Delhi, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry's Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (CII-FACE), and participated in a panel with industry and CSO representatives. October UNICEF State of the World’s Children 2019 ATNI was invited to provide its perspective on the role of the food industry to tackle malnutrition in the UNICEF's State of the World's Children 2019 report. For the first time in 20 years, UNICEF’s flagship report examined the issue of children, food and nutrition, providing a fresh perspective on a rapidly evolving challenge. ATNI’s work was featured in a two-page (pp 138-139) article in the report by Executive Director Inge Kauer. The report was released in October 2019 and ATNI attended the launch event in London. World food Day ATNI featured a blog on World Food Day, titled 'Acknowledging progress and prompting change' and combined this with a social media outreach plan to celebrate the day. November - December SUN Global Gathering (Kathmandu, Nepal) The bi-annual Global Gathering of the Scaling up Nutrition movement brings together stakeholders from the nutrition sphere; from governments and policy makers, to UN agencies, CSOs and businesses. The stakeholders represent the member countries of SUN as well as international organizations working in those countries. ATNI was there to present the progress of the NBM project to the various SBNs and relevant stakeholders, as well as participate in discussions for the upcoming Nutrition for Growth Summit that will take place in Japan in December 2020. Companies and investor organizations mentioning ATNI in public statements A quickscan of company and investor organizations websites and public communications found 16 companies mentioning ATNI’s work, as well as 32 investor organizations. The following box includes some examples of how they refer to ATNI. “We worked with the Access to Nutrition Index Foundation to develop an evidence-based approach that can be applied to our analysis. Based on their scientific methodology, we can now identify companies that sell unhealthy food products.” – EQ Investors “[T]he Access to Nutrition Foundation (the ‘ATNF’), a respected independent nonprofit organization, (…) already produces credible reports covering our Company that encompass sugar and public health (…). We believe it is important that our shareowners know that our Company acknowledges the ATNF findings and recognizes the role the Company must play in addressing health challenges.” – Coca-Cola “The Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF), a respected independent non-profit organization, (…) publishes reports that not only provide a robust assessment of PepsiCo’s goals and performance, but a critical analysis and benchmarking on efforts of other leading food and beverage manufacturers to improve consumers’ access to nutritious foods and beverages.” – PepsiCo “Engagement with PepsiCo on nutrition has been limited during the year. That said we were pleased to see the company increase its score on the new Access to Nutrition Index rankings.” – CCLA Investment Management “This result is encouraging and we consider it a recognition of our efforts to give substance to our purpose nourishing by nature” – FrieslandCampina CEO Hein Schumacher on FrieslandCampina’s performance in the Global Index 2018 “The evaluation performed by ATNI and its 2018 Nutrition Index regarding the strength of our H&W strategy has led us to improve our actions, commitments, practices, and performance to have a positive influence our consumers [sic!] so they may achieve better lifestyles and balanced diets.” – Grupo Bimbo “Campbell uses the report to help inform nutrition strategy and best practices in policy development, transparency and communication on nutrition issues.” – Campbell 9. Action research In 2019, ATNI initiated Action Research on two topics which are central to our Indexes but where conclusive evidence, international standards and company best-practice is lacking or only just emerging. Action Research is designed to advance knowledge and understanding of the selected topics and ultimately to improve companies’ performance on them. 1. Affordability and accessibility of healthy foods: ATNI Indexes reveal that the companies tend to score most poorly on Category C, which assesses their policies, practices and disclosure on improving the affordability and accessibility of healthy foods in markets around the world. Affordability and accessibility are essentially determined by two core business functions: pricing and distribution. They are not therefore subject to international bodies’ standards, guidelines or regulation. ATNI initiated this piece of Action Research to investigate how food companies address nutrition considerations within their pricing and distribution activities, with a view to providing guidance about how they could improve their performance in these crucial areas. Moreover, the intention was to inform future ATNI Index methodologies. ATNI commissioned Carnstone Partners, a UK-based consultancy, to undertake the first phase of this research. They started by collating statistics on the presence and nature of Index companies’ businesses, and the market penetration of their products, in three key LMICs (Nigeria, India and Mexico), and in the UK market. They then undertook a series of interviews with industry experts to answer the following questions: • How do companies organize their marketing and distribution activities in these markets? • Why are companies struggling to perform well in this area? What might be the potential barriers preventing them from doing so? • How could some of those barriers be overcome? The first phase of the research was completed by the end of 2019. Carnstone will finalize their report and make their recommendations to ATNI in early 2020. 2. Complementary Foods Commercially produced complementary foods are increasingly becoming part of young children’s diets. Children everywhere need a healthy balanced diet appropriate to their age and stage of development. In LMICs, highly nutritious and appropriately fortified complementary foods are particularly important. During 2019, ATNI undertook research and consulted several organizations including UNICEF, GAIN, HKI and First Steps Nutrition. Their input has helped shape this Action Research. During 2020, ATNI intends to establish a blueprint for assessing the scale, growth and players in individual countries’ markets in respect of commercially produced complementary foods, and the role they are playing in young children’s diets. Moreover, ATNI intends to pilot a Product Profile for complementary foods using the newly developed WHO Europe Nutrient Profiling model, in one emerging market. 10. Monitoring and Evaluation In September 2019, ATNI recruited a Program Manager who started the development of an internal M&E framework. In 2020 ATNI intends to enhance its current measurement and evaluation to better articulate and evidence the impact of the Indexes and its other work. ATNI itself will carry out an external review of its key activities and outputs. As part of developing a robust M&E system for ATNI the team reviewed and updated the theory of change based on the outlines for a new strategic plan 2020-2024 approved by the Board. 11. Risks The organization has adopted a risk management policy end 2019 describing how risks are identified, recorded in a risk register that also includes mitigation strategy, and how they are managed. At the organizational level ATNI identifies risks continuously through the stream of the regular staff meetings as well as in the context of the quarterly Board meeting. The results are reviewed by and discussed with the audit and risk committee in the Board at least annually. Independence ATNI maintained its independence in 2019 by not accepting any funding from industry and not having board or expert group members (recently) employed by food manufacturers. Company engagement In the research process for the second India Index, more companies provided data for the Product Profile assessment; eight out of 16 companies assessed used the opportunity to engage and provide additional information to ATNI actively. Companies to be assessed in the 2020 Global Index in large numbers actively asked ATNI for details of the methodology and planning for the 2020 Global Index. 17 out of 22 companies approached participated in a webinar organized for the purpose end 2019 and expressed their appreciation for the initiative. Impact in low income countries Ongoing projects to make sure that ATNI products make an impact in low-income countries as in high-income markets gained momentum in 2019. The Nutrition Business Monitor, a self-assessment tool for SMEs in emerging markets is not yet tested or finalized but could count on a lot of interest of SBNs in countries beyond Bangladesh and Nigeria (where the tool is piloted). In the project to develop a ‘micronutrient enhanced’ Nutrient Profiling System experts and companies were consulted to come to a set-up assessing 6 micronutrients (iron, vitamins A, B12, D, folate, iodine). This will be tested with companies in India in 2020. Visibility/external profile ATNI has been substantially visible and active in international conferences and events on food and nutrition in 2019 (like the EAT Forum, the Hague Conference on Building Business Commitments for N4G preparations) including stakeholder meetings with other members of the World Benchmarking Alliance. Civil society organizations and companies alike expressed their appreciation for ATNI’s products and the wish that ATNI keeps its focus on in-depth analysis of nutrition and health impacts. Competing mechanisms A new Food and Agriculture system benchmark planned by the World Benchmarking Alliance will cover more companies. Additionally, the benchmark will include environmental and social impacts derived from companies. The benchmark will only include a few indicators to look at nutrition (by making use of ATNI’s expertise) but will not provide in-depth analysis as ATNI products do. Balance resources with expectations, Safeguarding policy The ATNI team has grown steadily up to 12 by end 2019 to match the growing number of projects and plans for 2020 and beyond, and one additional staff member is to join the team in early 2020. New staff members in 2019 were asked to sign a code of conduct and were trained on the safeguarding policy. Value for Money To ensure it delivers value for money ATNI has a constant dialogue with suppliers and sub-contractors on price levels of services provided. No significant new risks emerged in 2019 to be added to the risk register nor were changes observed in the likelihood of risks to occur or the severity of their impacts. ATNI did develop a risk management policy in 2019 that was reviewed by and adopted by the Board end 2019. 12. 2019 in Pictures ¬
NL-KVK-58279199-DGISQ1-2020-report
Access to Nutrition Foundation
DGIS Q1 Activity report 2020
Objectives Overview Core Objective 1: Progress Global Indexes Core Objective 2: BMS marketing policies and practices Core Objective 3: Publish two India Spotlight Indexes Core Objective 4: Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes 15 Core Objective 5: Outreach activities Core Objective 6: Develop action research activities Core Objective 7: Develop monitoring and evaluations Additional Objective 1: Developing indexes that assess the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry Additional Objective 2: New Spotlight Indexes Additional objective 3: Further development of verification-type activities
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
This document presents the progress from January to March 2020 on the activities for which DGIS contracted the Access to Nutrition Foundation (Grant reference number - 4000000128). It is structured in line with the Objectives for ATNI as in the funding proposal. Core objectives and additional objectives, which are not relevant for the timeframe of this activity report, have been marked with a * in the Objectives Overview and are further excluded from this report.
Access to Nutrition Foundation Arthur van Schendelstraat 650 3511 MJ Utrecht, the Netherlands
Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all), SDG 12 (target 12.3)
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ATNI January to March Activity Report - 2020
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020. Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes. Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019. Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes. Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact. Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas. Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations. Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. * Additional objectives ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include: Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service compa-nies, fast food chains. Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries. Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling com-pliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
NL-KVK-58279199-NL-KVK-58279199-DGISQ2-2020-report
Access to Nutrition Foundation
DGIS Q2 Activity Report
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Objectives highlighted with a * will not be reported on as they are not applicable for this reporting period.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing
policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.*
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify
impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. *
Additional Objectives
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
This document presents the progress from April to June 2020 on the activities for which DGIS contracted the Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF, Grant reference number - 4000000128). It is structured in line with the Objectives for the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) as in the funding proposal.
[Core objectives and additional objectives, which are not relevant for the timeframe of this activity report, have been marked with a * in the Objectives Overview and are further excluded from this report].
Objectives Overview
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Objectives and activities highlighted with a * will not be reported on as they are not applicable for this reporting period.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing
policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.*
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify
impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. *
Additional Objectives
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra DFID-funded activities 2020-2022
With the additional funding support from DFID as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16th 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for the DFID project ‘Sustaining Action On Nutrition’ (no. 300590) ATNI will embark on the following extra activities:
1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020.
2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 GNS/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 FSS and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020. *
3. Investor coalition starting October 2020. *
4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021. *
5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021. *
6. Country approach starting July 2021. *
Progress on relevant objectives for April - June 2020
Core Objective 1: Progress Global Indexes
Global Index
The second quarter of the year was marked by the adaptation of the project to the new context of the COVID-19 pandemic. ATNI initiated a timeline and feasibility consultation with the Global Index selected companies. The intention to develop an action research project to monitor the response of F&B companies to the pandemic was also communicated.
Out of the 25 selected companies, we received 20 responses. The 5 companies that did not provide any input have not been engaging so far in the Index. All responding companies manifested their interest in the upcoming COVID-19 response tracking project. A few of them offered to actively contribute.
Based on the outcomes of the consultation we proposed a differentiated data collection approach on the 12th of June. The timeline was presented as follows:
• The first group of companies was invited to provide additional information on the 1st of June.
• The second group will be invited to start in July 2020.
• The third group from September 2020.
Despite the differentiated approach, ATNI will maintain a similar data collection duration for all groups. All companies, regardless of the group they are included in, will be able to submit additional relevant information up to the 29th of September 2020. It was also announced that the substantial timeline adjustment will impact the publication of the Index, which was initially planned for the fourth quarter of 2020, and will be now most likely to occur in the first half of 2021. Consequently, the Global Index will, from now own, bee referred to as the Global Index 2021.
Although companies welcomed the flexibility offered by the differentiated approach, a few of them raised concern about the potential impact it might have on their score. ATNI guaranteed to maintain strong quality assurance processes. Furthermore, besides the specific peer-review process organized for each group of companies, ATNI will hold a final reviewing session at the end of the assessment cycle.
At the time this report was is written ATNI finished compiling company profiles based on publicly available info for the first group consisting of 7 companies. These companies took part in an introductory webinar on the 29th of May and started the first four-week data exchange phase on the 1st of June. The ATNI research team started work of the second group, which includes 4 companies, throughout the month of June.
At the end of June, the detailed Global Index 2021 methodology was published on the ATNI website and shared via multiple communication channels, including ATNI social media.
Core Objective 2: BMS marketing policies and practices
The ‘Breastmilk Substitutes -BMS- and Complementary Foods -CF- marketing’ sub-ranking comprises two elements:
BMS / CF 1. Corporate Profile assessment — designed to measure the extent to which the BMS companies' marketing policies align to The Code , the strength of their management systems and the extent of their public disclosure.
BMS / CF 2. In-country assessments — designed to measure companies' compliance with The Code and/or national regulations (whichever is stricter) in two selected countries. The studies are conducted using the NetCode protocol; data is collected in healthcare facilities, retailers and various forms of the media.
This quarter, ATNI complied company profiles for BMS / CF 1 based on publicly available info for the seven BMS companies that are actively engaging – Nestlé, Danone, RB, Abbott, FrieslandCampina, Kraft-Heinz and Pepsico. The companies reviewed ATNI’s initial analysis and provided their feedback. ATNI is now reviewing their input. We will have one further round of clarification with the companies on any open points and/or questions before completing the assessment by the end of September 2020.
Regarding BMS/ CF 2, ATNI completed data collection in the Philippines with slight delays due to COVID-19 that affected our local research partners’ ability to purchase BMS products in order to review their labels and inserts. However, our local partner had by the end of the quarter bought most of the products and completed the analysis. Westat has started analysing and doing a 100% quality check of the data, before organizing data files to share with ATNI, which we will share with the companies for their review. Preparations for the second country study are still on hold because of the pandemic. ATNI remains in close contact with Westat and its local partner to monitor developments and determine how we can move forwards.
Regarding our work with FTSE Russell and PwC, ATNI is closely coordinating the process. During this quarter, PwC analysed the information it collected during the visit to the Philippines earlier in the year to interview three companies – Nestlé, Danone and RB – and followed up with them to clarify certain points and ask for additional documentation. PwC will use the information from these interviews together with a data set provided by ATNI to prepare company reports for FTSE Russell.
During the quarter, ATNI has also worked closely with several UN agencies and NGOs that have signed and launched a Call to Action to the world’s 19 largest BMS manufacturers to ask them to commit to full Code compliance by 2030, and other steps between now and then. ATNI will evaluate the responses for the Call to Action signatories.
Core Objective 3: Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2020
In February 2020, ATNI launched and published the main results of the India Spotlight Index 2020 and the detailed results and analysis of the scores of companies on the category studying the healthiness of their product portfolio and individual products (with the Product Profile).
With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, planning for the release of the other thematic chapters of the Index (on marketing, labelling, governance, access & affordability , healthy lifestyle support and engagement) had to be adjusted to match the new realities companies are facing in India.
Companies in February received an invite to participate in a CEO roundtable after summer on the outcomes of the Index and possible sector-wide alignment and agenda setting towards an accelerated shift for healthier nutrition for all Indians.
With the pandemic still having large impacts at the time this report is written, ATNI and stakeholders have decided to explore ways to organize online events to take these plans forward.
Core Objective 5: Outreach activities
1. Investors
During the second quarter, ATNI worked closely with an external consultant to finalise the new Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health, and to consult with relevant stakeholders. The consultations provided ATNI with valuable input; the final document was ready by the end of Q2. In early Q3, ATNI will share the Expectations with current Investor Signatories and to ask them to endorse them, before reaching out towards the end of the quarter to additional institutional investors to ask them to become signatories. The Investors Expectations document can be found here.
The investor portal has been populated and a few last design revisions are being made. The portal will contain a document library with various reports relevant to investors on nutrition, and a news section. The section dedicated to collaborative engagement will also be populated with relevant documents from work so far and prepare it for engagement relating to future Indexes. The portal will be launched in Q3. The new portal and Investor page on the website will be featured more prominently.
The ATNI Investor Statement has been updated and designed in the new ATNI branding, it can be accessed here.
2. Publication of Global Index 2021
The methodology of the Global Index 2021 was published on June 26. In terms of outreach, the methodology document was added to the library of the website and a news item was published alongside it, to describe the initial plans for the next iteration of the Global Index paying particular attention to the changes compared to previous Global Indexes such as the inclusion of the Product Profile within Category B. It also emphasized that there is a reduction in the number of indicators the assessment is based on, a decision that was made to improve efficiency when assessing and engaging with companies. The news item is available here, and the full Global Index 2021 Methodology document can be downloaded here.
3. World Benchmarking Alliance – Allies Assembly
Various members of the ATNI team attended the Allies Assembly, organized by the World Benchmarking Alliance. Over the course of the Assembly (8-10th June), we delved into a number of topics and explored ways in which WBA’s Allies can help to drive collective action and collaboration on the shared goals of the Alliance. ATNI was represented at three of the five possible workshops:
• Workshop 1: Systems transformation, focused on building back better systems in the context of COVID-19
• Workshop 2: North-South cooperation which had a focus on food and agriculture
• Workshop 5: Reinforcing WBA’s narrative, turning benchmarks into action, it looked at the roles of the Allies how to create better community among allies
Core Objective 6: Develop action research activities
In 2019, ATNI started action research on two topics related to the Indexes. Action research is designed to focus on areas where conclusive evidence, international standards and/or company practice is weak or emerging. The goals are to feed into the methodologies for our Indexes, publish new analysis, and to contribute new insights on these topics to a wide range of stakeholders.
1. Action research on accessibility and affordability
The goal of this research is to better understand why companies are struggling to perform well in Category C in the ATNI Indexes, which assesses their performance on improving the affordability and accessibility of healthy products. ATNI contracted Carnstone Partners to do the first phase of this work. During the first quarter of 2020, Carnstone finalized its analysis and presented this to ATNI. Plans to hold one or more workshops for companies and other stakeholders to discuss the findings are on hold, due to COVID-19.
2. Action research on complementary foods
The goal of this research is to contribute to the understanding of the role commercially produced complementary foods play in the diets of infants and young children in low- and middle-income countries.
During Q2, ATNI followed up with organisations in the Philippines and Mexico - the two countries selected for this project - and discussed and agreed on the Table of Contents and the way forward for the study. The local partners will complete pilot Landscape Studies in both countries. In the Philippines, the local partner will also do a Product Profile using the WHO Euro CF model, with the guidance of the team at the University of Leeds who initially developed and tested the model for WHO Europe.
Core Objective 7: Develop monitoring and evaluations
As part of developing a robust monitoring and evaluation system for ATNI, the ATNI team reviewed and updated ATNI’s theory of change based on the outlines for the new strategic plan 2020-2024 that have been approved by the ATNI Board.
The framework proposal will be submitted to the ATNI Board in September 2020 for revision and approval.
Additional Objective 1: Developing indexes that assess the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains
ATNI continued its communication with ShareAction, funded in part through its Healthy Markets campaign, on the follow up of the UK Supermarket Spotlight report (https://accesstonutrition.org/project/atni-shareaction/) published on March.
At ShareAction’s request, ATNI drafted a proposal to present to ShareAction’s funder, Guys & St Thomas's Charity, to develop and publish a full UK ATNI Retailer Index on 2021-2022. A decision is expected in the next quarter.
Additional Objective 2: New Spotlight Indexes
US Spotlight Index
The focus of the US Index for the 2nd Quarter of the year was twofold. The methodology consultation was carried on while planning repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic were considered to adjust the overall timeline of the Index.
The US Index methodology consultation yielded feedback on the main methodological changes for this second iteration of the Index. Firstly, the methodology was aligned with the Global Index. More specifically, the Product Profile was integrated in Category B of the Index (Products). Moreover, Food Loss and Waste indicators were added and the PAHO model was selected as the relevant WHO regional model to guide the responsible marketing to children. In continuity with its most recent work on the responsible lobbying framework initiative, ATNI adapted the G1 indicator details. Lastly, while the introduction of the Priority Population concept led to a major change in the Global Index methodology since the Priority Populations concept was already introduced in the US index 2018, no major changes in the US Index approach for 2021 were needed.
Those key changes were submitted for consultation to different stakeholder groups. On the 15th of April, a webinar was organized with investors. 6 investors attended the session where main methodology changes were discussed. The introduction of the Food Loss and Waste indicators were positively received. On the other hand, questions were raised about the adoption of the PAHO model in comparison with the CFBAI model which is largely adopted in the United States.
The 11 selected companies responded to an online survey. The main concerns focused on the third scored element of the Product Profile, namely the mean healthiness score between 2018 and 2021, for which further description was requested by a few companies. Another point was raised around the PAHO model which was not perceived as the most adapted to the US market. Further suggestions were made to add indicators including the effort made by companies to reduce package size under the topic of portion control.
The consultation cycle was closely followed by the RWJF who made further suggestions. The US Expert Group will meet in July to go through the main outcomes of the consultation and offer recommendations.
Lastly, the COVID-19 impact on the implementation timeline of the Index was assessed and will be later communicated to involved stakeholders.
Additional Objective 3: Further development of verification-type activities
Nutrition Business Monitor project
Due to COVID-19, many of the scheduled activities for the NBM project had to be rescheduled and adapted to the new circumstances. Therefore, all trips for testing the tool in the two selected countries were cancelled. Regarding Nigeria, the SUN Business Network that is quite well established was interested to move forward with a first round of online testing of the tool. In May, 4 companies used the tool and then a webinar was organized to discuss the feedback the companies had regarding the functionality and content of the tool. The feedback was very insightful and to the point. ATNI is now preparing for a second round of testing with 5 more Nigerian companies, to get a more representative sample of how the tool works for SMEs in Nigeria. Regarding Bangladesh, the project was put on pause for Q2 as the hit of the pandemic was quite hard for Bangladesh businesses, and especially SMEs. ATNI remained in contact with the SBN coordinator in Dhaka and is preparing to continue with the project in Bangladesh during Q3 and get 5 companies to test the tool.
Responsible Lobbying Framework
To take forward ATNI’s work to encourage responsible lobbying the team has been involved in the development of a new Responsible Lobbying Framework: https://www.responsible-lobbying.org/about
It’s designed to be picked up by companies themselves, industry associations, investors - a wide range of organizations - to inform their policies, practices and transparency linked to BMS marketing & Code compliance or on any topic - climate change, food and nutrition.
ATNI is adapting it to create a methodology to assess the approach to lobbying of infant formula companies. The initial analysis against that methodology is nearly completed. In the medium term, ATNI intends to integrate (parts of) the framework in our assessments of food and beverage companies, within our Global and Spotlight Access to Nutrition Indexes.
Extra DFID-funded activities 2020-2022
Earlier this year and in addition to DFID’s contributiton to ATNI’s core budget for the period of 2016-2020, ATNI received an additional grant with the amount of £1,500,000 from DFID and for the period of 2020-2022. The DFID-funded extra activties will allow ATNI to work on the agreed upon extra activities and to adapt plans and priorities to take into account the impacts of COVID-19.
Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020
This quarter, ATNI has developed a framework to identify action (and inaction) by food and beverage manufacturers in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences, adding an explicit COVID-19 lens to ATNI’s existing assessment of companies. This new framework will empower stakeholders with the knowledge and understanding of the actions of major food and beverage manufacturers worldwide to address the crisis and its far-reaching effects; it will essentially act as a best-practice guide.
The indicators included in the framework span ATNI’s existing Index thematic areas (see graph below). It enables a systematic assessment of companies’ strategic commitments, product formulation and marketing, accessibility and affordability of products, support for employees and supply chain partners, and whether, during the crisis, baby food manufacturers are marketing their products appropriately. This framework will also incorporate new approaches to track companies’ engagement actions in support of governments’ efforts to combat the crisis, and leadership examples in supporting SMEs and livelihoods across the food value chain.
In June, following the development of the draft ATNI Covid-19 Framework, ATNI organized Zoom/MS Teams consultations with representatives of industry organizations, UN agencies and NGOs. Comments were also sought from ATNI board members. All were sent, in advance, an introduction to the Framework and the draft Framework itself:
• Representatives of Food Industry Asia, The Consumer Goods Forum and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development;
• Department for International Development (UK);
• Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS – within the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs);
• Food Foundation (UK);
• GAIN;
• Institute of Development Studies (UK);
• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI);
• Netherlands Nutrition Working Group (representatives of the International Medical Corps, RVO, Save the Children Netherlands, The Hunger Project, UNICEF Netherlands and the Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation);
• Tufts University (US);
• UNICEF;
• World Food Program;
• and ATNI board members.
The aim of the consultation was to inform the scope of the initiative as a whole and to gather concrete suggestions for the Framework and indicators themselves. It was used to ascertain whether and how the Framework could add value to those working in the nutrition space, avoiding duplication of others’ efforts (because many initiatives have sprung up simultaneously since the start of the Covid-19 crisis in early 2020). Overall, the Framework was well received, and many useful comments and suggestions were made.
The final Framework adapted with the inputs from the consultations is to be published in July and will also include a section with emerging themes.
Access to Nutrition Foundation Arthur van Schendelstraat 650 3511 MJ Utrecht, the Netherlands
Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all), SDG 12 (target 12.3)
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ATNI April to June Activity Report - 2020
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Objectives and activities highlighted with a * will not be reported on as they are not applicable for this reporting period.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing
policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.*
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify
impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. *
Additional Objectives
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
NL-KVK-58279199-DGISQ3-2020-report
Access to Nutrition Foundation
DGIS Q3 Activity Report 2020
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Core Objective 1
Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2
Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3
Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4
Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 5
Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6
Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7
Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8
Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation.
Additional Objectives
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1
Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2
Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3
Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra activities 2020-2022
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16th 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI will embark on the following extra activities:
1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020.
2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 GNS/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 FSS and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
3. Investor coalition starting October 2020.
4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021.
5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021.
6. Country approach starting July 2021.
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
This document presents the progress from July to September 2020 on the activities for which DGIS contracted the Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF, Grant reference number - 4000000128). It is structured in line with the Objectives for the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) as in the funding proposal.
In the upcoming quarterly reports, ATNI will provide an update on the development of the activities as applicable.
[Core objectives and additional objectives, which are not relevant for the timeframe of this activity report, have been marked with a * in the Objectives Overview and are further excluded from this report].
Objectives Overview
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Objectives highlighted with a * will not be reported on as they are not applicable for this reporting period.
Core Objective 1
Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2
Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3
Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4
Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes. *
Core Objective 5
Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6
Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7
Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8
Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. *
Additional Objectives
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1
Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2
Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3
Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra activities 2020-2022
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16th 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for the DFID project ‘Sustaining Action On Nutrition’ (no. 300590) ATNI will embark on the following extra activities:
1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020.
2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 GNS/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 FSS and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
3. Investor coalition starting October 2020. *
4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021. *
5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021. *
6. Country approach starting July 2021. *
Progress on relevant objectives for –June-September 2020
Core Objective 1: Progress Global Indexes
Global Index
In the third quarter of 2020, selected companies for the Global Index 2021 continued engaging with ATNI. By the end of September, ATNI’s data collection platform opened to 22 out of 25 companies. At this stage, 77% of these companies have directly engaged on the platform, either by providing comments or submitting additional evidence in response to the assessment.
To further its regular engagement, ATNI organized three informative webinar sessions attended by a total of 33 participants. Moreover, ATNI set up several calls with companies who requested guidance on specific assessment-related topics.
The Product Profile, which, in this iteration, will be integrated in Category B of the Index, progressed through several stages. Companies provided feedback on the scope of countries and product categories selected for the assessment. Based on this information, ATNI’s research partner, The George Institute for Global Health (TGI), generated a list of products per company. The respective product lists were shared with companies during the month of September.
Within a six-week period, companies are asked to verify the accuracy of the product list and to provide information on products that are missing. This verification includes the provision of nutrition information, and more specifically: Energy (kcal or kJ/100g), Protein (g/100g), Total fat (g/100g), Carbohydrate (g/100g), Saturated fat (g/100g), Trans fat (g/100g), Sugars (g/100g), Added sugar (g/100g), Sodium (mg/100g), Fiber (g/100g), Calcium (mg/100g), Sweeteners (Y/N).
In order to increase data precision, companies are also encouraged to share additional nutrition content data beyond that on the label. The percentage of the product that is fruit, vegetable, nut or legume, which is necessary to calculate the Health Star Rating, can also be submitted as part of this additional information.
The last quarter of 2020 will be dedicated to the finalization of companies’ assessments. Moreover, ATNI will publish a Request for Proposals for PR agencies to support the communications around Global Index 2021.
Micronutrient enhanced nutrient profiling
Lastly, it is important to note that ATNI is using the opportunity of undertaking the Product Profile for Global Index 2021 to run a pilot to test a micronutrient-enhanced nutrient profiling system. This system enables products’ micronutrient content (initially folic acid, iodine, iron, vitamins A, B12 and D) to be assessed, in the context of addressing micronutrient deficiencies of public health importance. The pilot will be run in five countries (Mexico, India, South Africa, as well as Australia) and 17 companies selected for the Index. Companies are asked on voluntary bases to add information on the micronutrient content of the products that are assessed for the 2021 Global Index. These data will not be published or used in companies’ scores, just to test the effectiveness and validity of the enhanced NPS model.
Core Objective 2: BMS marketing policies and practices
The ‘Breast-milk Substitutes -BMS- and Complementary Foods -CF- marketing’ sub-ranking comprises two elements:
BMS/CF 1: Corporate Profile assessment — designed to measure the extent to which the BMS companies' marketing policies align to The Code , the strength of their management systems and the extent of their public disclosure.
BMS/CF 2: In-country assessments — designed to measure companies' compliance with The Code and/or national regulations (whichever is stricter) in two selected countries. The studies are conducted using the NetCode protocol; data is collected in healthcare facilities, retailers and various forms of the media.
BMS/CF 1: During Q3, ATNI reviewed companies’ input on the first round of analysis and gave them access for the second and final time to clarify any open questions and provide ATNI with any missing documents. ATNI also held calls with some of the companies to discuss these questions with them. The initial scores will be produced by early November, after ATNI has finalized all of the assessments.
BMS/CF 2: Westat shared the final dataset for the Philippines in-country assessment. ATNI uploaded the findings and images of potential incidences of non-compliance to a new area of the research platform for the four global companies present in that market: Abbott, RB, Danone and Nestlé. These companies reviewed the findings and provided their comments on them. This is a new step in for the in-country assessments. ATNI reviewed the companies’ feedback and is working to finalize the results. Regarding the second country, Westat was in close communication with ATNI and the local research partner, and due to the pandemic, it was decided to move forwards only with the elements of the study that were safe for the researcher to undertake, given the small likelihood that the situation would improve in the near future, and the timeline had already been extended. Interviews in the healthcare facilities will not be conducted nor the visits to the smaller retailers. However, all other elements will continue, as they can be done online or safely. Westat conducted the online training with the local team and the data collection has begun. It is expected to be completed by November.
In terms of the collaboration between FTSE Russell and ATNI, PwC has been in close contact. It is preparing for calls with the three companies within the FTSE4Good Indexes to present the findings from the interviews at the companies’ headquarters and in the Philippines with local staff. The FTSE company reports that PwC will write will be ready in early November, to meet FTSE’s deadline. A second round of company reports will be written once the second country data are finalized, early next year.
Further to last quarter’s report, the BMS Call to Action was published by WHO, UNICEF and several other NGO signatories on June 25th. The deadline for replies from the 19 companies to which it was addressed, and the industry associations, is 25th September. ATNI has been asked to evaluate the companies’ responses for the signatories and assess whether the companies make any of the commitments within the Call to Action. ATNI also facilitated a group of investors to write letters to the listed companies among those targeted by the BMS Call to Action to encourage them to respond and make the requested commitments.
During this quarter, ATNI distributed a social media package to partners and stakeholders for World Breastfeeding Week. Additionally, the BMS Principles page on the new ATNI website was redesigned and restructured, with new content to make it easier to navigate and give a deeper insight into ATNI’s work on this important topic. A blog summarizing all of ATNI’s work on BMS marketing was published in this period; it outlined how ATNI assesses companies in this area and set out the progress needed, including a reference to the BMS Call to Action.
Core Objective 3: Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2020
In February 2020, ATNI launched and published the main results of the India Spotlight Index 2020 and the detailed results and analysis of the scores of companies on the Category B which assesses the healthiness of their product portfolio and individual products (through the Product Profile).
The release of the thematic chapters of the Index (on marketing, labelling, governance, access & affordability, healthy lifestyle support and engagement) was postponed due to the pandemic.
The chapters on healthy lifestyles/support to the workforce, and on labelling and health claims, will be launched online end of October 2020. Chapters on delivering accessible and affordable healthy foods and on influencing governments and policymakers, and stakeholder engagement will follow. ATNI attended the Delivering for Nutrition in India online conference on September 15-18 to stay up to date with the nutrition landscape in India ahead of the launch of the next chapters.
Core Objective 5: Outreach activities
1. Investors
The new ATNI Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health were published on July 1st and shared with existing ATNI signatories to ask them to reconfirm their support. The majority of the signatories have done so. ATNI is following up with the remaining ones to ensure their support. In addition, ATNI is currently approaching other investment managers and asset owners in the Netherlands, UK and Japan and other markets to expand its pool of signatories, principally by organizing webinars with national social/sustainable investment forums; the next one planned is with the French SIF (early November 2020).
The Investor Portal will be finalised in the coming weeks (Q4 2020) and log-ins will be made available to the signatories. The investor-focused pages of the website are being reviewed to include more information about the work ATNI is doing with and for investors, and to provide links to investment relevant reports and articles on nutrition and health.
2. World Benchmarking Alliance – Allies Assembly
ATNI had a call with WBA in September to discuss future collaboration on the development of the WBA Food and Agriculture Benchmark. WBA asked ATNI to think about which specific nutrition indicators could be incorporated. In October 2020, the two research teams of WBA and ATNI will meet to discuss this. Additionally, we are exploring ATNI’s role in engagement with food and beverage manufacturers that are already in ATNI Indexes and in sharing/submitting nutrition data of these (and potentially other food and beverage manufacturers) for the WBA Food and Agriculture Benchmark.
3. Communications update
ATNI is in the process of hiring an agency to support with social media analytics and planning, as well as an agency to help develop and set SMART targets within the ATNI Communications Plan. We are assessing the feasibility of conducting a social media audit to ensure ATNI has consisting messaging and branding across each of our social media channels, and that it is aligned to the overall strategy. The agency selected may also support ATNI in creating a more in-depth content strategy utilising appropriate planning tools to improve the frequency and allow for more effective measuring of impact. This will be integrated into the new Monitoring and Evaluation framework currently under development. Martina Asquini, who recently joined the ATNI team as an intern, is supporting with the implementation of the communications plan and content creation.
Core Objective 6: Develop action research activities
In 2019, ATNI started two Action Research projects related to the Indexes. Action Research is designed to deliver new insights on areas where conclusive evidence, international standards and/or company practice is weak or emerging. The goals are to feed into the methodologies for our Indexes, publish new information and analysis, and to contribute new insights on these topics to a wide range of stakeholders.
1. Action research on accessibility and affordability
The goal of this research is to better understand why companies are struggling to perform well in Category C (on accessibility and affordability of healthy products) in the ATNI Indexes. ATNI contracted Carnstone Partners to do the first phase of this work. During the first quarter of 2020, Carnstone finalized its analysis and presented this to ATNI.
The final draft of Carnstone’s report has been submitted and ATNI has shared it with FCDO. The next step for ATNI is to consider how to use its findings and recommendations to inform future Indexes and other projects.
2. Action research on complementary foods
ATNI has contracted local partners in the two selected countries, who have started the research. For Country 1, the local partner will conduct a landscape analysis for commercially produced complementary foods and the current trends of infant and young child eating patterns. For Country 2, the same landscape study will be conducted, plus a Product Profile of the complementary foods identified and bought in the local market, using the WHO/Europe model for complementary foods nutrient profiling. Jayne Hutchinson, a Professor from the University of Leeds who worked with WHO/Europe to develop the nutrient profiling model, is providing advice to the local partner to ensure accuracy of the data and use of the model.
Research on both projects is progressing well. The organizations undertaking the research will deliver their final reports later in the quarter. We will then edit and design them to be ready for publication in Q1 2021.
Core Objective 7: Develop Monitoring and Evaluation
ATNI’s M&E framework proposal was submitted to the ATNI Board in September 2020 for revision and approval. The purpose of this monitoring framework is to generate learning to improve ATNI program and project performance, to ensure ATNI is as effective as possible in driving private sector contributions to better nutrition. More specifically, the framework is designed to: ensure accountability to donors and other stakeholders; support project or program management (i.e. making immediate decisions to manage an existing project or program); generate learning to contribute to better planning and performance in current or future projects or programs; provide information that can be used for marketing, publicity or fundraising work; provide a basis for regular evaluations including independent impact assessment.
The framework is designed with Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning components in mind. ATNI will start developing key resources for each of the Monitoring and Evaluation components and will explore how they can be used for the future Learning component. The system is supported by different resources including human, financial and technological resources. The M&E framework will be developed through an iterative process and as a living document. Feedback from users as well as external stakeholders such as donors will serve as a basis for continuous improvement.
The framework has served as a basis to design the Terms of Reference of an independent impact evaluation. The objective of the latter is to:
- assess the impact and changes brought about by ATNI’s program;
- assess the contribution of ATNI’s intervention to any identified change;
- identify the internal and external factors that hindered or enabled these changes; and
- provide a combination of findings, recommendations and learnings to ATNI and other relevant stakeholders.
The key evaluation questions of the assessment will be based on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) criteria, as advised by FCDO: Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact, Sustainability.
ATNI has consulted FCDO on both its M&E framework and Impact Assessment design and will take into consideration resulting suggestions for improvement. The Independent Impact Evaluation will most likely be commissioned in the second quarter of 2021 (after the launch of the Global Index), while the selection process of the Evaluator and the actual Impact Evaluation will start in the first quarter of 2021.
Additional Objective 1: Developing indexes that assess the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains
ShareAction’s funder, Guys & St Thomas's Charity, has agreed to fund the development and publication of the full UK Retailer Index. The contract has been signed for a grant with the amount of £209,632.50. The Index will include 11 large retailers. As with other Indexes, retailers will be offered the opportunity to sign NDAs in order to provide ATNI with confidential information. In September, a kick-off meeting was held with ShareAction, and preparations were made for consultation webinars and processes on the methodology with retail companies and other nutrition stakeholders in the UK, including investors and CSO representatives. Company research will start in early January 2021. The agreement is to publish the Index in Q1 2022.
Additional Objective 2: New Spotlight Indexes
US Spotlight Index
The US Expert Group met on July 2nd to review the main changes of the US Index 2021 methodology. The session was well attended, with five members participating in the live session and one member providing written inputs after the session.
Among the main items discussed, the integration of sustainability related indicators and in particular the concept of Food Loss and Waste generated a lot of discussion but did not result in any specific suggested change to the methodology. Furthermore, several propositions were made about how ATNI should credit the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) nutrition criteria to determine marketing to children, as well as a company’s own criteria. During the session, the ATNI COVID-19 report triggered a lot of interest within the US Expert Group with members providing input on key focus areas.
Following a discussion with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in July 2020 about validation of the methodology, ATNI started a process to review it, led by its Research and Engagement Advisor and involving the Research team. Two main elements of a verification process are being explored:
- Externally: Cognitive interviews carried with US-based F&B companies to test and improve the clarity of indicators and answer options;
- Internally: The inter-rater reliability testing could be combined with an adapted first Peer-review phase of the Index
ATNI has agreed with RWJF that the validation will start by the end of 2020.
Additional Objective 3: Further development of verification-type activities
Nutrition Business Monitor project
Since the last update, ATNI has updated the recommendations on the tool based on feedback from the companies, and improved the language as well as the layout in the recommendations. The total score and the score for each category was also included in the update document of the recommendations. During this quarter, a second round of testing of the tool was done in Nigeria with three additional Nigerian companies. Following their testing of the tool, a webinar was organized to get their input and hear about the impact of COVID-19 on their business. Their feedback shows that they prefer a simple tool that can be filled within one to two hours and that the Nutrition Business Monitor (NBM) specifically helps raising awareness and knowledge for small/micro enterprises, while for larger companies it confirms their areas of strength and need for training/knowledge exchange in specific areas (like certification, packaging, fortification). The next step of the project is the first round of testing in Bangladesh in September which will be followed by a webinar to get the companies’ feedback in early October. Subsequently, ATNI will have follow-up discussions with GAIN, SBN to discuss feedback and next steps in terms of capacity building.
Responsible Lobbying Framework
ATNI has transposed the Responsible Lobbying Framework into an ATNI-style methodology which has been used to assess the ten largest baby food companies, with the help of a consultancy firm. ATNI organized calls with seven companies, excluding the Chinese companies with which ATNI has not been able to establish direct contact, to discuss their results and set out our recommendations for improvement. The companies were very interested in their results and the recommendations, and actively engaged with ATNI on this piece of work. In addition, ATNI has undertaken desk research on the feasibility of establishing a ‘BMS lobbying observatory’. ATNI is currently conducting interviews with selected stakeholders from CSOs, companies, academia, UN agencies and other selected stakeholders to learn from their experience and knowledge of how lobbying takes place, and to hear whether and how they see such an observatory working. This project is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Extra activities 2020-2022
Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020
The first COVID-19 report was published July 15, 2020. The focus of the first report was the research framework and key trends in the food and beverage sector as a response to COVID-19 between April and June 2020, including:
- Changing business environment: changing consumer behavior, marketing practices, policies and regulations and investors’ responses;
- Attention to health of the workforce in factories, offices and supply chains;
- Resilience risks in food supply chains;
- Deteriorating marketing practices in the baby-food sector;
- Company behavior with regards to product promotions.
The report was published on the ATNI website, Twitter and LinkedIn and shared with all ATNI Indexes companies and key stakeholders, including the ATNI Board, ATNI Expert Group, funders, industry associations etc.:
- Full report: https://accesstonutrition.org/app/uploads/2020/07/First -quarterly-COVID-report-Final-version.pdf
- Framework: https://accesstonutrition.org/app/uploads/2020/07/Final -Covid-19-framework-Footnotes.pdf
- News item: https://accesstonutrition.org/news/first-offour-reports-on-company-responses-to-covid-19-justpublished/
- Nutrition Connect: https://nutritionconnect.org/resource-center/blog-40- private-sector-accountability-more-important-eversupporting-positive
Organizations and individuals who shared content about this project include:
Global Nutrition Report (GNR); One World, No Hunger; SUN Business Network; The Indian Nutrition Initiative (TATA Trusts); Scaling Up Nutrition; Susanna Stormer, Novo Nordisk; The Power of Nutrition; Helen Keller International; World Food Programme India (WFP India); FCDO; Westat; SDG2 Advocacy Hub; Corinna Hawkes, GNR; Charity Needs Foundation; Lawrence Haddad, GAIN; Sharon Bligh, Consumer Goods Forum; Consumer Goods Forum.
During July/August, analysts conducted company assessments of 39 ATNI companies (Global, US, India, BMS) following the ATNI COVID-19 framework and based on publicly available information. Companies were given the opportunity to share additional non-confidential information on top of this. Weekly monitoring of third-party publicly available resources on companies’ responses to COVID-19 continued during this quarter, including Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), Food Industry Asia (FIA) and monitoring on BMS news.
In September, quality checks were conducted by cross-checking the information gathered. As a result, key trends have been short-listed and the draft report was written. The second quarterly COVID-19 report will be published mid-October and shared with businesses and other nutrition stakeholders through email, social-media and webinars that will be organized end of October/early November 2020.
Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 GNS/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 FSS and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020
The Nutrition for Growth Summit has been postponed to December 2021. ATNI is still regularly advising the Business Constituency Group (BCG) on how companies start preparing SMART commitments including accountability elements. The last meeting took place in September 2020. Concrete next steps depend on the approval of the Government of Japan.
The UN Food Systems Summit will start in summer 2021 and might be spread over a period of weeks. ATNI is involved in discussions on alignment with N4G on nutrition commitments and accountability; this proves to be a difficult process.
WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism: ATNI is continuing its dialogue with WHO on its expectations regarding developing a WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism. Initially, we will likely narrow the scope originally discussed and develop a report on IFBA-member commitments only on iTFAs, probably delivered by the end of 2020.
World Benchmarking Alliance. The new director for the Food & Agriculture Benchmark Viktoria de Bourbon de Parme and her team met ATNI team on September 10 and agreed on data exchange options and further alignment of indicators. There will be a follow up meeting with the research teams in October.
Planning of Q4 2020 (Oct-Dec 2020) and Q1 2021 (Jan-March 2021) reporting period
Changes in planning per project, in large part due to the impact of COVID-19, as well as activities planned for Q4 and 2021 are listed in this section. The draft Activity planning 2021 is attached in the Annex.
Core Objective 1 Global Index: By mid-November, all Global Index companies are expected to submit their feedback on the list of products that will be assessed in the Product Profile. All 25 companies will have engaged on ATNI’s platform by early December. The second Peer Review will start in December and be continued into early Q1 2021. By the end of March 2021, the drafting of Global Index findings and chapters will be at an advanced stage. The launch of the Global Index is now expected in Q2 2021.
Core Objective 2 BMS: As described earlier, BMS in-country work has been delayed due to COVID-19. The completion date for this work is now expected to be the end of Q1 2021. Based on the current plan, the data collection in the second country will finish mid-Q3 2020 and following that, reports will be written and the scores for each company will be calculated, using both BMS 1 and BMS 2.
Core Objective 3 and 4: India Index 2020
The release of the thematic chapters of the India Index was changed due to the pandemic. The chapters on healthy lifestyle/ workforce nutrition support, and labelling and health claims will be launched online by the end of October 2020. Chapters on delivering accessible and affordable healthy foods, on influencing governments and policymakers, and on stakeholder engagement will follow in November/December 2020.
Core Objective 5: Engagement
Investors: In Q4 2020, ATNI will continue approaching potential new signatories directly and will arrange webinars with various regional and national investor networks for this quarter or the first quarter of 2021, to raise awareness of ATNI’s work, the Investor Expectations and the engagement with companies we facilitate. We hope that through these events, we will attract new signatories in the medium term.
The Investor Portal will be finalized in the coming weeks (Q4 2020) and log-ins will be made available to the signatories. The investor-focused pages of the website are being reviewed to include more information about the work ATNI is doing with and for investors, and to provide links to investment relevant reports and articles on nutrition and health.
The collaborative investor engagement around the results of the Global Index 2021 and US Index 2021 will also be organized and managed through this portal.
Core Objective 6: Action Research
Accessibility and Affordability: This report has been finalized. The next step of this activity for ATNI is to consider how to use its findings and recommendations to inform future Indexes and other projects.
Complementary foods: the final reports will be delivered later in Q4 2020. We will then edit and design the reports. In Q1 2021, they will be ready for publication.
Core Objective 7: M&E
ATNI has consulted FCDO on both its M&E framework and Impact Assessment design and will take into consideration resulting suggestions for improvement. The Independent Impact Evaluation will most likely be commissioned in the second quarter of 2021, while the selection process of the Evaluator and the actual Impact Evaluation will start in the first quarter of 2021, concurring with the publication of the Global Index.
Additional objective 1: Retailer Index
UK Retailer Index: in October 2020, consultations will take place to discuss the methodology. The methodology will be finalized with the advice of the UK Retail Index Expert Group in November. In December, the data-collection platform will be prepared so that research can start in Q1 2021, as the plan agreed with ShareAction.
Additional objective 2: New Spotlight Indexes
US Index: In the last quarter of 2020, exit surveys as well as cognitive interviews will be carried out with the 11 US Index companies as part of the methodology validation effort. The outcome of the validation is expected to be reflected in the US Index updated methodology between December and January. The assessment of companies will be initiated in Q1 2021. ATNI plans to publish the US Index end of 2021.
Nigeria Index: ATNI is planning to start developing the Nigeria Index methodology in 2021 and to start research for the first Nigeria Index, due to be launched in 2022.
Additional objective 3: Additional verification tools
NBM: There have been some delays with piloting the tools in Bangladesh due to COVID-19. The next step of the project is the first round of testing in Bangladesh in September which will be followed by a webinar to get the companies’ feedback in early October. Subsequently, ATNI will have follow-up discussions with GAIN, SBN to discuss feedback and next steps in terms of capacity building for 2021.
Responsible Lobbying: This activity will be finalized before the end of 2020, as planned.
Extra activities:
COVID-19 monitoring: the second quarterly COVID-19 report will be published in October, followed by webinars for business and other stakeholders to discuss emerging trends. In November/December desk-research will be done to monitor trends in specific markets (China, Nigeria, Mexico). The third quarterly report will be published in late January 2021.
Private Sector Commitment monitoring:
- Nutrition for Growth Summit/UN Food Systems: these summits have been postponed for one year. Based on the next steps outlined by the Government of Japan, ATNI will start building the repository to monitor private sector nutrition commitments for the summits.
- WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism: this work has been delayed because of organizational changes in WHO and the pandemic. The next step is for ATNI to agree with WHO the commitments and performance data that ATNI will provide on IFBA (or a larger group of companies) related to their adoption of, and delivery against, WHO nutrition standards (Q4 2021). Subsequently, ATNI will collect data and report to WHO.
- WBA: the ATNI research team will meet with the WBA Food and Agriculture Benchmark research team in Q4 to discuss collaboration in methodology development and research implementation (data sharing). This is according to plan.
Investors Coalition and Portal: this activity is as planned. See also the Engagement section.
Workforce nutrition action research and research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets will both start in January 2021.
Budget 2021
ATNI will prepare the adjusted budget for 2021 in the next two months and can share this with FCDO by the end of November/early December, after all reforecasts have been made.
Access to Nutrition Foundation Arthur van Schendelstraat 650 3511 MJ Utrecht, the Netherlands
Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all), SDG 12 (target 12.3)
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ATNI July to September Activity Report - 2020
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Core Objective 1
Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2
Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3
Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4
Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 5
Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6
Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7
Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8
Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation.
Additional Objectives
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1
Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2
Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3
Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra activities 2020-2022
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16th 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI will embark on the following extra activities:
1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020.
2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 GNS/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 FSS and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
3. Investor coalition starting October 2020.
4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021.
5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021.
6. Country approach starting July 2021.
NL-KVK-58279199-DGISQ4-2020-report
Access to Nutrition Foundation
DGIS Q4 Activity Report 2020
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Core Objective 1
Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2
Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3
Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4
Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 5
Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6
Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7
Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8
Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation.
Additional Objectives
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1
Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2
Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3
Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra activities 2020-2022
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16th 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI has embarked on the following extra activities:
1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to Covid-19 starting April 2020.
2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UN FSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
3. Investor coalition starting October 2020.
4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021.
5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021.
6. Country approach starting July 2021.
The Access to Nutrition Foundation
This document presents the progress from October till December 2020 on the activities for which DGIS contracted the Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF, Grant reference number - 4000000128). It is structured in line with the Objectives for the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) as in the funding proposal, including additional funding support (£1,500.000) from FCDO that was approved April 2020.
For 2021, ATNI has asked DGIS for a prolongation of delivering the objectives in the course of 2021, due to delays caused by the Covid19 crisis that started in 2020.
[Core objectives and additional objectives, which are not relevant for the timeframe of this activity report, have been marked with a * in the Objectives Overview and are further excluded from this report].
Objectives Overview
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Objectives highlighted with a * will not be reported on as they are not applicable for this reporting period.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes. *
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. *
Additional Objectives
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra activities 2020-2022
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16th 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI has embarked on the following extra activities:
1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to Covid-19 starting April 2020.
2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UN FSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
3. Investor coalition starting October 2020.
4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021. *
5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021. *
6. Country approach starting July 2021. *
Progress on relevant objectives for October-December 2020
Core Objective 1: Progress Global Indexes
Global Index
In the last quarter of 2020, selected companies for the Global Index 2021 continued to engage on ATNI’s data collection platform. After researchers addressed the first round of comments from companies, they engaged for a second time to respond to outstanding clarifications and provide additional evidence where needed. 19 out of the 25 companies directly engaged on the platform. This led to the finalization of companies’ assessments.
The Product Profile, which, in this iteration, will be integrated in Category B of the Index, progressed through several stages. Companies provided feedback on the scope of countries and product categories selected for the assessment. Based on this information, ATNI’s research partner, The George Institute for Global Health (TGI), had generated a list of products per company by combining two datasets: pre-existing FoodSwitch (TGI’s database) food composition data for 8 of the 26 countries and food composition data for the other 18 countries, sourced from Innova Market Insights.
Within a six-week period, companies were asked to verify the accuracy of this product list and to provide information on products that are missing. This verification includes the provision of nutrition information required for calculating the Health Star Rating (HSR) and applying WHO Regional Nutrient Profiling Systems (NPS). In order to increase data precision, companies were also encouraged to share additional nutrition content data beyond that on the label. The engagement on Product Profile was positive overall. 18 out of 25 companies responded by providing additional evidence and confirming the product list provided. Most questions related to WHO PAHO model, e.g. on the use of sweeteners.
The geographic scope of the Product Profile covered a total of 26 countries between all companies. Apart from the nine countries that were also included in the 2018 Product Profile assessment, a list of additional preferential countries (Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia) was developed in the country-selection process to facilitate comparability of results between companies and to select high-selling markets which are common across the Index companies. Low-and-middle income countries in scope include, among others, Brazil, Mexico, and Nigeria.
ATNI’s research partner, TGI, programmed the selected NPS models (HSR and WHO) into a data analysis system, with testing and validation included. The HSR will be used to rate all products to identify those that meet or exceed a threshold of 3.5 Health Stars - which indicates an acceptable level of nutritional quality. The WHO models will give a binary result (Yes/No) to indicate if in theory the product is healthy enough to be marketed to children. Nutrition content data will be analyzed using these selected models.
Micronutrient enhanced nutrient profiling: ATNI is using the opportunity of undertaking the Product Profile assessment for Global Index 2021 to run a pilot to test a micronutrient-enhanced nutrient profiling system (NPS+). This system enables products’ micronutrient content (initially folic acid, iodine, iron, vitamins A, B12 and D) to be assessed, in the context of addressing micronutrient deficiencies of public health importance. The pilot will use product data shared by companies active in Mexico, India and South Africa and 17 companies were invited to share micro-nutrient data. Companies are asked on voluntary basis to add information on the micronutrient content of the products that are assessed for the 2021 Global Index. These data will not be published or used in companies’ scores. They will be used to test the effectiveness and validity of the enhanced NPS model.
Planning 2021: The first quarter of 2021 will be dedicated to peer review of company assessments before companies receive their final score. On the product profile, the first quarter will be dedicated to analysis by ATNI’s research partner, TGI, covering the following outputs:
· Overall Health Star Ratings (Mean) for Companies by Category and by Country
· Range of Health Star Ratings for companies by Category and by Country
· Percentage of products analyzed that meet a specified health standard (HSR of 3.5 or above)
· Percentage of products analyzed that meet specified criteria to be marketed to children (WHO)
The ATNI team will conduct additional calculations on Product Profile results to obtain the elements necessary for the three scored elements: Healthiness score (sales-weighted mean HSR score), relative category performance score, and change in HSR score compared to 2018. After these steps, company scorecards will be developed.
In the second quarter, the final Global Index 2021 report will be developed and published.
Core Objective 2: BMS marketing policies and practices
BMS/CF Marketing 1
ATNI’s research on this element is now complete. ATNI is working to generate the final scores, by demonstrating what the scores are by including - and excluding - companies' performances in relation to WHA 69.9, to provide comparability with the 2018 Global Index. Nine companies are included in the research: Abbott, China Feihe, China Mengniu, Danone, FrieslandCampina, Inner Mongolia Yili, Kraft-Heinz, Nestlé, and RB (the three Chinese companies are expected to score poorly as there is no or very little information in the public domain that ATNI could assess). Additional reviews are being undertaken to ensure that our findings align with PwC’s findings (on research undertaken under ATNI’s supervision for FTSE4Good - see below).
Furthermore, ATNI participated in a roundtable organised by UNICEF China and the EU-China Chamber of Commerce, which many BMS companies attended to discuss the situation in China regarding marketing of BMS products. ATNI had the chance to present its work on BMS, as well as touch upon the BMS Call to Action.
Planning 2021: The next step in early 2021, will be to begin drafting the BMS/CF 1 Index report. In this iteration, the BMS/CF Index will be published as a standalone report, prior to the Global Index. Scores on BMS1 and BMS2 will be incorporated (adjusted) in the overall Global Index scores of the companies that are also assessed for their global performance.
BMS/CF Marketing 2
ATNI completed reviewing the first draft of the Westat Philippines report in December. The next steps are re-reviewing and finalising the Philippines report. The aim is to publish it, along with ATNI’s summary report, in April 2021. In November, the data collection in Mexico was completed and Westat started cleaning the data, organising them per company and doing the Quality Control.
Planning 2021: Prior to publication of the ATNI Philippines country report, the four ATNI Index companies present in the country –, Abbott, Danone, Nestlé and RB - will be given the opportunity to review the draft at the end of Q1 2021. Regarding the Mexico country assessment, ATNI Index companies present in Mexico – Abbott, FrieslandCampina, Danone, Kraft-Heinz, Nestlé and RB– will have the chance to review Westat's findings in the first half of February 2021. ATNI will then finalise the results with Westat and pass the relevant data to PwC for its analysis for FTSE4Good. The ATNI Mexico country report is planned to be published in Q2 2021.
Other BMS work
FTSE4Good
ATNI participated in the FTSE4Good BMS Committee meeting on November 20th, at which PwC presented their final reports for the Philippines for Nestlé, Danone and RB. ATNI oversaw the interviews with the three FTSE companies (Nestlé, RB and Danone) being conducted by PwC.
FTSE Russell has formally asked ATNI to begin discussions about how it might draw exclusively on ATNI's research in future. ATNI made a presentation to the BMS Committee to outline initial ideas; they were welcomed and supported.
Planning 2021: The discussions will continue with FTSE Russell in 2021. The final PwC reports will be published in February 2021.
BMS Call to Action
The BMS Call to Action was launched by the signatories on 25th June 2020. 20 BMS companies were asked to respond to it by 25th September 2020. Signatories to the Call to Action include WHO, UNICEF, Save the Children, 1,000 Days, BRAC, fhi360, fhi solutions and Helen Keller International.
• 17 responses were received which ATNI evaluated for the Signatories.
• The Meridian Institute sent letters to all respondents on behalf of the Signatories to provide feedback and ask clarifying questions.
• Calls were held between the Meridian Institute and selected signatories with four of the companies and were sought with other companies.
• These four companies promised to revise their initial submissions. They were due by December 4. Several other companies submitted revised responses.
• In mid-December, ATNI again evaluated all of the revised responses and submitted them to the Meridian Institute for circulation to the Signatories.
Planning 2021: In Q1 2021, the companies’ responses will be posted on the website of the Call to Action, along with a press release published on behalf of the Signatories and other communications. ATNI will be referenced as having undertaken the initial evaluations of the companies’ responses.
Core Objective 3: Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2020
In February 2020, ATNI launched and published the main results of the India Spotlight Index 2020, covering the 16 largest food and beverage manufacturers based on 2018 retail sales. The detailed results and analysis of the scores of companies on Category B were also published, which assesses the healthiness of the company's product portfolio and individual products (through the Product Profile).
The release of the thematic chapters of the Index (on governance, access & affordability, marketing, healthy lifestyle support, labeling and engagement) was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In November and December, ATNI started to prepare the thematic chapters.
Planning 2021: the thematic chapters will be published in February 2021. In April-May 2021, ATNI plans to organize webinars to share the results with stakeholders, also linking this to the recent Covid-19 report.
Later in 2021, ATNI will start preparing for a possible next India Index/tool.
Core Objective 5: Outreach activities
Investors
ATNI is working actively to engage with new signatories and expand our profile in all markets. By the end of the year, ATNI had 57 signatories to the Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health, with asset under management (AUM) of US$9.7 trillion. Most of the previous signatories have reconfirmed their support; some small funds in the United States have not done so, though most have not previously engaged. The new signatories so far are: 4 Italian: BancoPosta Fondi sgr, Cometa,PosteVita and Unicredit Pension Fund; 1 Norwegian: Storebrand; 2 Canadian: Hexavest and RRSE – Le Regroupement pour la Responsabilité Sociale des Enterprises; 1 Dutch: Stichting Pensioenfonds Huisartsen.
Various updates have been made to ATNI's website to highlight ATNI’s work with investors. The password-protected investor portal, a nutrition and finance resource hub, was launched in mid-January 2021. The platform provides ATNI investor signatories with a one-stop-shop for investment-relevant articles, news and reports from a wide range of organisations on nutrition, as well as ATNI data.
ATNI organised a webinar with the French Social Investment Forum in November to present ATNI and the Investor Expectations to its members (below right). A lot of work has been done to develop communications messages tailored to investors so as to be in a position to ramp up our communications to the investment community next year. These include a social media plan, a new investor newsletter and placed articles in key publications, including RI.com in January 2021. ATNI staff supporting our work with investors have also had training on using social media (Twitter and LinkedIn).
Planning 2021: In mid- January, the investor portal will be launched. The next investor webinar will be held in March 2021 for Dutch investors. ATNI is in the initial phase of collaboration with a consultant in the Japanese market to help to engage Japanese and Asia Pacific investors in 2021 ahead of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit. In March/April, ATNI will start-up preparations for the collaborative engagement process for investors with companies in the Global Index 2021.
World Benchmarking Alliance – Allies Assembly
ATNI evaluated the draft methodological framework/indicators of the new Food & Agriculture Benchmark and submitted a response as well as proposal for future collaboration on submitting ATNI data and for assessing additional F&B manufacturers and potentially retailers on nutrition indicators. On November 24, ATNI and World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) presented a side event on company accountability together, during the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)/Wageningen pre-event of the UN FSS.
Planning 2021: Our next step in Q1 2021 is a strategy call with WBA in January to clarify and formalize collaboration on sharing data as well as collaborating in the upcoming FSS.
Communications update
The final quarter of 2020 was a busy one for ATNI in terms of communications and outreach. ATNI took part in the ‘Delivering for Nutrition in India’ conference organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Partnerships and Opportunities to Strengthen and Harmonize Actions for Nutrition in India (POSHAN), which served as an opportunity to check in with our stakeholders in India. It furthermore was a useful update on nutrition in India ahead of the publication of the category chapters of the India Index in Q1 2021.
Mark Wijne attended the Micronutrient Forum 5th Global Conference CONNECTED 2020, on behalf of ATNI, contributing a poster presentation: “Designing a Nutrition Profiling Approach to Improve the Assessment of Packaged Food and Beverage Products Regarding Micronutrient Content Relevant to Public Health.
Additionally, ATNI attended ‘Plating Up Progress’ webinar which posed the question: “How can investors, businesses and governments build towards a healthier and more sustainable food industry post-pandemic? ”
On November 24th, ATNI also co-hosted a pre-event to the UN Food Systems Summit with the World Benchmarking Alliance and the Sustainability Consortium. It featured a diverse panel representing the food industry and investment community.
The ‘Healthy Markets’ project that ATNI supported ShareAction on was featured in ‘Footprint’ a prominent Sustainable Responsible Business platform.
The ongoing Investor Expectations work ATNI has been working on was featured in Investment Week, a marker of success in the aim to increase ATNI’s outreach in the area of investor relations and communications. Our work was also featured in an article titled ‘Where ESG Ratings Fail: The Case for New Metrics’ on the Institutional Investor website.
Excitingly, ATNI’s work was presented on the world stage during Dame Vivian Hunt’s TED2020 talk titled ‘How businesses can serve everyone, not just their shareholders’, Global Index 2018 data was referenced throughout. Bloomberg also ran a story on how Covid-19 Puts a Spotlight on the Food Industry’s Role in Obesity, citing our Global Index 2018 and other aspects of our work. This piece was also later featured in The Washington Post, a great opportunity to boost our coverage in the United States, particularly in the year we are launching the next iteration of the US Index.
Planning 2021: ATNI is in the process of hiring an agency to conduct a social media diagnostic to help ATNI boost its strategic engagement and improve the social media identity, making it thoughtful and tactical while remaining true to ATNI’s brand and values. The social media diagnostic will help ATNI to articulate goals and ambitions for social media, help identify, engage with and grow our digital audience, and to learn – through in-depth benchmarking – what comparable organizations are doing on social. The final stage of this process includes a half-day training for the wider ATNI team, which fits in well to our overall goal of building capacity across the whole team in the area of communications.
ATNI will soon be sending out a request for proposals to find an PR agency to support with the ongoing external communications tasks. As well as ensuring that ATNI is working strategically towards its overarching objectives and communicating effectively about our growing project base.
In Q1- early Q2 2021, much of ATNI's communications will be surrounding the launch of the third Covid-19 Project report which has done a deeper dive into three middle-income countries – Mexico (upper-middle income) and India and Nigeria (lower-middle income) – combining research into the impact of Covid-19 on the country and the government’s response with a look at the largest food manufacturers by 2019 retail value. The analysis used the ATNI Framework as a guide, particularly focusing on the themes identified in the second report, and the desk research was supplemented by a series of in-country interviews from a range of sectors (government, NGO, UN agency or industry) to provide on-the-ground context and invaluable extra content.
Additionally, ATNI is working with AvianWe, its India-based communications agency to share the category deep-dives from the India Index 2020 that will be published on the ATNI website in February.
In collaboration with its design agency, ATNI will work on improving the user-experience of the website.
To support with the increasing workload of the communications department ATNI is hiring an intern.
Core Objective 6: Develop action research activities
ATNI is conducting various action research activities to develop knowledge on various nutrition topics relevant for its work.
Action research on accessibility and affordability
This research had been finalized in the first half of 2020.
Action Research on Complementary Foods
ATNI carried out two studies, one in the Philippines and one in Mexico with the aim to explore infant and young child feeding practices and their determinants with a particular focus on mapping out the landscape of commercially produced Complementary Foods marketed as suitable for infants and young children 6-36 months of age. The landscape studies aim to study the evolution of the product market and the relevant laws and policies in place within the two countries. In the Philippines, ATNI also did a pilot project for a Product Profile analysis of commercially produced Complementary Foods available in the country using WHO’s Nutrient Profiling Model for Commercially Available Complementary Foods developed for the European region. The primary aim of the Product Profile analysis is to evaluate the nutritional quality of these products and also assess the promotional and labelling practices. Based on the results, ATNI ranks the complementary food manufacturers based on the percentage of their products meeting all of the relevant nutritional criteria of the WHO model and will provide recommendations for areas of improvement with regards to the healthiness and marketing of commercial complementary foods intended for children 6-36 months of age.
In the last quarter of 2020, ATNI reviewed the first drafts of the reports and provided input to the local consultants. Together with its local partner Nutrition Center of the Philippines (NCP), ATNI had a fruitful call with UNICEF in the Philippines to update them on the scope and status of our research and align with other ongoing studies and activity in the country, designed to inform ongoing discussions with government about revising existing laws and regulations governing BMS and CF marketing.
In recognition of our pioneering work in this area, ATNI was approached by the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office to develop a joint project to build on our Action Research on Complementary Foods, by conducting further studies in the region, and a potential to expand it to other regions. ATNI and UNICEF will continue to discuss the scope of this work and ATNI’s role in it in 2021.
Planning 2021: In 2021, ATNI is planning to organize a joint webinar with UNICEF in the Philippines for local stakeholders to launch the studies in the first quarter of 2021. ATNI will also explore what the best way is to launch the work in Mexico. ATNI will collaborate with UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office to outline the scope of its research on Complementary Foods in the region and potential to expand.
Core Objective 7: Develop Monitoring and Evaluation
In the last quarter of 2020, ATNI received feedback from the ATNI board on its Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework and Impact Assessment Terms of Reference. The purpose of this monitoring framework is to generate learning to improve ATNI programs and project performance, and to ensure ATNI is as effective as possible in driving private sector contributions to better nutrition. More specifically, the framework is designed to: ensure accountability to donors and other stakeholders; support project or program management (i.e., making immediate decisions to manage an existing project or program); generate learning to contribute to better planning and performance in current or future projects or programs; provide information that can be used for marketing, publicity or fundraising work; provide a basis for regular evaluations including independent impact assessment. This framework is a living document and will be updated based on feedback from users as well as external stakeholders such as donors.
The framework has served as a basis to design the Terms of Reference of an independent impact assessment. The objective of the latter is to:
1. to measure the results brought about by ATNI’s programs
2. to assess the contribution of the programs to these identified results
3. to provide a combination of findings, recommendations and learnings to the commissioner and other relevant stakeholders
4. to determine the extent to which ATNI’s M&E and Results Framework fits in with ATNI’s theory of change.
Planning 2021: In the first few months of 2021, ATNI will conduct the selection process for M&E consultant(s). The team will collect relevant data on outputs, outcomes and impact of ATNI’s work thus far. The Independent M&E Review and Impact Assessment, including desk-research as well as interviews with ATNI staff and stakeholders, will be commissioned in the second and third quarter after the launch of the Global Index 2021.
Additional Objective 1: Developing indexes that assess the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains
ATNI UK Retailer Index: In September, a kick-off meeting was held with ShareAction to start preparations for the first full ATNI UK Retailer Index. It was decided that 11 retailers will be included in the Index: Ocado, an online-only retailer was added to the ones in the UK Supermarket Spotlight upon request by ShareAction and given the rise of online shopping (partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic).
In October and November, stakeholder consultations on the methodology were held with retail companies and other nutrition stakeholders in the UK, including investors and CSO representatives. In December 2020 and January 2021, Expert Group (EG) meetings were held. Input from the consultation sessions as well as the EG meetings was used to improve the methodology and finalize the scoring and weighting system.
Planning 2021:. The methodology is currently being finalized and company research will start in February-April 2021. As with other Indexes, retailers will be offered the opportunity to sign Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in order to provide ATNI with confidential information.
Companies can provide input on the platform in May/June and add clarifications in July. After that, the research platform is closed and data analysis, writing of scorecards and report will start. The agreement is to publish the Index in Q1 2022.
ShareAction has indicated its interest for a Product Profile of the major manufacturers in the UK, to follow up and compare results to the previous UK Product Profile published in September 2019. ATNI is currently exploring funding opportunities with ShareAction.
Additional Objective 2: New Spotlight Indexes
US Spotlight Index
Following a discussion with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in July 2020 about validation of the methodology, ATNI started a process to review the methodology, led by its Research and Engagement Advisor and involving the Research team. Three main elements of a verification process were planned in the process:
1. An Exit Survey for US-based F&B companies who participated in the Global Index 2021 and will also participate in the US Index 2021 was planned.
2. Cognitive interviews to be completed with US-based F&B companies to test and improve the clarity of indicators and answer options were also planned.
3. Following the cognitive interviews and adjustments to the platform, the research training manual will be updated and each analyst on the US Index research will independently assess the same company with a sample of indicators, using the same evidence. The level of agreement or inter-rater reliability will provide baseline information of the consistency of analysts’ company assessments and potentially, identify areas for additional training.
The survey was sent to companies in the last quarter of 2020 to understand feedback about their experience during ATNI’s research phase (i.e., data collection) between June – December 2020. All companies that had recently stopped engaging on the Global Index (11 of which are also part of the U.S Index) were invited to participate in this survey. The survey aimed to (1) document the company stakeholder experience during engagement with ATNI to collect data and identify areas to improve and (2) identify complex or challenging indicators, that are also part of the US Index.
Planning 2021: Based on findings from the exit survey, each company participating in the US Index will be invited for a cognitive interview in January. This interview will aim to get a deeper understanding of the indicators identified by companies as complicated in the survey. Together with the insights from these tools, adjustments will be made to the data collection platform. Following these steps, company assessments will begin towards the end of the first quarter of 2021 which will be followed by a peer review. Once assessments are aligned during the peer review, companies will be invited to engage on ATNI’s data collection platform to review the assessments and provide additional evidence where needed.
Additional Objective 3: Further development of verification-type activities
Nutrition Business Monitor project
The Nutrition Business Monitor (NBM) tool was tested in Bangladesh in November 2020 with 13 companies that filled it in, and a follow-up webinar was organised to get feedback on the tool. ATNI got a lot of positive feedback and one-to-one sessions with three selected companies to get more in-depth input. ATNI stayed in close contact with the SUN Business Network (SBN) Nigeria and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to discuss the next steps and start planning the first half of 2021 and the capacity building activities.
Planning 2021: ATNI is planning to start the capacity building activities in the first quarter of 2021 which is the last year of the project. The capacity building activities should be completed by June 2021. The planning of the final year will also be developed in Q1 2021.
Responsible Lobbying Framework
Irish Aid grant on responsible lobbying
ATNI had a good call with the new project manager at Irish Aid to present the work that had been done to date and received a lot of positive feedback. Irish Aid said they would like ATNI to present the draft outputs to a small internal group in February 2021 to build understanding and profile of our work, and to solicit feedback before finalizing the reports and disseminating the work.
ATNI contracted Carnstone to write the final benchmark report, presenting and analysing the assessment they carried out against the Responsible Lobbying Framework. The report covers the nine largest BMS companies – the same companies included in the BMS/CF Marketing Index. The aim is to publish the report in February 2021.
Regarding the feasibility study of establishing a ‘lobbying observatory’ or similar initiative, ATNI has completed the research and the stakeholder interviews, and is drafting the report summarising the inputs and conclusions about the feasibility of establishing a 'lobbying observatory'. This report will be shared with Irish Aid (and other prospective funders at a later date if deemed appropriate). ATNI plans to publish a summary of the work and conclusions in Q1 2021.
Extra activities 2020-2022
Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to Covid-19 starting April 2020
In Q4, ATNI published the second report in the Covid-19 project series. The report summarized the results of an assessment of 39 of the world’s major food manufacturers (companies that have all been included by ATNI in its other Indexes). The research highlights that companies have quickly responded to shocks along their supply chains and have adapted to rapidly changing consumer behaviors – for instance by expanding e-commerce platforms and setting up direct-to-consumer channels. Most Covid-19 responses by food and beverage companies, however, still appear as short-term, ad-hoc measures rather than long-term, targeted actions.
To coincide with the launch of the report, on Monday November 16 we hosted a webinar in collaboration with Nutrition Connect as part of the ATNI Covid-19 Project series. The webinar – ‘Nutrition responses from food and beverage companies to the pandemic’ – saw all stakeholders (NGO/CSOs, investors, companies, policymakers, academics etc.) interested in how Covid-19 is impacting the food industry’s actions and nutrition outcomes globally participate in a stimulating discussion. The event featured a panel discussion:
• Lucy Sullivan, Executive Director at Feed the Truth
• Laurene Aubert, Manager of SUN Business Network‘s Global Partnerships and GAIN Nutrition for Growth Lead
• Inge Kauer, Executive Director at ATNI
The webinar was well-attended by a diverse range of stakeholders, with companies and the investment community being well represented. A recording of the webinar is available here: https://nutritionconnect.org/webinar-ATNI-covid19.
ATNI also hosted webinars for the companies assessed in the report, which provided an excellent opportunity to share the in-depth results with company representatives and stimulate a dialogue with companies. ATNI also presented the findings at a webinar for investors on 5th November. An invite was extended to the multi-stakeholder webinar during this event.
Planning 2021: In Q1 2021, ATNI will publish the third report in the series, and host another series of webinars in each of the countries in the deep dive. The webinars will serve as an opportunity to disseminate the results of the report, and also to share information about ATNI's other ongoing work in each country.
Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UN FSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020
The Nutrition for Growth Summit: In October and early December, ATNI participated in the Business Constituency Group (BCG) online meetings together with the Consumers Good Forum, IFBA, FIA, WBCSD and GAIN and representatives from the Food Systems Summit (FSS). ATNI’s role is that of an observer. Additionally, ATNI is leading in defining the investors statements for the Summit.
For N4G, ATNI is also participating in a GNR working group to outline the accountability mechanism for N4G commitment tracking. GNR is still awaiting funding for developing the accountability mechanism. ATNI will be involved in monitoring business accountability when funding will be available.
Planning 2021: In 2021, ATNI is hosting the BCG online meeting early March and will continue to participate in monthly BCG meetings. Depending on the progress made in the GNR working group ATNI will start to develop a process to monitor companies commitments for the N4G.
The UN Food Systems Summit: GAIN is leading the nutrition track for the UN FSS. ATNI participated in the internal GAIN strategy meeting early November to share views on alignment of UNFSS and N4G and particularly on the role of private sector in both events.
In November, ATNI had an online meeting with GAIN to further discuss the topic of company accountability for the UN FSS.
Planning 2021: in 2021 ATNI’s role in the UN FSS will be further explored. The UN FSS has requested a meeting to discuss investors’ engagement with ATNI, Rabobank and WBA.
WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism: In October, ATNI discussed with Francesco Branca (WHO Nutrition Director) WHO's needs for ATNI to monitor (re-)formulation commitments/performances of companies. In November, ATNI submitted a proposal for tracking trans-fat commitments of IFBA companies and performances against these commitments (together with TGI). It is planned to report on this early 2021 for the WHO Director General to discuss with CEO's of IFBA member companies; In the future, ATNI could also report on salt commitments (but no standards are available yet).
Action Research on Workforce Nutrition
The first discussions on the new action research project to learn from companies’ best practices in investing in workforce nutrition in supply chains took place in December 2020.
In the first quarter of 2021, the actual work and planning will begin, including desk research and interviews with selected stakeholders. The aim is to finalize the action research by the end of 2021 in order to share learnings and outcomes of the action research on workforce nutrition at the N4G summit.
Country approach
The work on the landscape studies will start in January 2021 and will look into country specific approaches and tools to expand its influence over companies’ actions on nutrition in lower- and middle-income countries with a high double burden of malnutrition, through two different mapping exercises. Nutrition landscaping studies can map relevant stakeholders and best pathways to better nutrition by also analyzing the role and influence of the private sector in improving nutrition.
One of the landscape studies will focus on Nigeria. Desk research will be conducted in first half of 2021 which will lead to a report and framework for a Nigeria Spotlight Index, to be started in July 2021. The landscape study will aim to map out the food and beverage sector in Nigeria and identify what the main research topics are that the Spotlight Index needs to cover.
For the other landscape study, ATNI will start with making a shortlist of countries for the country selection
Access to Nutrition Foundation Arthur van Schendelstraat 650 3511 MJ Utrecht, the Netherlands
Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all), SDG 12 (target 12.3)
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ATNI October to December Activity Report - 2020
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives. Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020. Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes. Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019. Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes. Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact. Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas. Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations. Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. Additional Objectives ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include: Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains. Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries. Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.). Extra activities 2020-2022 With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16th 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI has embarked on the following extra activities: 1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020. 2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 GNS/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 FSS and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020. 3. Investor coalition starting October 2020. 4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021. 5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021. 6. Country approach starting July 2021.
NL-KVK-58279199-DGISQ1-2021-report
Access to Nutrition Foundation
DGIS Q1 Activity Report 2021
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation.
Additional ATNI Objectives (funded by various, not part of prolongation)
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra ATNI activities 2020-2022 (funded by FCDO, not part of prolongation)
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16, 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI has embarked on the following extra activities:
1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to Covid-19 starting April 2020.
2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UN FSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
3. Investor coalition starting October 2020.
4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021.
5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021.
6. Country approach starting July 2021.
The Access to Nutrition Foundation
This document presents the progress from January till March 2021 on the activities for which DGIS contracted the Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF, Grant reference number - 4000000128). It is structured in line with the Objectives for the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) as in the funding proposal, including additional funding support (£1,500.000) from FCDO that was approved April 2020.
For 2021, ATNI has been granted a prolongation from DGIS to deliver the objectives in the course of 2021, due to delays caused by the Covid19 crisis that started in 2020.
[Core objectives and additional objectives, which are not relevant for the timeframe of this activity report, have been marked with a * in the Objectives Overview and are further excluded from this report].
Objectives Overview
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Objectives highlighted with a * will not be reported on as they are not applicable for this reporting period.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes. *
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. *
Additional ATNI Objectives (funded by various, not part of prolongation)
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra ATNI activities 2020-2022 (funded by FCDO, not part of prolongation)
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16, 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI has embarked on the following extra activities:
1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to Covid-19 starting April 2020.
2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UN FSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
3. Investor coalition starting October 2020.
4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021.
5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021.
6. Country approach starting July 2021. *
Progress on relevant objectives for January-March 2021
Core Objective 1: Progress Global Indexes
Global Index
The final phase of company engagement closed in mid-December and a peer review was conducted by the research team to make the scoring consistent across the Index. Based on the peer review, company scores were adjusted. The preliminary findings by category will be prepared in the second quarter of 2021.
Between January and March, the ATNI team conducted additional calculations on Product Profile results to obtain the elements necessary for the three scored elements: Healthiness score (sales-weighted mean Health Star Rating score), relative category performance score, and change in Health Star Rating (HSR) score compared to 2018. The Product Profile assessments included more products (more than 41,000) and more companies.
ATNI will continue to write the category chapters and will begin writing the company scorecards in April/May. The team plans to hold a discussion on how to deal with the Product Profile outcomes in April. In early June, the company scorecard narratives will be shared with companies for a final fact check. Pre-launch preparations with a selected PR agency will also take place in the second quarter of 2021. The Report is to be launched by July 1.
Core Objective 2: BMS marketing policies and practices
BMS/CF Marketing 1
The first quarter of 2021 was dedicated to drafting the BMS/CF 1 Index report. The final scores of the companies assessed were calculated. As of the end of the first quarter of 2021, the BMS 1 chapter is being finalised and set to be published as part of the ATNI BMS/CF Marketing Index 2021 in the beginning of June.
In this iteration, the BMS/CF Marketing Index will, for the first time, be published as a standalone report. However, a summary section on the BMS analysis will also be included in the Global Index report and will inform scoring of BMS companies included in the Global Index 2021. A webinar will be organised for global stakeholders in the weeks after publication.
BMS/CF Marketing 2
The BMS/CF Philippines country assessment was finalized in the first quarter of 2021 and will be launched on May 13 in a webinar with selected Filipino stakeholders. The ATNI summary report and Westat report will be published at the same time the day before the webinar.
The BMS/CF Mexico country assessment will be finalized in the second quarter of 2021. The ATNI summary report and the Westat report will be published mid-June, at the same time with the ATNI BMS/CF Marketing Index 2021 and a webinar with Mexican stakeholders will follow in the weeks after publication.
As a next step, the BMS/CF 2 chapter of the Index will be drafted in the second quarter of 2021.
Other BMS work
FTSE4Good
The PwC reports for the head office and the Philippines have been prepared and will be published on the ATNI and FTSE websites in April.The PwC reports for Mexico have been reviewed by companies and ATNI with PwC is currently reviewing comments and working to finalise the reports. The PwC Mexico reports will be published by the end of May. With the publication of the second set of reports, the collaboration with FTSE and PwC will be completed for this round of assessments.
BMS Call to Action
On March 23, the companies’ responses were posted on the website of the Call to Action, along with a press release published on behalf of the Signatories and other communications. The signatories will discuss next steps in April and decide how to move forward with the assessment of the roadmaps submitted by the companies. ATNI will play a role in assessing the submitted roadmaps of the companies. The details of the next steps are being discussed with the signatories.
Core Objective 3: Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2020
In February 2021, ATNI launched the detailed findings of the thematic chapters followed by a post-launch engagement phase. Later in 2021 (when COVID19 allows it), ATNI will organize a multi-stakeholder webinar to share the findings of the project Index and linking the results to ATNI’s Covid-19 third and fourth reports, in which India is highlighted as a case study. All companies assessed in the India Spotlight Index will also be invited to this webinar, as well as a wider group of stakeholders in India from academia, government, and civil society. In the second half of 2021, ATNI will start preparing for a potential next iteration of the India Index.
Core Objective 5: Outreach activities
Investors
Signatory Recruitment (current Asset under Management is $13.6 trillion)
ATNI continued to work on expanding the membership of the Investor Coalition in the first quarter of 2021. Two new investors had joined the ATNI Investor Signatories: the Guy’s and St. Thomas’s Foundation from the UK and Trillium Asset Management from the US. The ATNI investor support team has organised introductory calls with three additional investors: Kempen Asset Management and UBS Asset Management, both from The Netherlands, and Nomura Asset Management from Japan.
In early 2021, ATNI began working with a Japanese consultant to reach its profile in Japan ahead of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit and to include Japanese investors in its signatory base. To this end, communications materials have been developed in Japanese. These have been disseminated in relevant ESG magazines in Japan and have been added to ATNI's website.
Collaborative Investor Engagement
The signatories have been invited to participate in a new round of collaborative engagement with companies following the Global Index launch 2021. Two webinars for existing signatories were held in March 2021 to present the plans for the collaborative engagement, provide them with timelines and ask them on informing us with which companies they are planning to engage. ATNI is preparing internally for the engagement, arranging chairs and co-chairs, and ensuring investors are ready to reach out to the companies once the GI is published. The collaborative engagement will last until 2023 and conclude before the next Global Index is published.
Communications and Outreach
In early 2021, ShareAction used the insights from the UK Supermarket Spotlight to form a coalition of institutional and retail investors and filed the first health-based shareholder resolution at Tesco, calling on the UK’s largest food retailer to set targets to increase the proportion of healthy products in its sales. Tesco responded to the resolution in March 2021 and set a target to increase the proportion of sales from healthier products to 65% by 2025. The supermarket giant commits to publish a strategy to achieve this goal and to report on its progress annually, as requested by the shareholder proposal filed in February.
ATNI agreed with PRI (the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment) and with UKSIF (the UK Sustainable Investment and Financial Association) to co-host webinars to further disseminate the investment case for nutrition and grow its signatory base in May and in June, respectively. An investor newsletter was sent to all signatories and non-signatories in March 2021.
Investor Portal
Together with website developers, ATNI developed and launched a password-protected investor portal on its website in January 2021. This portal allows ATNI’s Investor Signatories to log in to access relevant ATNI documents, information about collaborative engagement and serve as a repository of investor-authored or investor-relevant reports on nutrition.
More specifically, the portal contains a document library with various reports relevant to investors on nutrition, and a news section. The section dedicated to collaborative engagement will be launched soon and it is being populated with relevant documents from work conducted so far and prepared for engagement relating to future Indexes.
Communications update
ATNF continued its efforts to make its website and social media accounts more interactive and spreads the release of Index results over time in the first quarter of 2021. This will continue throughout 2021 with PR activities around the launch of the Global Index 2021 and US Index, active participation in the UN FSS and the N4G Summit and a social media audit that is planned for mid-2021.
As of February 2021, ATNI is working with its design agency to improve the user-experience of the website. For example, the PDF generator is being improved after feedback that it is not working optimally. Additionally, it was noted that there is scope to improve the Trends Over Time tool, so the website developers are working with the ATNI research team to ensure data is being displayed in the most useful and interesting way.
ATNI has also started up the process of hiring a new PR agency to support with the Global Index 2021 launch and in an ongoing capacity. Three agencies were invited to bid in the first quarter of 2021, with a focus on the following key services:
• Prepare and execute an impactful communications strategy for the Global Index
• Craft compelling narratives grounded in data to target audiences
• Pitch and secure high-quality coverage in top tier media in key markets
• Support ATNI in facilitating conversations with key industry leaders and stakeholders
• Continue success gained at the launch to promote ATNI and its agenda at key moments throughout 2021 (N4G Summit and UN FSS)
Core Objective 6: Develop action research activities
ATNI is conducting various action research activities to develop knowledge on various nutrition topics relevant for its work.
Action Research on Complementary Foods
In the first quarter of 2021, ATNI and its local partner the Nutrition Center of the Philippines (NCP) worked on finalizing the report and a preview of results will be presented on April 22 in a USAID webinar organized in the framework of the Global Health Science and Practice Technical Exchange (GHTechX) digital conference. ATNI plans to organize another webinar in the following weeks in the Philippines, with a focus on Filipino stakeholders, where the results of the study and the BMS/CF marketing country assessment will be jointly presented on May 13 to present both studies. The study will be published on the day of the webinar.
Action Research on Workforce Nutrition
Workforce nutrition programs throughout a company’s supply chain can have significant benefits for employees, employers as well as society. To unlock this potential ATNI started to develop an action research project on workforce nutrition, which consists of desk research and analysis of existing workforce nutrition initiatives, interviews throughout the supply chain with companies and other stakeholders and a report with recommendations.
ATNI started the work and planning of this activity in the first quarter of 2021, by drafting a detailed workplan, including sector focus and expectations for the rest of the year. The research will be based on desk research, interviews and will include two in-country case studies. Together with external consultants on the ground, ATNI will conduct the research over the summer of 2021, starting directly after the Global Index launch.
Furthermore, GAIN together with CGF have launched the Workforce Nutrition Alliance tool in the beginning of April 2021. The companies can voluntarily use this tool to assess where they stand in terms of the main elements of workforce nutrition. However, if companies want to publicly use their scores and results, they need to go through a verification process. ATNI has been asked by GAIN to submit a proposal with suggested costs on verifying companies' response to the tool that the Alliance developed. ATNI has been in discussion with GAIN on this topic for a few months and it was agreed that the best way to do this piece of work is if ATNI will be paid via GAIN for conducting the verification of the companies’ responses to the tool. The proposal includes two options:
• Option 1: ‘Light’ verification assessment: To do the assessment by analyzing the company responses against only publicly available information on their websites, or any other information that the company shares in the public domain (public reports, articles, policies etc.). Average time for this verification would be 5 working days per company. Cost: 5,000 euros
• Option 2: Verification assessment, including engagement with the companies: To do a search to identify publicly available information and do a first analysis based on this. Following that, ATNI would reach out to the companies and ask them to provide further evidence to support the responses and/or to back up any recommended changes to the initial analysis. Average time for this option would be 10 working days. Cost: 10,000 euros
The action research will be finalized by the end of 2021. Learnings and outcomes of the action research on workforce nutrition will be shared at the N4G summit.
Action Research on Product Inequities
In December 2020, the first discussions on the new action research project to analyze and map possible differences in nutritional quality for a selection of specific products with identical brand and product names or with identical appearance took place.
In agreement with FCDO it was decided in Q1 2021 not to do a full research. Rather, ATNI will draft a positioning paper based on the outcomes of the Global Index 2021 product profiling research on inequities in nutrition quality standards, nutrient levels and/or formulation strategies applied for the same brands in the markets that have been assessed for the 25 companies for the Global Index 2021. The paper is planned to be presented or shared during the UN FSS in September 2021.
Action research on Country Mapping
In agreement with FCDO, this activity has been put on hold. ATNI will discuss the required next steps with FCDO in its next update meeting.
Core Objective 7: Develop Monitoring and Evaluation
In 2021 ATNI will hire an impact consultant to assess ATNI’s impact thus far and improve its M&E system. ATNI has received three proposals for this. The selection of the impact assessment consultant will take place in April 2021.
ATNI will organize an inception with the consultant in June 2021 and will also commence the desk review to finalize the impact assessment design. The impact assessment will take place in the second and third quarter of 2021 after the launch of the Global Index 2021, with data collection taking place throughout July-September 2021. The final report of the impact assessment is planned to be published September/October 2021.
Additional Objective 1: Developing indexes that assess the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains (not funded by DGIS, not part of prolongation)
ATNI UK Retailer Index
Following the stakeholder consultations on the methodology held with retail companies and other nutrition stakeholders in the UK in October and November 2020, a second Expert Group (EG) meeting was organized in January 2021. Input from the consultation sessions as well as the EG meetings was used to improve the methodology and finalize the scoring and weighting system. The methodology will be published in May 2021.
ATNI started the company research in February 2021. As with other Indexes, retailers will be offered the opportunity to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in order to provide ATNI with confidential information. By June 2021, companies will be able to provide input on the research platform and in July 2021, they can add clarifications. After that, ATNI will close the research platform and data analysis to start the writing of scorecards and the report, to be published in Q1 2022.
Additional Objective 2: New Spotlight Indexes (not funded by DGIS, not part of prolongation)
US Spotlight Index
In an effort to further streamline the research process, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the US Index team developed a 15-min survey for to gather feedback from US-based food and beverage (F&B) companies about their experience regarding indicators and data collection for the Global Index. Additionally, in the first quarter of 2021, the 11 companies who participated in the US Index were invited for a cognitive interview, which aimed to gain a deeper understanding of issues and doubts identified through the survey. 6 of the 11 companies participated in the interviews and in 50% of the interviews, 2 or 3 company representatives participated. Through the findings of the survey and interviews, the team was able to understand how companies interact with the online research platform, which terms or response options may be unclear or interpreted differently across the companies and identify common issues with some of the questions.
In March, ATNI presented the US Index as well as impact of Covid-19 on the F&B industry in the US during the annual Healthy Eating Research meeting, which was online this year (see also below Covid-19 project).
Based on these insights, in the second quarter of 2021, the research team will adjust the data collection tool and conduct a pilot assessment, after which the data collection protocol will be revised. The US Index 2021 is set to be published at the end of 2021.
Additional Objective 3: Further development of verification-type activities (not funded by DGIS, not part of prolongation)
Nutrition Business Monitor project
Between January and March 2021, ATNI worked on updating the recommendations, and calibrating certain elements of the Nutrition Business Monitor tool for SMEs such as design and format. ATNI also started planning the capacity building activities, together with GAIN and SBN Nigeria and Bangladesh, that will take place in Q2-Q3 2021. To contribute to these activities, ATNI subcontracted Bopinc., an independent foundation, who will organize and implement two trainings per country: one on business development and one on marketing, both with a focus on nutritious food. The second priority is to reach 25 companies testing the tool per country. Alongside these activities, ATNI aims to roll out the tool in 1-2 other SUN Business Network (SBN) countries together with GAIN.
Responsible Lobbying Framework
Irish Aid grant on responsible lobbying
ATNI submitted the final deliveries of the action research into responsible lobbying of BMS to Irish Aid, hereby completing the project cycle in the first quarter of 2021. ATNI is expecting to receive final comments by Irish Aid by the end of April and is currently working on final reporting. A call with Irish Aid has been scheduled for May to discuss potential future funding and next steps.
In the second quarter of 2021, ATNI aims to publish the Responsible Lobbying report which is a spotlight on the lobbying policies and systems of the BMS companies assessed in the ATNI BMS/CF Marketing Index.
Extra activities 2020-2022 (funded by FCDO, not part of prolongation)
Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to Covid-19 starting April 2020
In the first quarter of 2021, ATNI published the third report in the series: presenting a deep dive in three markets: Mexico, Nigeria and India. This research identified many similarities between the food industries’ responses in the three markets as well as some intriguing differences. The similarities broadly reflected the global trends identified in the previous reports and described above.
The team has started to organize a series of webinars in each of the countries and beyond, which will serve as an opportunity to disseminate the results of the report, and to share information about ATNI's other ongoing work in each country.
So far it has been presented at the following events this year:
• Healthy Eating Research Meeting (March 26th): Useful opportunity to share findings with U.S. based audience and provide initial details about the upcoming US Index
• Save the Children Japan, “Nutrition Critical” Report Launch Event (February 24th): Served as an opportunity to boost our profile in Japan in this crucial year for nutrition
• Food and Nutrition Board, Looking back and looking ahead webinar(March 30th): ATNI presented on US Covid-19 findings
In April, ATNI will present the Covid-19 work and NBM work to the Nutrition Working Group meeting in Nigeria (April 13th). Nigeria is a target market of ATNI and donors, UN agencies and foundations will be in attendance.
The final report in the Covid-19 series will discuss the impact of Covid-19 on nutrition over the first year of the pandemic. It will summarize the themes already identified in earlier reports and highlight broader issues, notably the impact of Covid-19 on equity and how the food manufacturers have responded and could respond further. Company websites will be reviewed for updates since August 2020 and information from annual reports will be featured. It will also feature a timeline of major relevant report over the first year of the pandemic. ATNI will make recommendations, pulling together examples of best practice from the previous three reports, showing that companies can make a difference. The aim is to provide direction for the industry on positive, nutritious ways forward for a new normal.
Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UN FSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020
The Nutrition for Growth Summit: In the first quarter of 2021, ATNI continued to regularly advise the Business Constituency Group (BCG), of which it is an observer holding an advisory role, on how companies can start preparing SMART commitments, which include accountability elements. ATNI has been taking part in the monthly Business Constituency Group (BCG) online meetings together with the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), the International Food & Beverage Alliance (IFBA), Food Industry Asia (FIA), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and GAIN as well as representatives from the UN FSS and was the host of the March meeting.
Additionally, to its advisory role in the BCG, ATNI is taking a leading role in facilitating investor engagement at the Tokyo N4G Summit, securing possibilities for investor participation in the Summit events and exploring possibilities for an investor Call to Action to companies and potentially governments.
The UN Food Systems Summit: The UN Food Systems Summit will take place in New York in September with a July pre-Summit event hosted by Italy. It aims to launch bold new actions to transform food systems, delivering progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ATNI is involved by discussing the role of investors in the Summit. ATNI also intends to share the Covid-19 report series and research on inequities in product profiling.
WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism: After submitting a proposal for tracking trans-fat commitments of IFBA companies and performances against these commitments in November 2020, ATNI and WHO reached an agreement. As of the end of the first quarter of 2021, ATNI and WHO are working on kickstarting the project and moving forward with the work.
World Benchmarking Alliance: During the fourth quarter of 2020, ATNI evaluated the draft methodological framework/indicators of FAB (to be published in September 2021) and submitted a response. In the first quarter of 2021, ATNI and WBA conducted a random test on a selection of overlapping nutrition indicators for two companies using information that exists in the public domain only and arrived at similar assessments for companies. This exercise was conducted to ensure alignment on the way WBA and ATNI assessed companies on the overlapping indicators between the two benchmarks.
In May 2021, together with WBA, GAIN, the Food Foundation, ATNI will co-organize the UN FSS dialogue to discuss the role of Indexes in LMICs.
Access to Nutrition Foundation Arthur van Schendelstraat 650 3511 MJ Utrecht, the Netherlands
Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all), SDG 12 (target 12.3)
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ATNI January to March Activity Report - 2021
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation.
Additional ATNI Objectives (funded by various, not part of prolongation)
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra ATNI activities 2020-2022 (funded by FCDO, not part of prolongation)
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16, 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI has embarked on the following extra activities:
1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to Covid-19 starting April 2020.
2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UN FSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
3. Investor coalition starting October 2020.
4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021.
5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021.
6. Country approach starting July 2021.
NL-KVK-58279199-DGISQ3-2021-report
Access to Nutrition Foundation
DGIS Q3 Activity Report 2021
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation.
Additional ATNI Objectives (funded by various, not part of prolongation)
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra activities 2020-2022 (funded by FCDO, not part of prolongation)
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16, 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI will embark on the following extra activities:
Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020.
Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UNFSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
Investor coalition starting October 2020.
Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021.
Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021.
Country approach starting July 2021.
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
Document Structure
This document presents the progress from July till September 2021 on the activities for which DGIS contracted the Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF, Grant reference number - 4000000128). It is structured in line with the Objectives for the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) as in the funding proposal, including additional funding support (£1,500.000) from FCDO that was approved April 2020.
For 2021, ATNI has been granted a prolongation from DGIS to deliver the objectives in the course of 2021, due to delays caused by the Covid19 crisis that started in 2020.
Progress on relevant objectives for July-September 2021
Core Objective 1: Global Indexes
Global Index
Chart, bar chart
Description automatically generatedOn July 1, 2021, ATNI published its fourth Global Index, assessing the largest 25 global F&B companies on their efforts on nutrition. The launch of the Index was held across three events spread over two days. On Thursday, the 1st, ATNI held two online meetings: one for companies and one for investor signatories. These were followed by a multi-stakeholder webinar on the 2nd. All events were well attended, filled with constructive discussion with a wide range of attendees including 50 representatives from 19 companies, 45 investors, and over 25 CSOs and partner organisations. Further details on the launch events were included in the progress report of the last quarter.
After the launch, ATNI invited all companies of the Index to online meetings to dig deeper into Global Index results and recommendations. 19 Companies expressed an interest in joining these meetings. So far, ATNI has conducted these calls with 15 companies. In addition, 2 companies, Nestlé and Pepsico, requested separate meetings with their Senior Executives and Board members to communicate the results. 12 senior and board representatives from Nestlé and 7 from Pepsico joined these meetings. Also, for the first time, non-engaging companies Suntory and Mengniu reached out and expressed an interest in understanding ATNI’s work.
Overall, the response from all companies has been positive. It is evident that companies do discuss Global Index results internally and use them to make improvements. A few insights from companies expressed in the post-launch meetings are given below:
• Unilever company representatives expressed that they want to act on ATNI recommendations regarding disclosure. The company also wants to engage further on product profile and fortification.
• Suntory shared that the company has created a health policy and expanded their disclosure in response to the 2018 results of the Global Index.
• Nestlé applauded ATNI on the growing impact of the Global Index and role specifically in producing evidence for investors engagement.
• Mondelez reviewed and discussed results at the executive level with the promise to use them to inform a heatmap and then a roadmap to work on specific areas of improvement for the different areas of the company.
• Kraft Heinz appreciated ATNI’s neutral lens in assessing nutrition. The results of the Index have been discussed at each business unit and at global leadership level including the CEO. The company uses ATNI recommendations to set internal targets on nutrition as part of the company's 2020- 25 agenda.
• General Mills has shared the results with key leaders in the company. The company followed GI 2018 recommendations to put together a commentary on their lobbying efforts which they published. The company wants to engage more with ATNI on the priority populations and accessibility and affordability.
• Danone staff shared that they are identifying areas of maximum improvement in ATNI methodology to advise senior management on strategic choices that will help improve the company’s Global Index scores.
Next steps: In the last quarter of 2021, ATNI will wrap up post-launch meetings with companies and consolidate key outcomes of these discussions and suggestions for next iteration of the Global Index in a summary report. In October, ATNI will hold a launch event for Japanese stakeholders. UNICEF China has proposed to organize a company presentation co-hosted by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China. ATNI has also acquired funding by Irish Aid to conduct a Spotlight report on lobbying and to benchmark all 25 Global Index companies. The project will start in Q4 2021 and be completed in Q3 2022.
Core Objective 2: BMS marketing policies and practices
ATNI will assess the top 20 BMS companies in the next iteration of the BMS Index and increase the country assessments to 5-7 countries, to be able to capture all companies on the ground. As a first step, ATNI has been preparing internally for the consultation; working on identifying the themes and stakeholders and coming up with a plan for the milestones leading to the next iteration.
In the meantime, ATNI has offered post-launch engagement calls to all BMS companies to discuss the results of the Index and the recommendations on the way forward. ATNI has engaged so far with Nestlé, Danone and Reckitt. Reckitt has informed ATNI that they are planning to update their policy based on the recommendations of ATNI’s report. Nestlé is planning to implement their policy to Infant Formula 0-6m globally. Danone is open to explore improvements with a focus on strengthening country manuals and has asked for further insights from the analysis. ATNI plans to hold a meeting with Kraft Heinz as well.
ATNI is participating in the stakeholder consultation that B Corporation (a certification organisation that certifies businesses on their social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability) is currently holding to develop new BMS criteria for companies that produce BMS and would like to be qualified as B-Corp. ATNI will continue providing input to this process and follow the developments on this.
Next steps: In Q4 of 2021 and Q1 of 2022, ATNI will conduct an extensive stakeholder consultation with CSOs, companies and other experts to review the methodology and approach for the next iteration of the BMS Index. As an immediate next step, ATNI will meet with its Expert Group to present initial questions and thinking and discuss areas where ATNI should focus.
Other BMS work
FTSE4Good
Once the ATNI reports were published, as well as the PwC verification assessments, ATNI organised a call with FTSE and PwC in July to reflect on the project cycle, discuss areas of improvement and potential next steps. FTSE explained that they are going through an internal restructuring process and are exploring options for the way forward. FTSE mentioned they are considering drawing from ATNI's findings in BMS/CF 1 and BMS/CF 2 in the next iteration. ATNI is following up with FTSE to understand next steps.
BMS Call to Action
ATNI has been assessing the responses and roadmaps of the companies to the Call to Action. Among the 21 companies that were directly contacted, 17 submitted responses and 5 roadmaps. Some Japanese companies that are interested to participate to the N4G Summit have submitted roadmaps and are following up with ATNI on clarification points; namely Megmilk, Glico, Morinaga and Meiji. ATNI is providing its evaluations on these roadmaps to the Call-to-Action signatories and based on these, it is also advising the Government of Japan on BMS companies participation to the Summit. More information on the latter can be found in the N4G section.
Core Objective 5: Outreach activities
Investors
Signatory Recruitment (current AUM is $16.5 trillion)
ATNI has continued to increase its signatory base. New ATNI Signatories include Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (JP), Apostle Funds Management (AUS), Aikya Investment Management (UK). For the next quarter, ATNI will continue will collaborative engagement and then continue with signatory recruitment.
Collaborative Investor Engagement
50 of the 74 ATNI Investor Signatories, representing $12.3 trillion in assets, are taking part in the Collaborative Investor Engagement facilitated by ATNI, based on the findings of the Global Index 2021.
In July 2021, the benchmark letters were shared with all publicly listed companies in the Global Index 2021 (i.e., a total of 20 companies) and all companies have been asked to reply in writing to set a date for a first engagement meeting. In September, first engagement meetings with five companies have taken place, namely with China Mengniu, Danone, Meiji, Nestlé and Unilever. A member of the ATNI Investor Support team has been attending each of these calls for purposes of notetaking. Notes will be used to write an impact report like the one produced after the 2018-2019 engagement phase.
ATNI Investor Signatories are currently in conversation with General Mills, PepsiCo, Suntory and Yili to organize a first engagement meeting.
Ahead of each engagement call with the companies, ATNI provided an in-depth investor briefing about each company, to support investors in their engagement efforts and to ensure the investor engagement is successful. These briefings have been well attended by investors, who have provided positive feedback and indicated that they found the briefings useful in preparing for their engagement meetings with companies.
To ensure the smooth and successful running of the engagement, ATNI also organized several additional calls and teach-in sessions:
The first collaborative engagement call took place on September 9. This allowed investors to compare company responses received up to that date, to reflect on lessons learnt from the previous engagement phase, and to discuss any questions.
Teach-in sessions on three topics of special interest to investors (i.e., the Product Profile, Marketing and Lobbying) were organized in September to brief all investors on the details of the ATNI methodology on these topics as well as on best practices and performance gaps. These calls were also well attended,
The Collaborative Engagement part of the ATNI Investor Portal was also launched in September. This part of the Portal is only available to investors directly engaging with the companies and includes all documents relevant to the engagement, including recordings of the briefings and minutes of the engagement calls.
Next steps: The ATNI Investor Support team will continue to support investors in their engagement with companies and will continue to build the track record necessary for the impact report at the end of this engagement phase. Meetings with 6 more companies have been scheduled for October. These include Ajinomoto, BRF, Campbell’s, Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper, and Kraft Heinz.
ATNI Investor Signatories are also currently in conversation with General Mills, Mondelez, PepsiCo, Suntory and Yili to try to organize a first engagement meeting between the end of October and the end of November.
As several investors have expressed interest in learning more about the BMS / CF Marketing Index 2021, ATNI will offer an additional teach-in session on the topic of breast-milk substitutes and complementary foods.
Additionally, ATNI will continue to organize quarterly collaborative engagement calls to provide investors with a platform to share successes and difficulties encountered in their engagement with the companies. The next quarterly engagement call is planned for November 2.
Investor Report
ATNI has contracted an external consultant to write a report outlining investor action on nutrition. The report will present several case studies profiling current responsible investment approaches to nutrition (e.g., from ESG integration to engagement, from research to public policy work and exclusions of certain companies from an investment portfolio). Case studies will profile ATNI Investor Signatories. This report will be launched during an N4G Side Event (pending official approval).
N4G and UNFSS Investor Mobilization
ATNI has been supporting investor mobilization at the two global summits taking place this year. ATNI continues to be in conversation with the Good Food Finance Network, launched at the UN Food Systems Summit, to ensure that the issue of nutrition is part of the Network’s agenda as a relevant ESG issue.
ATNI has drafted the N4G Investor Pledge, supported by most of its Investor Signatories, which will be officially launched at the N4G Summit. This pledge will represent a smart commitment from investors to use the framework of the Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health in their engagement, analysis, and investment processes as well as a commitment to directly engage with all listed companies in the Global Index 2021. As part of its efforts to mobilize the investment community for N4G, ATNI has also submitted a proposal for an official N4G side event, which will present the report on existing responsible investment approaches to nutrition.
Next steps: ATNI will ensure the Investor Signatories sign the N4G Investor Pledge and will attempt to secure a spot in the N4G main agenda for the Pledge to be presented.
Outreach & Communications
Social media activity between July and September 2021 contributed to ATNI’s burgeoning presence online and to the impact of key publications. In July, ATNI’s launch of the Global Index 2021 was accompanied by a social media campaign designed to drive attention to the website and to the launch events. Coverage of the launch on Twitter and LinkedIn was viewed over 36,000 times and drove at least 670 of 7,908 views of the Global Index on ATNI’s website.
The report “Nutrition responses from food and beverage companies to the COVID-19 pandemic – Report 4: The time for change” (the final report of the COVID-19 series) was released in late July during the UNFSS Pre-Summit. The social media campaign surrounding the report garnered 9,270 views in total. The report was accessed 494 times via the website between July and September. A blog written by the ATNI team was also released shortly after the publication of the report, which investigated the role that the food and beverage industry plays in transforming food systems.
Various events were organized during the Pre-Summit of the UN Food Systems Summit in July. See below the section on UNFSS. In the weeks running up to the UN Food Systems Summit, ATNI developed a social media campaign in which ATNI team members were asked to answer the following question: “What does the UN Food Systems Summit mean to you?”. The campaign generated a total of 7,659 impressions across Twitter and LinkedIn.
ATNI published a few blog posts on its website to cover a range of topics relevant to the UNFSS. One of these blogs “UN Food Systems Summit: now is the time to take action” was written by ATNI Executive Director Inge Kauer.
In September, ATNI published the second U.K. Product Profile on the day of the UN Food Systems Summit. The social media campaign for this report focused on key findings and was jointly disseminated on Twitter and LinkedIn by ATNI and ShareAction. ATNI’s campaign was viewed over 2,500 times, accounting for 158 visits to the Product Profile news item and report on the website.
On September 1, ATNI Executive Director Inge Kauer joined the Accountability Pact launch event as a speaker, to discuss the role of private sector accountability for nutrition. The Accountability Pact, a multi-stakeholder project launched ahead of the UN Food Systems Summit, is a coalition of researchers committed to monitor food and nutrition accountability.
On September 8, the Opinion piece “How to close the global nutrition gap post-COVID-19” by ATNI Executive Director Inge Kauer appeared on development magazine Devex.
Next steps: On October 5, ATNI will co-host the Global Index 2021 Japanese Launch Event, together with the Japanese Investor Signatory Nomura Asset Management and with the Japanese ESG Consulting Firm Neural Inc. The event will be supported by the Japanese Sustainable Investment Forum (J-SIF).
On October 26, ATNI team will present the findings of the UK Product Profile 2021 in a webinar organised by ShareAction. This webinar is titled, “Health Matters: Assessing food and drink manufacturers’ progress on health.
Core Objective 6: Develop action research activities
ATNI is conducting various action research activities to develop knowledge on nutrition topics relevant for its work.
Action Research on Complementary Foods
ATNI published its first landscape study for the Philippines looking at Commercially Produced Complementary Foods in May. The study comprised of two sections: a landscape analysis of the market and dietary partners for CF in the country, and a product profile analysis of all CF products found in the market. ATNI was also working on another country – Mexico, focusing only on the first part which is the landscape analysis. ATNI is currently working on finalizing the l study for Mexico and will be publishing it in Q4 2021.
ATNI is continuing participating to COMMIT – a new consortium by UNICEF EAPRO looking to replicate the study in 6 Southeast Asian countries - Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. ATNI has acquired new funding by Irish Aid to conduct a regional study and country briefings, based on the data that will be collected at the COMMIT project.
Action Research on Workforce Nutrition in Value Chains
ATNI is conducting this project to explore what companies are doing to promote healthy diets and nutrition along their supply chains and how companies could act on this topic. The research also aims to feed into the next Global Index and other ATNI work. ATNI has moved forward with desk research – focusing on several supply chains: cocoa, tea, coffee, horticulture, and garment. ATNI is also conducting various interviews to understand the current landscape and the work that has been done so far, as well as to identify case studies from the sectors.
The output from this work will be a discussion paper and several company case-studies which will be published on the ATNI website in Q4 2021, and the results will be presented in a side event of the Nutrition for Growth Summit together with GAIN.
Action Research on Product Inequities
ATNI’s latest Global Product Profile, undertaken as part of the Global Access to Nutrition Index 2021 assessed the relative healthiness of the product portfolio of the largest 25 food and beverage manufacturers globally across 25 countries. ATNI has written a short research paper to explore to what extent the healthiness of companies' portfolios varies by country, as an add-on to the Global Product Profile 2021.
Results show that there is some variability in the healthiness of company’s overall product portfolios (mean HSR) across different markets (from 1.8 in India to 2.7 in Canada). In 2018 it seemed high income markets had higher overall HSRs compared to middle income markets. However, in 2021 this is less evident.
The main message from the Inequities paper is supporting the overall message of the Global Product Profile 2021, that companies should do more to increase the healthiness of their portfolios across countries. The Inequities paper will be launched on the ATNI website and possible steps for follow-up research will be identified.
Large Scale Food Fortification Scoping exercise
ATNI started designing the Large-Scale Food Fortification scoping project in September 2021. This action research is part of the 2021-2023 BMGF grant received by ATNI. The topic of Food Fortification is already embedded in a range of activities and accountability tools developed by ATNI. Building up on this knowledge ATNI will conduct a scoping exercise focusing on two countries where specific activities were implemented, namely India, for which two Spotlight Indexes were published, and Nigeria, where the Nutrition Business Monitor tool was tested.
The objective of the exercise is to provide a better understanding of the components and actors of the Food Fortification Value Chains with a specific focus on Nigeria and India and identify knowledge and data gaps on the role companies play in the Food Fortification Value Chains. The findings of the exercise will serve as a basis in defining the role that ATNI can play with regards to monitoring the role of the private sector in the Food Fortification value chain to drive positive change in fighting micronutrient deficiencies.
ATNI will produce a report presenting key findings from the scoping exercise including desk research and the outcome of the consultations. In addition, case studies (focused on India and Nigeria) will be shared. These will be presented at strategic workshop held with the BMGF with the aim of agreeing on a scenario of integration of Large-Scale Food Fortification in ATNI’s methodology. In the second year of the grant, ATNI will start implementing this scenario in either new or ongoing projects.
Core Objective 7: Develop Monitoring and Evaluation
ATNI has hired a firm called Steward Redqueen to conduct an independent impact assessment and M&E review of the organization. The draft inception report of this assessment was first shared in July. It outlines the objectives, structure, and workplan of the assessment. Moreover, it presents the Evaluation Matrix, the list of stakeholders to be interviewed, and the documents received by Steward Redqueen to conduct the initial desk review.
In September, thirty-five stakeholders were invited to participate in the impact assessment interviews. They are categorized as follows:
Internal stakeholders including ATNI’s Board members, management, and key staff, as well as members of the expert group and funders
Societal and investor stakeholders consisting of NGOs, peer benchmarking organizations, as well as investors
F&B companies, SMEs, and retailers included in ATNI’s Indexes or specific projects
Experts in the domain of Food and Beverages and Corporate Accountability
By the end of September, ATNI had received 20 positive responses to the interview invitation. Additionally, all staff members were invited to provide their insights via an online survey.
The consultancy firm has simultaneously continued reviewing the ATNI M&E system, focusing on the collection of data against the current organization log-frame, thus starting to test and prioritize indicators.
Next steps: Interviews with external stakeholders will be further conducted through October. The data analysis phase will run through October and November. The draft report of the assessment is expected in the week of the 22nd of November. In parallel, the consultant will review ATNI’s Monitoring and Evaluation system and organize two action-oriented workshops around SMART indicators and the enhanced Theory of Change of the organization. The assessment will feed into the final report which is intended to be ready in the week of the 13th of December.
Additional Objective 1: Developing indexes that assess the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains (not funded by DGIS, not part of prolongation)
ATNI UK Retailer Index
The UK Retailer Index is assessing 11 retailers in the UK on nutrition. The methodology for this Index was published in May 2021. The pre-population phase, in which analysts added publicly available company data on the internal research platform, was concluded in early June. After the retail webinars end of May/early June to inform the companies on the research process and methodology, the research platform was opened for company input on June 7. Responses during the webinars were positive and the retailers had requested more time to submit their input on our data collection platform. ATNI therefore prolonged the first data-gathering phase to July.
9 Of the 11 retailers provided additional information on the platform till early July. ATNI has also engaged with several of the retailers in one-on-one calls to clarify outstanding points. All engagement so far has been positive. Four retailers have signed a non-disclosure agreement.
The ATNI analysts reviewed the company input on the research platform, after which the data platform opened again on August 2 for company clarification phase. Again, nine out of eleven retailers have provided input on the data research platform.
From September onwards, the platform has closed, and data is analyzed, including peer review of company assessment.
Next steps: After peer review, the writing of chapters and wider report as well as company scorecards will start. Another meeting with the UK Retailer Expert Group will be scheduled for expert input for elevating the findings. Publication is scheduled for Q1 2022.
UK Product Profile
Also, from this partnership with ShareAction, and funded by Impact on Urban Health, part of Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation, the UK Product Profile 2021 was launched on the ATNI website on September 23. The U.K. Product Profile 2021 is the second of its kind, following the first UK Product Profile published in 2019.
The 2021 report assessed the nutritional quality of more than 4,000 products from 16 of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers active in the U.K., using the data from the 2021 Global Access to Nutrition Index. The products analysed accounted for approximately 50% of total U.K. retail sales of manufacturer brands’ packaged foods and beverages in 2019.
Key findings:
Sales from healthy products has grown from 22% to 29% in the 2021 Product Profile
Average HSR for all products assessed is 2.2 out of 5 stars (similar to previous UK Product Profile).
Also similar, only 32% of products analyzed using the Health Star Rating met the healthy threshold
Nine out of the 16 companies assessed were found to have improved to some extent the healthiness of their portfolios
Overall, only 13% of products analyzed for all companies combined met nutritional standards for products that can be marketed to children, compared to 15% in previous report.
This report was launched on the 23rd of September, the day of the UN Food Systems Summit. The key messages listed above were developed into a set of social media cards that were shared with ShareAction on the day of the launch. The launch was jointly promoted across Twitter and LinkedIn by ATNI and ShareAction (see the Communications & Outreach section of this report for further details on the social media campaign). On October 26, ATNI will present the findings of the UK Product Profile in a webinar organized by ShareAction.
Additional Objective 2: New Spotlight Indexes (not funded by DGIS, not part of prolongation)
US Spotlight Index2
ATNI is conducting research for the second US Spotlight Index in 2021. Based on insights gained through a set of tools to test and improve clarity of indicators and answer options in the US Index methodology (a 15-min survey and cognitive interviews with 6 of the 11 companies of the US Index), adjustments were made this quarter to the US Index methodology. Specifically, lowered number of indicators, simplified answer options, integrated disclosure element within questions, integrated relevant information within questions, and reformulated questions to better link to company actions in the US.
Next steps: In the next quarter, ATNI will have further consultations with the Expert Group on finalization of the methodology. The methodology will then be tested to ensure interrater consistency. ATNI plans to start with the data collection in November. Companies will gain access to their initial company assessment and will be able to respond with comments and additional materials in early 2022.
India Index
Following on from the launch of the India Index earlier this year, consultations for the next Index will begin in the fourth quarter of 2021. These will start with a webinar where results of the COVID-19 project will also be shared (more details in the section below).
Additional Objective 3: Further development of verification-type activities (not funded by DGIS, not part of prolongation)
Nutrition Business Monitor3
The Nutrition Business Monitoring (NBM) project is dedicated to developing and testing a self-assessment for Small and Medium Enterprises to test opportunities for improving their impact on nutrition. The project is funded by GAIN and the tool is being tested in Nigeria and Bangladesh.
This quarter, a second round of testing was organized in Bangladesh. Companies that have tested the tool are now in total 20, with 6 new companies conducting the testing. Following and linked to this, a two-day training was organized in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 8-9 September 2021, for companies that had tested the tool. The training focused on business development and marketing with a focus on nutritious foods. The training was facilitated by Bopinc and co-organized with SBN.
Next steps: ATNI is currently working on wrapping up the testing phase and is planning for next steps. ATNI will write a public report based on the testing and capacity building results of the project. ATNI is planning to have a side event at the Nutrition for Growth Summit to share initial findings of the project.
Responsible Lobbying Framework4
Irish Aid Grant on Responsible Lobbying
ATNI is in the process of acquiring new funding by Irish Aid to conduct a new Spotlight on Lobbying with a focus on all Global Index companies. ATNI has received an initial approval and will finalise the funding process in the next quarter. The aim is to start this work in Q4 2021 and publish the report by the end of Q2 2022.
Extra activities 2020-2022 (funded by FCDO, not part of prolongation)
Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020
The fourth and final COVID-19 report summarizes company nutrition responses since the start of the crisis and presents recommendations for building food supply chains back better. ATNI researchers undertook a scan of the 39 companies’ main websites in early June 2021, focusing particularly on recently published annual reports and CSR reports. Interviews as well as email consultations on required urgent steps forward took place with the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF, FCDO, Feed the Truth, UNICEF, GAIN, SBN Nigeria and Food Industry Asia (FIA). Furthermore, media was monitored weekly on industry responses as well.
The report was launched during the UNFSS pre-summit at the end of July, through social media channels, garnering over 9,000 views. After more than a year since the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 and the responses to it by companies and consumer reactions have presented risks and challenges for nutrition, including issues around increased consumption and marketing of unhealthy foods, donations that may not be of healthy products and concerns around inappropriate labelling of products as being immunity boosting. However, there are clear opportunities for companies to play a more positive role, with examples emerging – whether this is responding to consumer demand for healthier products, renewing a focus on equity and priority populations, or leveraging their ability to support supply chains. ATNI calls on all the world’s major food and beverage companies to step further along this path, taking consistent steps towards a future in which the food system is more resilient to COVID-19 and its economic and nutrition aftershocks, and also to any crises in the future. COVID-19 has been a moment of reckoning and it must be a moment of change.
The Nutrition for Growth Summit
ATNI attended all BCG meetings in Q3 as well as the Advisory Group meeting. ATNI engaged bilaterally with the Government of Japan to define a clear process on how BMS companies could participate in the summit. ATNI has been assessing the roadmaps of some of the Japanese companies that want to participate to the Summit. The basis for the assessments is the Call to Action as it is almost fully aligned with the N4G Principles of Engagement. As the deadline for assessments is the end of October, there will be further updates on this point in the next quarter.
Additionally, the Government of Japan has decided to reinstate the Thematic Working Groups, to provide guidance for the program and speakers of the Summit. ATNI, as the co-chair of the working group on accountability is liaising with GNR and RESULTS UK to organize a meeting and discuss the role of the group for the coming months.
Moreover, ATNI has developed an N4G Investor Pledge to be signed by its Investor Signatories and to be presented at the N4G Summit – either during a plenary agenda event or during an official Summit side event. In early October ATNI submitted a proposal for official Summit side event which will focus on current responsible investment approaches to nutrition as an ESG issue. During this side event, to be co-hosted by ATNI and some of the Investor Signatories, the investor report will be launched.
ATNI plans to publish the paper on nutrition in supply chains during the N4G Summit (see Action Research). ATNI is also planning on (co-)organizing a few other side events for the summit including on Workforce Nutrition in Supply chains and on the role of SMEs in nutrition and the NBM tool (see earlier section).
The UN Food Systems Summit
The UNFSS pre-Summit took place from July 26 to 28. The actual summit was held in September, during the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.
Together with GAIN, ATNI co-organized two events on the topic “Mobilizing Accountability Mechanisms for Aligned Business Reporting” towards the pre-summit of UNFSS.
an internal workshop that took place on 8 July with other accountability mechanism organizations; and a public event held on the 20th of July, also co-organized by CGF and Nutrition Connect to broaden the discussion and discuss different initiatives
During the pre-Summit, ATNI launched the fourth COVID-19 report seconded by FCDO (on Tuesday, July 27, at the day of the private sector session).
ATNI also participated during an online event on July 28 organized by the Food Foundation and WBA on accountability mechanisms in LMICs. The event was a follow-up to a previous event co-hosted in May on company accountability tools together with GAIN, WBA and Food Foundation (see earlier in this report).
ATNI was involved in the launch of the UNFSS Accountability Pact on September 1, which gathered over 200 signatures from researchers and food and nutrition experts to promote better monitoring mechanisms for food systems.
ATNI also attended the launch of the World Benchmarking Alliance’s Food and Agriculture Benchmark on September 21, an official side event of the UNFSS. ATNI contributed nutrition data for the Benchmark, which assessed 350 companies on their sustainable business practices, including nutrition.
The UN Food Systems Summit was held on September 23, with side events ranging from September 14 to September 24. The Summit took place in New York, meaning that the Opening Plenary began in the afternoon at 3pm CET. On the morning of the 23rd, ATNI published the second UK Product Profile 2021, and conducted a social media campaign in conjunction with ShareAction to disseminate the key findings of the report ahead of the Opening Plenary. ATNI attended the main sessions of the Summit and actively reported on the event through live tweeting.
Following the Summit, Inge Kauer published a LinkedIn blog entitled “UN Food Systems Summit: now is the time to take action”, which provided commentary on how UNFSS and the upcoming Nutrition for Growth Summit create momentum for the nutrition agenda this Nutrition Year of Action.
WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism
ATNI is collecting data from companies that are members of the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) in order to report on commitments to WHO on reducing trans fats. 10 out of 11 companies have agreed to participate to this work. ATNI is currently working on updating the methodology and WHO will reach out to the companies to distribute it. Some of the companies have already provided the required data to ATNI – Coca-Cola, Mondelez, Ferrero, Grupo Bimbo, Mars and Kellogg. The project timeline has been extended to the end of 2021.
Collaboration with World Benchmarking Alliance
To continue efforts to work together to drive private sector change in safeguarding human health and providing nutritious and healthy foods at affordable prices, ATNI has collaborated with WBA to align data collection efforts between WBA’s Food and Agricultural Benchmark (FAB) and ATNI’s Global Index 2021 on a set of overlapping indicators. In May 2021, ATNI shared with WBA, company assessments from the Global Index 2021 research for the 50 indicators relevant for the 6 nutrition indicators in the FAB based on publicly available information, that ATNI has collected from the public domain before starting a first round of engagement with companies along with a list of publicly available evidence used. These assessments did not include scores or rankings. This data was used in FAB’s assessment, and the benchmark was launched this quarter. The findings were similar to ATNI’s Global Index especially in areas of accessibility and affordability, with 80% of the companies assessed having no statements on affordability/accessibility.
WBA and Food Foundation launched a coalition to strengthen accountability mechanisms for benchmarking the food industry in one of UNFSS pre-summit events in July. ATNI was one of the first members to sign up for the coalition and has been involved in the process of reviewing a toolkit developed by WBA and FF to inform national benchmarks. In October a call is planned with WBA to discuss how to work together in the next cycle.
Access to Nutrition Foundation Arthur van Schendelstraat 650 3511 MJ Utrecht, the Netherlands
Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all), SDG 12 (target 12.3)
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Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation.
Additional ATNI Objectives (funded by various, not part of prolongation)
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
NL-KVK-58279199-DGISQ4-2021-report
Access to Nutrition Foundation
DGIS Q4 Activity Report 2021
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation.
Additional ATNI Objectives (funded by various, not part of prolongation)
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra activities 2020-2022 (funded by FCDO, not part of prolongation)
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16, 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI will embark on the following extra activities:
Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020.
Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UNFSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
Investor coalition starting October 2020.
Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021.
Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021.
Country approach starting July 2021.
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
Document Structure
This document presents the progress from October till December 2021 on the activities for which DGIS contracted the Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF, Grant reference number - 4000000128). It is structured in line with the Objectives for the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) as in the funding proposal, including additional funding support (£1,500.000) from FCDO that was approved April 2020.
For 2021, ATNI has been granted a prolongation from DGIS to deliver the objectives in the course of 2021, due to delays caused by the COVID-19 crisis that started in 2020.
Progress on relevant objectives for October-December 2021
Core Objective 1: Global Indexes
Global Index
On July 1, 2021, ATNI published its fourth Global Index, assessing the largest 25 global F&B companies on their efforts on nutrition.
After the successful launch, ATNI invited all companies assessed on the Index to online meetings to dig deeper into Global Index results and recommendations. These calls started in August 2021 and continued until December 2021. In total, 19 companies expressed an interest in joining these meetings. By December 2021, ATNI has conducted 16 of these calls including 2 calls with Board and Senior Executives of Nestlé and PepsiCo. Also, two non-engaging companies of the Index, Suntory and Mengniu, reached out and expressed an interest in understanding ATNI’s work. Overall, the response from all companies has been positive. Many companies have mentioned that ATNI’s Global Index results and recommendations have been communicated to senior management within their companies.
On October 5, 2021 the Global Index 2021 was launched in Japan through an online event co-hosted by ATNI, Nomura Asset Management and ESG consultancy firm Neural Inc. The event was supported by the Japanese Sustainable Investment Forum (JSIF). The event saw a wide variety of stakeholders, including company representatives, government officials, academics, institutional investors and members of trade associations, come together to discuss the findings of the Global Index 2021 and to reflect on how they are relevant to the Japanese market as well as to Japanese companies assessed in the benchmark. The event was well-attended both by Japanese and international stakeholders.
Next steps: In the first quarter of 2022, ATNI will consolidate key outcomes of these discussions and suggestions for the next iteration of the Global Index in a summary report.
Core Objective 2: BMS Marketing Policies and Practices
ATNI plans to assess the top 20 BMS companies in the next iteration of the BMS Index and increase the number of country assessments to 5-7 countries, to be able to capture all companies on the ground. In the last quarter, ATNI has been preparing internally for the consultation with input from the BMS Expert Group. Two working sessions with the EG took place in October and November and the EG will provide written feedback on the proposed consultation approach by January 2022. Following this, ATNI will review feedback internally and start planning more meetings with external stakeholders to understand what changes should be made in the consultation.
Additionally, ATNI had a follow-up call with Danone to provide some further information on their assessment post-publication in November.
ATNI is also in touch with other CSOs and UN agencies on the BMS Call to Action, and other related work. The last meeting took place in December where updates related to potential participation of BMS companies in the N4G Summit was discussed. Among the organisations participating in these regular calls are UNICEF, WHO, FHI360, HKI and Save the Children.
Next steps: In Q1 of 2022, ATNI will continue working on the consultation and plan meetings with external stakeholders, including CSOs, companies and other experts to review the methodology and approach for the next iteration of the BMS Index.
Other BMS work
BMS Call to Action
ATNI has been assessing the responses and roadmaps of the companies to the Call to Action, especially in relation to the N4G Summit as the Summit took place in December 2021. Some Japanese companies that are interested to participate to the N4G Summit submitted roadmaps in the months prior to the Summit and followed up with ATNI; namely Megmilk, Glico, Morinaga and Meiji. ATNI engaged extensively with Meiji that showed continuous interest in complying in advance of the Summit. Despite the discussions, there was no company that was found eligible to participate in the Summit.
Core Objective 5: Outreach Activities
Investors
Signatory Recruitment (current AUM is $16.6 trillion)
ATNI has continued to increase its signatory base. New ATNI Signatories who joined the coalition in Q4 of 2021 are the following: Apostle Funds Management (AU), Aikya Investment Management (UK), Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (JP), Socially Responsible Investment Coalition (US) and CZ (NL). The total number of Signatories at the end of December 2021 is 76 investors, representing $16.6 trillion in assets under management.
Collaborative Investor Engagement
50 of the 74 ATNI Investor Signatories, representing $12.3 trillion in assets, are taking part in the Collaborative Investor Engagement facilitated by ATNI, based on the findings of the Global Index 2021.
In July 2021, the investor letters with key company asks were shared with all publicly listed companies in the Global Index 2021 (i.e., a total of 20 companies) and all companies have been asked to reply in writing to set a date for a first engagement meeting. By the end of December 2021, investors have had a first meeting with 14 companies, have secured a date for a first meeting with an additional two companies and are in conversations with an additional three companies. Only one company has been non-responsive to investors thus far. Members of the ATNI Investor Support Team have attended these meetings in the capacity of note-takers. Meeting minutes have been regularly shared with the investors via the ATNI
Investor Portal.
Ahead of each engagement call with the companies, ATNI continues to provide an in-depth investor briefing about each company, to support investors in their engagement efforts and to ensure the investor engagement is successful. These briefings have been well attended by investors, who have provided positive feedback and indicated that they found the briefings useful in preparing for their engagement meetings with companies.
To ensure the smooth and successful running of the engagement, ATNI also organized three in-depth teach-in sessions on topics of special interest to the investors:
• On September 9, 2021, the ATNI team, in collaboration with The George Institute for Global Health, provided an overview of the Product Profile 2021 and presented an in-depth analysis of two companies’ assessments.
• On September 23, 2021, the ATNI team delivered a teach-in on the topics of responsible marketing and lobbying.
• On November 24th, 2021, with the ATNI team provided an in-depth presentation about ATNI’s BMS / CF Marketing Index 2021.
Next steps: The ATNI Investor Support team will continue to support investors in their engagement with companies and will continue to build the track record necessary for the impact report at the end of this engagement phase. ATNI will support investors in ensuring a first meeting is secured with all 20 publicly listed companies and in working towards scheduling follow-up meetings with companies that have shown a keen interest in continuing the dialogue with the ATNI Investor Signatories.
Additionally, ATNI will continue to organize quarterly collaborative engagement calls to provide investors with a platform to share successes and difficulties encountered in their engagement with the companies. The next quarterly engagement call is planned for February 2nd.
Considering the upcoming US Index 2022, the ATNI Investor Support Team will plan for the findings of this Index to be incorporated into the ongoing engagement, so that US companies can be engaged both on their global practices as well as on their US-specific Index results.
ATNI is also in conversation with GAIN, WBA and NewForesight to co-organize an event to bring investors’ attention to the topic of workforce nutrition. The event would present findings of a paper by the Workforce Nutrition Alliance but also by the report published by ATNI in December 2021 (see next section).
Investor Report
ATNI published a report outlining investor action on nutrition. The report Institutional Investors’ Approaches to Addressing Nutrition, Diets and Health was launched on November 30, 2021, during an official side event of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit organized by ATNI in collaboration with Chatham House, Nomura Asset Management, Achmea Investment Management, Legal and General Investment Management, and Rathbone Greenbank Investments. The event was well-attended, and the report has been widely shared not only within the networks of ATNI’s Investor Signatories but also with a wider range of nutrition stakeholders. The report, intended to help global non-investment sector readers understand the pivotal role that institutional investors play in driving better corporate performance on nutrition and health, includes eight case studies based on publicly available information and profiling members of the ATNI Investor Signatories group. The case studies outline how investors are tackling health and nutrition using strategies such as ESG integration, negative/exclusionary screening, norms-based screening, engagement and shareholder action, positive/best-in-class screening, sustainability-themed investing, and impact investing.
N4G and UNFSS Investor Mobilization
ATNI has been supporting investor mobilization at the two global Summits taking place this year. ATNI has drafted the N4G Investor Pledge, supported by 53 of its Investor Signatories representing $12.4 trillion in AUM. ATNI worked hard to ensure the Pledge could be presented during the Summit Plenary. The N4G Investor Pledge was officially launched on Day 2 of the N4G Summit, on December 8, by Akihiko Nishioka, President and CEO of Resona Asset Management. It was the first time that investors got engaged in such a way at a multilateral global event. This pledge represents a smart commitment from investors to use the framework of the Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health in their engagement, analysis, and investment processes as well as a commitment to directly engage with all listed companies in the Global Index 2021. The full text of the Pledge, as well as a full recording of its announcement, can be found here.
To ensure the Pledge received sufficient media coverage, ATNI contracted a Press Agency specialized in the investment sector. This resulted in several articles, most notably in Forbes (an interview with ATNI Executive Director Inge Kauer), Reuters, Nutrition Insight, and much more.
ATNI continues to be in conversation with the Good Food Finance Network, launched at the UN Food Systems Summit, to ensure that the issue of nutrition is part of the Network’s agenda as a relevant ESG issue.
Next steps: ATNI will continue to monitor progress against the Pledge by means of creating the necessary track record of the collaborative investor engagement, which will result in an impact report to be drafted in Q4 2022 / Q1 2023.
Outreach & Communications
On October 26th, the ATNI team presented the findings of the UK Product Profile 2021 in a webinar organized by ShareAction, funder of the project, and titled “Health Matters: Assessing food and drink manufacturers ‘progress on health”. The event was well-attended and saw ATNI members take part in a lively discussion focusing on the nutrition challenges and the relative corporate responses in the UK market.
On November 10th, ATNI Executive Director Inge Kauer was invited to take part in a COP26 event on the topic of food safety. With the UK hosting the 26th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021, this event represented a unique opportunity to bring together regulators, food and feed scientists, consumer groups, industry experts, and academics from across the food system to discuss how to respond to global food systems challenges. The event was organized by the UK Food Standards Agency and by Food Standards Scotland and included a presentation by ATNI.
Social media activity in November and December contributed to ATNI’s burgeoning presence online and to the impact of key publications. ATNI’s involvement in the N4G Summit was accompanied by a social media campaign designed to drive attention to the website and to the Summit official side events.
ATNI played an active role as host, co-host or event moderator in nine official N4G side events. These have been shared with ATNI’s stakeholders via the ATNI website, the ATNI social media accounts, through an N4G-specific newsletter, and via targeted stakeholder emails.
ATNI co-hosted two events on the topic of Workforce Nutrition together with the Consumer Goods Forum. The first event, on November 16th, focused on private sector commitments on supply chain workforce nutrition and saw ATNI Research Director Mark Wijne share findings from the Global Index 2021. During the second event, held on November 25th, ATNI Program Director Marije Boomsma shared preliminary findings from ATNI’s report Workforce Nutrition Programs in Supply Chains: The Benefits of Addressing Malnutrition from Supply Chain Workers and How to Do So. The report was then officially launched on December 13th, 2021, and distributed widely within ATNI’s networks.
On November 23rd, in partnership with GAIN, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme and the SUN Business Network, ATNI co-hosted an event used to present learnings from various organizations supporting SMEs as well as case studies by some SMEs. ATNI’s Nutrition Business Monitor tool was a key element of the webinar. The events were graphically summarized by a graphic illustrator, whose drawings can be found on the relative ATNI project page, here.
On December 2nd and December 16th ATNI co-hosted two official side events on the topic of accountability for better nutrition, together with the Global Nutrition Report and with Results UK. The first event, which took place before the N4G Summit, focused on the role that accountability mechanisms can play in driving positive change within the nutrition space. The second event, which took place after the Summit, was used as an opportunity to reflect on the work that lied ahead after SMART commitments were made at N4G by governments, businesses, and civil society alike.
The full list of all N4G Side Events organized by ATNI is provided below, and links to the recordings can be found on the ATNI website, here:
• 16th November: SMART private sector workforce nutrition commitments: Leveraging the workplace to bring improved nutrition to millions of employees
• 23rd November: Scaling up the contribution of SMEs to nutrition – tools and SUN Business Network case studies
• 25th November: Private Sector Nutrition Action: New Data to Inform Private Sector Commitments on Supply Chain Workforce Nutrition
• 29th November: Introducing the N4G Business Constituency Group: How business is stepping up to tackle malnutrition
• 30th November: The Business and Investment Case for Nutrition
• 2nd December: Accountability for action: Breaking down barriers to strong commitment making
• 6th December: Responsible Business Pledge for Better Nutrition: Business commits to tackling malnutrition
• 7th December: Building sustainable healthy diets and food systems: Aiming to improve nutritional literacy that leads to behavior modification
• 16th December: Action on accountability: Lessons learnt and the way forward beyond the N4G Summit
The N4G Side Events not only helped ATNI gain new visibility and strengthen its position as the expert organization on corporate accountability for nutrition, but also helped ATNI grow its network and create new partnerships with a variety of stakeholders.
Core Objective 6: Develop Action Research Activities
ATNI is conducting various action research activities to develop knowledge on nutrition topics relevant for its work.
Action Research on Complementary Foods
ATNI is currently working on finalizing the study on Commercially Produced Complementary Foods for Mexico and will be publishing it in Q1 2022.
The work of COMMIT – the consortium on Commercially Produced Complementary Foods in Southeast Asia led by UNICEF EAPRO – is continuing and ATNI as a consortium partner is joining the regular calls and providing input as needed. ATNI will be using data from the consortium to develop a regional benchmark in 2022, as well as country briefings, looking at the 7 countries selected - Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. ATNI is conducting this piece of work with new funding by Irish Aid.
Action Research on Workforce Nutrition in Value Chains
ATNI has published a discussion paper titled ‘Workforce nutrition programs in supply chains – The benefits of addressing malnutrition among supply chain workers and how to do so’, along with 6 company studies namely: Nature’s Pride, Nestlé, Twinings, Unilever, Olam and VF Corporation.
The reports and case studies were published on the website and shared with selected stakeholders. ATNI also gave a preview of the results of this research project during an N4G webinar in November. This work will be instrumental in further strengthening ATNI’s methodologies on workforce and supply chain nutrition.
Action Research on Product Inequities
ATNI’s latest Global Product Profile, undertaken as part of the Global Access to Nutrition Index 2021, assessed the relative healthiness of the product portfolio of the largest 25 food and beverage manufacturers globally across 25 countries. ATNI has written a short research paper to explore to what extent the healthiness of companies' portfolios varies by country, as an add-on to the Global Product Profile 2021.
In 2018 it seemed high income markets had higher overall HSRs compared to middle income markets. However, this 2021 paper highlights that whilst there are differences in the mean healthiness (HSR) of product portfolios across all countries and categories assessed, no evident patterns across income level and/or geographic region could be identified. At company level, discrepancies were found in the mean healthiness of products in the same categories across different markets.
The main message from the Inequities paper is supporting the overall message of the Global Product Profile 2021, that companies should do more to increase the healthiness of their portfolios and ensure that consumers are offered products with high nutritional quality and similar levels of healthiness across all countries where companies sell their products. The Inequities paper was published on the ATNI website in December 2021, following the Nutrition for Growth Summit.
Large Scale Food Fortification Scoping exercise
ATNI started designing the Large-Scale Food Fortification scoping project in September 2021. This action research is part of the 2021-2023 BMGF grant received by ATNI. The topic of Food Fortification is already embedded in a range of activities and accountability tools developed by ATNI. Building up on this knowledge ATNI will conduct a scoping exercise focusing on two countries where specific activities were implemented, namely India, for which two Spotlight Indexes were published, and Nigeria, where the Nutrition Business Monitor tool was tested.
The objective of the exercise is to provide a better understanding of the components and actors of the Food Fortification value chains with a specific focus on Nigeria and India, and to identify knowledge and data gaps on the role companies play. The findings of the exercise will serve as a basis in defining the role that ATNI can play with regards to monitoring the role of the private sector in the Food Fortification value chain to drive positive change in fighting micronutrient deficiencies.
ATNI will produce a report presenting key findings from the scoping exercise including desk research and the outcome of the consultations. In addition, 3 to 4 case studies (focused on India and Nigeria) will be shared. These will be presented at strategic workshop held with the BMGF with the aim of agreeing on a scenario of integration of Large-Scale Food Fortification in ATNI’s methodology. In the second year of the grant, ATNI will start implementing this scenario in either new or ongoing projects.
Core Objective 7: Develop Monitoring and Evaluation
ATNI has hired a firm called Steward Redqueen to conduct an independent impact assessment and M&E review of the organization. The draft inception report of this assessment was first shared in July. A desk review began shortly after. Interviews with external stakeholders were conducted through October. In total, 52 key experts including senior management, staff, funding partners, investors, industry experts, civil society partners and food & beverage companies targeted by ATNI’s accountability tools, were interviewed. Besides interviews, the evaluation was supported by in-depth review of key documents, analysis of performance data, a survey among staff. The four different types of sources allowed for robust analysis and triangulation of all data, opinions, and findings.
On December 16, the Steward Redqueen team presented the main findings and recommendations of the independent review to the Board.
On the second day of the Board meeting, December 17th, recommendations were analyzed in more details. The decision was made to create two Board sub-committees focusing on Fundraising and Strategy and Organization. The enhancement of the M&E system will be taken onboard by ATNI with support of Steward Redqueen in the first Quarter of 2022. The suggestions gathered in the Board meeting will serve as a basis to prepare the management response to the review. This response will include an overview of actions that ATNI intends to take to act upon the main recommendations of the report.
Next steps: ATNI will share the report with its staff in January 2022. An internal workshop will be organized for Steward Redqueen to present main findings. This will give the opportunity to gather staff’s suggestions to act upon key recommendations of the report. The Board sub-committees on Fundraising and Strategy and Organization will meet in January and February and present their proposed roadmaps to the Board in February 2022.
Additional Objective 1: Developing indexes that assess the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains (not funded by DGIS, not part of prolongation)
ATNI UK Retailer Index
The UK Retailer Index is assessing 11 retailers in the UK on nutrition. The methodology for this Index was published in May 2021. The data input and engagement phase were finalized at the end of August 2021. 9 out of 11 retailers have engaged on the platform. ATNI has also engaged with several of the retailers in one-on-one calls to clarify outstanding points. All engagement so far has been positive. Four retailers have signed a non-disclosure agreement.
From September onwards, the platform has closed, the team has analyzed the input from the engagement phase, after which quality control checks were performed through peer review and review sessions. Meanwhile, we have tested the algorithm and multiplier effects.
Next steps: Currently the team is drafting the report and scorecards, after which review, and further quality control checks will start. The scorecards will be sent to all retailers before the launch for fact-checking. Another meeting with the UK Retailer Expert Group will be held in January for expert input for elevating the findings. Publication is scheduled for Q2 2022.
UK Product Profile
Also, from the partnership with ShareAction, and funded by Impact on Urban Health, part of Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation, the UK Product Profile 2021 was launched on the ATNI website on September 23rd. The U.K. Product Profile 2021 is the second of its kind, following the first UK Product Profile published in 2019. The 2021 report assessed the nutritional quality of more than 4,000 products from 16 of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers active in the U.K., using the data from the 2021 Global Access to Nutrition Index. The products analysed accounted for approximately 50% of total U.K. retail sales of manufacturer brands’ packaged foods and beverages in 2019. This report was launched on the 23rd of September, the day of the UN Food Systems Summit. The key messages from this report are included in previous quarter’s report. The launch was jointly promoted across Twitter and LinkedIn by ATNI and ShareAction (see the Communications & Outreach section of this report for further details on the social media campaign). On October 26th, ATNI presented the findings of the UK Product Profile in a webinar organized by ShareAction.
Additional Objective 2: New Spotlight Indexes (not funded by DGIS, not part of prolongation)
US Spotlight Index
ATNI began preparatory work on the second US Spotlight Index in 2021. Based on insights gained through a set of tools to test and improve clarity of indicators and answer options in the US Index methodology (a 15-min survey and cognitive interviews with 6 of the 11 companies of the US Index), adjustments were made in Q3 of 2021 to the US Index methodology. Specifically, lowered number of indicators, simplified answer options, integrated disclosure element within questions, integrated relevant information within questions, and reformulated questions to better link to company actions in the US. In the last quarter, ATNI had further consultations with the Expert Group and subject specialists on finalization of the methodology. Some key topics discussed related to the definition of priority populations in the US context and recent developments around federal assistance programs. After these consultations, the research team reviewed the adjusted methodology together to reach agreement on interpretation of final methodology. Data collection began in December.
Next steps: ATNI plans to continue with the data collection in January 2022. Companies will gain access to their initial company assessment and will be able to respond with comments and additional materials in February 2022. The US Index is planned to be launched in Q2 of 2022.
India Index
Following on from the launch of the India Index earlier 2021, consultations for the next Index will begin first quarter of 2022. In Q4 2021, ATNI has aligned with the World Benchmarking Alliance and Food Foundation about a national benchmark pilot in India and is providing expert input as well as ensuring complementarity (see also below the section on WBA). Furthermore, the India Index team is aligning regularly with the Large-Scale Food Fortification team in ATNI to ensure findings and approaches are considered for the upcoming India Index 2023.
Next steps: Consultations for the India Index 2023 will start in Q1 2022, including a field visit depending on the COVID-19 situation. After this visit, the methodology development will start, taking into consideration the findings of the Large-Scale Food Fortification scoping exercise. Pre-population will start in latter half of the year, followed by company engagement. Analysis of the results, reviews and chapter writing will be in Q4 2022- Q1 2023.
Additional Objective 3: Further development of verification-type activities (not funded by DGIS, not part of prolongation)
Nutrition Business Monitor
The Nutrition Business Monitoring (NBM) project is dedicated to developing and testing a self-assessment for Small and Medium Enterprises to test opportunities for improving their impact on nutrition. The project is funded by GAIN and the tool has been tested in Nigeria and Bangladesh.
During Q4, ATNI worked on analysing the data from the company testing and working on the final project report that will be published in Q1 2022. The idea is to present the methodology and the findings from this project, including how the tool was developed, the results of the testing, as well as the capacity building element through a global webinar and in country. ATNI is also working on an open access toolkit that will be published in its website, that will include the methodology and a description of the tool, as well as a generic version of the tool open for everyone to download and use. The project will end in March 2022.
ATNI is in discussions with GAIN on how to take the NBM tool forward in the next years.
ATNI also presented the NBM tool in an N4G side event focusing on SMEs and their role on nutrition in November.
Next steps: ATNI is planning to travel to Nigeria and Bangladesh in February to hold the final national workshops to present findings and engage with stakeholders to discuss opportunities for rolling out the tool further to other countries where SMEs play a crucial role in diets.
Responsible Lobbying Framework
Responsible Lobbying
ATNI has acquired new funding by Irish Aid to conduct a new Spotlight on Lobbying with a focus on all Global Index companies. The project will start in Q1 2022, and the report will be published in Q3.
Extra activities 2020-2022 (not funded by DGIS, not part of prolongation)
The Nutrition for Growth Summit
After the many side-event that were organised a few weeks prior to the N4G, the actual N4G Summit took place on 7th-8th December. The first day included presentations from governments, private sector, and UN agencies on the commitments they made in the framework of the Summit. The second day focused on the 5 main themes of the Summit. There was an overarching session on finance and accountability as these are the two cross-cutting themes, and then three consecutive sessions on health, diets, and resilience. In-between the sessions, various stakeholders from governments, private sector and NGOs presented their commitments.
Prior to the Summit, ATNI attended all Business Constituency Group (BCG) meetings as an observer/advisor. ATNI engaged bilaterally with the Government of Japan to define a clear process on the participation of BMS companies in the Summit. ATNI has been assessing the roadmaps of some of the Japanese companies that wanted to participate to the Summit. The basis for the assessments was the Call to Action (see page 8) which is aligned with the N4G Principles of Engagement.
Together with GNR and Results UK, ATNI was co-leading the Thematic Working Group on Accountability which was revived - along with the other Thematic Working Groups – two months before the Summit to provide input to the agenda of the Summit. The three co-leads, with input from the members of the working group, defined the agenda on Accountability for the second day of the Summit, as well as led the organization of 2 N4G side events on accountability. The first side event focused on focused on engaging all stakeholders in a discussion on the importance of accountability, specifically challenging the idea of accountability as a barrier to progress. Speakers representing the thematic working groups, as well as speakers from existing accountability mechanisms presented and discussed the importance of accountability for commitment-making and how accountability can be raised as the key element for enhancing nutrition policies. The second event aimed to be an opportunity to take stock of the commitments made - celebrating the tremendous effort from all participants - to discuss the key takeaways and learnings from the Summit and explore the future of accountability, engaging with key accountability mechanisms to understand the way forward for progress on nutrition and strengthened accountability (see also the section on Outreach above).
Next steps: In 2022 ATNI will engage further with GNR on how to monitor accountability of commitments that were made at the Summit. Providing sufficient funding ATNI will monitor company accountability in this respect. A Technical Support group with representatives from different angels will be set up by GNR to lead in this.
WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism
This project includes an analysis on the levels of total fat, saturated fat, trans fats, industrially product trans-fat (iTFA) and ingredients to see how far companies have come in meeting their commitment to reduce iTFA in products. ATNI had a call with WHO, IFBA and the 11 IFBA companies being assessed in this project in July. Following the call, ATNI and WHO decided to proceed with data analysis. ATNI currently finished working on updating data for the public report with WHO.
Next steps: ATNI and WHO will have a call to discuss an update on the projects progress on January 20th. ATNI will also continue to work on the two reports and discuss with WHO about publication, launch date, and possible event and social media.
Collaboration with World Benchmarking Alliance
ATNI will continue to collaborate and exchange with WBA and Food Foundation to align and strengthen accountability mechanisms for benchmarking the food industry. At the moment, ATNI is part of the Food Foundation’s and WBA’s coalition on national benchmarks and has been involved in the process of reviewing a toolkit developed by WBA and FF to inform national benchmarks. ATNI will continue this close collaboration and feed into the pilot benchmark in India to ensure alignment between ATNI’s India Index and company accountability work and the pilot benchmark. Furthermore, WBA and ATNI collaborated on various side-events of the N4G, including workforce nutrition and accountability.
Next steps: In January there is an exchange meeting planned with FF, WBA and the India team to exchange and support the India testing of the toolkit.
Access to Nutrition Foundation Arthur van Schendelstraat 650 3511 MJ Utrecht, the Netherlands
Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all), SDG 12 (target 12.3)
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ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019. *
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes. *
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. *
Additional Objectives
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
NL-KVK-58279199-DGIS Annual Activity Report 2021
Access to Nutrition Foundation
DGIS Annual Activity Report 2021
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation.
Additional ATNI Objectives (funded by various, not part of prolongation)
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra activities 2020-2022 (funded by FCDO, not part of prolongation)
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16, 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI will embark on the following extra activities:
Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020.
Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UNFSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
Investor coalition starting October 2020.
Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021.
Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021.
Country approach starting July 2021.
Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF)
1. Introduction
Reflecting on the Nutrition Year of Action
2021was a prominent year for nutrition with the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) happening in September and The Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit in December. Throughout the ‘Nutrition Year of Action’, COVID-19 continued to have a large impact on the food sector magnifying the ever-increasing importance of nutrition, particularly for people most vulnerable to malnutrition.
For the ATNI team, the pandemic meant another year of working mostly from home and travel limitations. Despite the challenges, ATNI continues to grow and play an important role in keeping the food industry accountable in their efforts to tackle malnutrition.
ATNI played a leading role in engaging businesses in the N4G Summit that took place at the end of 2021. It actively participated as observer and advisor in the Business Constituency Group and (co)hosted and presented in 9 different official side-events of the Summit, all related to the role that companies can and should play in fighting malnutrition. ATNI was also co-chair of the Accountability Thematic Working Group that tracked commitments made by all stakeholders and advised the Japanese government on nutrition accountability. At the Summit, 53 institutional investors that are members of ATNI’s investor group published a new pledge acknowledging the global nutrition crisis and pledging to take action on nutrition by committing to use the Investors’ Expectations on Nutrition, Diets, and Health and to directly engage with all publicly listed companies in the Global Index 2021 on the topic of nutrition. This is the first time that institutional investors came together as part of a multilateral nutrition summit, representing a landmark moment in how we use investment to solve one of the world’s most pressing issues. Through this pledge, ATNI is proud to be working with these forward-thinking investors to help reach global nutrition targets and create a healthier future for all. ATNI will monitor the progress towards the pledge going forward.
On the investors front, ATNI facilitated a growing group of investors signatories in engaging with the companies that were assessed in the Global Index 2021. 76 Investors representing 16.6 trillion in assets under management have now signed up for the Investors Expectations. To showcase best-practices of investors and nutrition, ATNI published and presented a paper on this topic during a side-event prior to the N4G Summit.
In addition, ATNI featured many prominent publications and activities, including the launch of the fourth iteration of ATNI’s flagship Global Index that assessed 25 of the largest global food and beverage manufacturers on their nutrition efforts. An important component of the Index was the Product Profile, which presented an independent assessment of the nutritional quality of companies’ product portfolios, relative product quality within categories compared to peers and changes in portfolio healthiness over time. The results of this iteration of the Global Index showed that companies need to enhance their efforts to encourage healthier diets for all. The data from the Global Index was shared and used by ATNI’s partner, the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), in its first Food and Agricultural Benchmark which also launched in 2021.
Together with the Global Index, ATNI assessed the worlds’ 9 largest manufacturers of Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS) and Complementary Foods (CF) on the extent to which they market their products in line with WHO guidance. The results were published as the first separate BMS/CF Marketing Index. Additionally, ATNI published the second iteration of its UK Product Profile that assessed the nutritional quality of more than 4,000 products from 16 of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers active in the U.K.
Throughout the year, ATNI conducted and published various action research papers including the fourth report in its COVID-19 series on food industry’s nutrition responses to the pandemic, disseminating new knowledge and methodologies on lobbying by baby food companies, nutrition profiling systems, workforce nutrition in value-chains, inequities in the production of healthy foods, and new investors approaches to nutrition.
In terms of country-specific work, ATNI published the second UK Product Profile and conducted research for its first UK Retailer Index, and for its second US Spotlight Index. Both will be published in 2022.
Regarding collaboration with third-party organizations, ATNI continued its on-going work with the World Health Organization (WHO) on monitoring trans fats commitments of 11 companies who are members of the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA).
By the end of 2021, the ATNI team has remained stable at 17 staff members plus a few long-term consultants.
Looking back at 2021, ATNI is particularly proud at its increased visibility and the leading role that it was invited to play at the N4G Summit in keeping companies accountable on nutrition. An external impact evaluation, based on 52 interviews and comprehensive data review, conducted by Steward Redqueen in the second half of 2021, confirmed the increasing value that ATNI adds. The secondment of the third grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) as well as the highest rating in the internal evaluation by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), echoed this message.
In addition to BMGF, FCDO, and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ATNI received financial support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Irish Aid, GAIN, the Guy's and St Thomas' National Health Service Foundation Trust through ShareAction and WHO in 2021.
Looking ahead to 2022
2022 promises to be an exciting year with new opportunities to expand ATNI’s impact on nutrition. ATNI plans to use the outcomes of the impact evaluation to further strengthen its monitoring and evaluation system and to track progress and impact.
ATNI is planning to conduct and publish several accountability reports in 2022, starting with the finalizing of the testing of the SME Nutrition Business Monitoring tool in Nigeria and Bangladesh together with the Global Alliance on Improved Nutrition (GAIN), followed by publication of the UK Retailer Index in May, and the US Spotlight Index in the fall.
On BMS, ATNI will conduct thorough consultations on BMS assessment methodologies and approaches, as well as start in-country assessments for the next BMS Index that is planned to be published in 2023. Funded by Irish Aid, ATNI will also continue its research on commercially produced complementary foods.
In addition to the BMS Index, the fifth Global Index is planned to be published in 2023. ATNI will dedicate 2022 to drawing lessons from the previous iteration and conduct consultations with businesses and other nutrition stakeholders. The lobbying practices of the 25 Global Index companies will be assessed against an adapted version of the Responsible Lobbying Framework in 2022, which was developed in 2021 to assess lobbying policies of BMS companies.
Following a scoping exercise on the opportunities to increase its impact on micro-nutrient deficiencies through Large Scale Food Fortification (LSFF), ATNI will start up consultations for the next India Index (to be published in 2023) and explore a first Nigeria company accountability tool, fully tailored to the Nigerian nutrition context.
Together with GAIN and partners in-country, ATNI will promote the tested SME Nutrition Business Monitoring tool where possible and apply it to a growing group of SMEs.
ATNI’s action research activities in 2022 will be focused on Large Scale Food Fortification and the Nutrition business case for investors. The aim is to further grow the group of investor signatories and involve them in company engagement, including after the UK Retailer and US Index publications.
Regarding organizational improvements, ATNI will further strengthen its systems needed for collecting, assessing, and disseminating data and for performing research. It will also further improve its communications systems for disseminating nutrition knowledge and in turn change company behaviour.
A new Executive Director will take over the position from Inge Kauer, who has decided to leave ATNI in the course of 2022, after nine fruitful years of building the organization. The ATNI team is expected to grow further in 2022 beyond 20 staff members.
With regards to funding, part of the core funding will be continued or is expected to be renewed in the course of 2022. In addition, ATNI expects new targeted project-funders to join.
Foremost, in 2022, ATNI will continue to strengthen its collaboration with nutrition partners, stakeholders, and donors, particularly in one or two new countries. For this reason, ATNI welcomes new partnerships on our road to fight malnutrition globally.
Inge Kauer, Executive Director, Access to Nutrition Foundation
2. Global Index
ATNI spent the first half of 2021 conducting the analysis for its fourth Global Index, assessing 25 of the largest global food and beverage companies on their efforts on nutrition, which published on July 1st, 2021. The Global Index is ATNI’s flagship product which is published every two to three years to provide companies, their investors, and other stakeholders with a unique rating of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers' contributions to addressing obesity, diet-related chronic diseases, and undernutrition. By comparing scores from one Index to the next, companies and other stakeholders can track and monitor progress over time.
The Corporate Profile component of the Index assesses companies’ commitments and policies, practices, and disclosure across seven categories. The Product Profile component assesses the healthiness of companies’ products. Previously, each Global Index has included a Breast-Milk Substitutes (BMS)/Complementary Foods (CF) Marketing sub-ranking. However, this time, the results of the BMS/CF marketing assessment were published as a separate Index (see section 3). Companies of the Global Index that were also assessed on the BMS/CF Marketing Index, received an adjustment to their overall scores.
This iteration of the Global Index included three additional companies than in the previous Index in 2018. Together, all 25 companies included accounted for approximately 24% of the processed F&B market share in the world in 2018. Their combined 2018 F&B sales were estimated to be over $720 billion.
The results of this iteration of the Global Index showed that companies need to enhance their efforts to encourage healthier diets for all. For the 22 companies that were assessed in both 2018 and 2021, the average score was 3.6. All 10 leading companies, except for Arla, scored lower than in the 2018 iteration, while most companies in the middle and lower rankings scored slightly higher. Like 2018, Nestlé led the 2021 ranking with a score of 6.7 out of 10. Unilever came second with 6.3, and FrieslandCampina third with 5. Arla showed a significant improvement from 3.3 in 2018 to 5.1 in 2021, securing fifth rank in the Index and Meiji rose five places. For a summary of key findings, see box below.
Key findings of ATNI’s Global Index 2021
• The average score of the 2021 Index was 3.3. 9 out of 10 leading companies scored lower compared to 2018, while most companies in the middle and lower ranking companies scored slightly higher.
• There was limited evidence found of a strategic, global approach to the pricing and distribution of healthy products that address micronutrient deficiencies to populations experiencing, or at high risk of, malnutrition. Despite a clear need for action to improve the affordability and accessibility of healthy products, particularly as COVID-19 has further threatened access to nutritious foods and increased micronutrient deficiencies, companies’ practices showed limited progress in this area.
• Only 31% of products met the independent healthy standard - 11,797 of the 38,176 distinct products assessed (more details in the section below).
• 13 of the 25 companies included improved their score in nutritional governance, reflecting strengthened nutrition policies and management systems.
• 5 companies showed significant progress in their scores and ranking because of the adoption of new nutrient profiling model (NPM) to monitor the healthiness of their products and/ or new commitments on (re)formulation at nutrient level.
• 9 companies committed to follow international guidance by Codex and WHO/the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to ensure food fortification delivers clear health benefits. In 2018, only four companies assessed did so.
• 12 companies disclosed lobbying positions on important nutrition topics, whereas, in 2018, only two companies did so.
• In the BMS/CF Index 2021, three of the six companies that were also previously assessed increased their scores from the 2018 Index.
Product Profile Assessment
The Product Profile is an independent assessment of the nutritional quality of companies’ product portfolios. The updated methodology for this iteration also analysed the nutritional quality within product categories, and improvements of product portfolios over time.
In this iteration, the percentage of global sales represented by the products included in the research for each of the companies significantly expanded compared to the previous Global Index Product Profile in 2018, following the inclusion of new major markets. The number of distinct products assessed increased from 20,685 in 2018 to 38,176 in 2021.
Companies were also more engaging and active in reviewing and, where needed, revising product lists and nutrient information in specific markets. This improved the quality and representation of the Product Profile results and allowed for a better comparison of companies’ performance relative to peers.
At overall portfolio level, out of 38,176 distinct products sold by the 25 companies globally, 11,797 (31%) meet the healthy threshold (a Health Star Rating of 3.5 stars or more); the same percentage as in 2018. For only five companies, 50% or more of their products included in the assessment met the healthy threshold.
9 companies showed an increase in mean Health Star Rating of products in the markets selected between 2018 and 2021. More companies defined targets for nutrients of concern, with the most frequently reported targets being for sodium and trans-fat. 12 companies provided examples of developing specific products designed to help address malnutrition (e.g., through micronutrient fortification) in the preceding three years, aimed at children over five years old. 9 companies, 4 more than in 2018, adopted fortification policies in line with international guidelines. However, just six companies committed to only fortify products of high underlying nutritional quality or meet certain nutrition criteria.
Micronutrient enhanced nutrient profiling
The NPS+ project, initiated in 2018, aimed to test whether a new or adapted Nutrient Profiling System (NPS) that considers levels of relevant micronutrients can add value in the assessment of and discrimination between companies’ product portfolios and thereby encouraging to address undernutrition linked to micronutrient deficiencies. During data collection for the Global Index 2021 Product Profile, ATNI took the opportunity to run a pilot test for this NPS+ project. ATNI commissioned the George Institute for Global Health (TGI) to develop and test a new algorithm that would incorporate micronutrients relevant for public health. All companies in the Global Index 2021 were invited to submit additional micronutrient information for products across three low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). A total of five companies provided additional micronutrient data for this test, and the validation study included 1,890 products. Results showed that the overall mean HSR improved slightly when using the new model, however, overall ranking between different company portfolios did not change. It was concluded that the modified HSR model tested with micronutrient points does not give an additional layer of information about differences in micronutrient quality at portfolio level at this moment. This pilot test demonstrated that the explicit incorporation of micronutrient values into nutrient profiling is plausible and can be objectively evaluated. In July, ATNI and the project partners organized a multi-stakeholder webinar to present the results of the study, discuss project implications and gather additional feedback from academics, industry representatives and leading non-governmental organizations working in the field of nutrient profiling (among others, GAIN, Choices International, Sight and Life). ATNI will use the results of this project in future country indexes and action research to explore the use of the modified model for specific purposes (e.g. fortification efforts, product category specific assessments).
Launch of the Global Index
The launch of the Index was held across three events spread over two days. On Thursday, July 1st, ATNI held two online meetings: one for companies and one for investor signatories. These were followed by a multi-stakeholder webinar on the 2nd. All events were well attended, filled with constructive discussion with a wide range of attendees from 19 companies, 45 investors, and over 25 CSOs and partner organisations.
The launch received significant media coverage with several news outlets picking up the story including and op-ed in Devex, news stories in Nutrition Insight, FNB News and Wall Street Online. In total, ATNI has received 497 pieces of coverage including an interview at Dutch Radio. In addition to media news outlets, companies released their own press statements to announce their rankings. These include Nestlé, FrieslandCampina, and Unilever.
Additionally, many key opinion leaders and organizations in the nutrition space shared their thoughts and support for the index on social media including: FCDO Minister Wendy Morton MP, Lawrence Haddad, SDG2advocacy hub, UN working group on NCDs, The Power of Nutrition Group, The George Institute for Global Health, The Question Mark Think Tank, and Food & Drink Tech.
On October 5th, 2021, the Global Index 2021 was launched in Japan through an online event co-hosted by ATNI, Nomura Asset Management and ESG consultancy firm Neural Inc. The event was supported by the Japanese Sustainable Investment Forum (JSIF). The event saw a wide variety of stakeholders, including company representatives, government officials, academics, institutional investors, and members of trade associations, come together to discuss the findings of the Global Index 2021 and to reflect on how they are relevant to the Japanese market as well as to Japanese companies assessed in the benchmark. The event was well-attended both by Japanese and international stakeholders.
Post-publication Engagement
After the launch, ATNI invited all companies of the Index to online meetings to dig deeper into Global Index results and use ATNI research in company decision-making, and target-setting. In 2021, ATNI conducted 17 calls with 15 of the companies that showed an interest in these meetings. For 2 Japanese companies, a separate launch event was held. In addition, with 2 companies, Nestlé and Pepsico, ATNI has held multiple meetings. These companies requested separate meetings with their Senior Executives and Board members to communicate the results as well as separate meetings with their nutrition teams. 12 Senior and Board representatives from Nestlé and 7 from Pepsico joined these meetings. Also, for the first time, companies that did not participate in data collection process, such as Suntory and Mengniu, reached out and expressed an interest in understanding ATNI’s work.
Overall, the responses from all companies have been positive. It is evident that companies discuss Global Index results internally and use them to make improvements. A few insights from companies expressed in the post-launch meetings are given below:
• Unilever company representatives expressed that they want to act on ATNI recommendations regarding disclosure. The company also wants to engage further on product profile and fortification.
• Suntory shared that the company has created a health policy and expanded their disclosure in response to the 2018 results of the Global Index.
• Nestlé applauded ATNI on the growing impact of the Global Index and role specifically in producing evidence for investors engagement.
• Mondelez reviewed and discussed results at the executive level with the promise to use them to inform a heatmap and then a roadmap to work on specific areas of improvement for the different areas of the company.
• Kraft Heinz appreciated ATNI’s neutral lens in assessing nutrition. The results of the Index have been discussed at each business unit and at global leadership level including the CEO. The company uses ATNI recommendations to set internal targets on nutrition as part of the company's 2020- 25 agenda.
• General Mills has shared the results with key leaders in the company. The company followed GI 2018 recommendations to put together a commentary on their lobbying efforts which they published. The company wants to engage more with ATNI on the priority populations and accessibility and affordability.
• Danone staff shared that they are identifying areas of maximum improvement in ATNI methodology to advise senior management on strategic choices that will help improve the company’s Global Index scores.
• Conagra shared that they used Global Index results in their citizenship report and discussions with investors.
• Keurig Dr Pepper shared Global Index results with their sustainability governance committee that meets monthly. When the results came out, the company shared that they did a side-by-side comparison of the results with their new strategy and their alliance in partnership with healthier America.
Next steps: In 2022, ATNI will consolidate key outcomes of the post-engagement discussions with companies and investors (see Section 4) and begin preparations for methodology consultations for the next iteration of the Global Index, to be published in 2023.
3. Monitoring marketing of breast-milk substitutes and complementary foods
In June 2021, ATNI published the fourth BMS/CF Marketing Index that was for the first time published as a standalone Index. ATNI spent the first half of 2021 doing data analysis and company engagement for this publication. The BMS/CF Marketing Index feeds into the Global Index, specifically for the companies that are part of both assessments.
COVID-19 has magnified the critical importance of good nutrition and healthy diets. Baby food companies play a critical role in improving the health and life prospects of infants and young children by protecting and supporting breastfeeding. By following the recommendations of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (The Code), they can contribute to the realization of several WHO 2025 nutrition targets and the Sustainable Development Goals. Specifically, to SDG 2 - by preventing child mortality and various forms of undernutrition - and SDG 3 - by decreasing children’s risks of developing NCDs later in life. Until such time as all countries have passed laws and regulations to give effect to The Code, baby food companies can contribute to health and nutrition by voluntarily marketing their products in line with WHO recommendations.
The BMS/CF Index scores and ranks the world’s largest baby food manufacturers’ marketing policies, practices, and disclosure. Up to 2018, this analysis assessed the extent to which these companies market their products in line with The Code and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions, excluding WHA 69.9. From the 2021 iteration onwards, ATNI included all subsequent WHA resolutions including WHA 69.9 in its scope.
ATNI used a comprehensive, robust, and published methodology, developed with the advice of WHO, UNICEF and many other international experts and not-for-profit organizations dedicated to improving infant and young child nutrition. This Index comprised two elements:
• BMS/CF 1. Corporate Profile assessment — designed to measure the extent to which the BMS companies' marketing policies align to The Code, the strength of their management systems and the extent of their public disclosure.
• BMS/CF 2. In-country assessments — designed to measure companies' compliance with The Code and/or national regulations (whichever is stricter) in two selected countries. The studies were conducted using the NetCode protocol for periodic assessment; data was collected in healthcare facilities, retailers, and various forms of the media.
Additionally, ATNI joined efforts with FTSE Russell to increase efficiency for the country assessments that FTSE uses to determine whether BMS companies meet its criteria for inclusion in its FTSE4Good Indexes. ATNI provided data to FTSE Russell from its in-country NetCode studies, and PwC was sub-contracted to produce two in-country verification reports for each of the three BMS companies in the FTSE4Good Index – Nestlé, Danone and Reckitt. ATNI continued to apply its criteria and methodology as previously for its Indexes, providing a subset of data to FTSE.
Company Engagement
In the latest iteration, ATNI extended the Index to nine largest baby food companies globally, compared to six included in 2018 iteration. These included Danone, FrieslandCampina, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Abbott, Reckitt, Feihe International, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group and China Mengniu Dairy. In addition, two emerging markets, Philippines, and Mexico, were selected in which NetCode studies were undertaken to assess the extent of marketing of BMS and CF products.
Launch of the BMS/ CF Index
The fourth BMS/CF Marketing Index 2021 was launched on 17th June 2021, together with the two country assessments for Philippines and Mexico. For the day of the launch, ATNI issued a press release, social media messaging and stakeholder emails. As follow up to the publications, ATNI organized 3 webinars. The first webinar took place on May 13th with Filipino stakeholders – government and CSOs, where the in-country study results were presented. The second webinar was held on June 24th. This was a closed webinar with experts to present the results of the Index and the two country reports to selected invitees. Participating organizations, in addition to individual consultants and experts, included UNICEF, WHO, BMGF, Alive & Thrive, FHI 360, JB Consultancy, and the Meridian Institute. The last webinar, held on June 29th, organized with CSOs in Mexico to present to them the results of the in-country assessment into details and discuss how these can be used to drive progress.
Post-launch company engagement
In the third quarter of 2021, ATNI offered post-launch engagement calls to all BMS companies to discuss the results of the Index and the recommendations on the way forward. ATNI engaged with 5 companies: Nestlé, Danone, Friesland Campina, Kraft Heinz and Reckitt. These calls included constructive discussions in which all companies agreed to take action. Reckitt informed ATNI that the company is planning on updating their policy based on the recommendations of ATNI’s report, as well as wording on labels of BMS products, based on findings from the country assessments. Nestlé informed ATNI on its plans to implement their policy to Infant Formula 0-6m globally. Danone said it was open to exploring improvements with a focus on strengthening country manuals and asked for further insights from the analysis. FrieslandCampina informed ATNI that they updated their BMS Marketing Policy following the results of the Index. KraftHeinz shared that it was working on updating their policy and labels globally, based on recommendations and engagement with ATNI.
Call to Action
The BMS Call to Action was the result of the Meridian process, a multi-stakeholder process that started in 2016 with the aim to bring together BMS stakeholders from industry, CSOs and UN agencies and discuss a roadmap for the way forward. The Call to Action was published by WHO, UNICEF and several other NGO signatories on June 25th, 2020. It asked all BMS companies to make a public commitment by September 2020, to achieve full compliance with The Code by 2030. The signatories of the Call to Action actively reached out to the top 20 BMS companies. ATNI has been part of the Meridian process from the beginning, and for the Call to Action, ATNI was asked to be the independent evaluating party and analyze the companies’ responses for the signatories and assess whether the companies make any of the commitments with regards the Call to Action.
In 2021, ATNI assessed the responses and roadmaps of the companies to the Call to Action and was asked by the Government of Japan to conduct the assessments of BMS companies against the Principles of Engagement of the N4G Summit which were similar to the BMS Call to Action. Some Japanese companies that were interested to participate to the N4G Summit submitted roadmaps to the BMS Call to Action in the months prior to the Summit and followed up with ATNI. These included Megmilk, Glico, Morinaga and Meiji. ATNI engaged extensively with Meiji that showed continuous interest in complying in advance of the Summit. Despite the discussions, no company was found to be eligible to participate in the Summit.
Development of the next BMS/CF Index
ATNI plans to increase the number of companies in the BMS Index and assess the top 20 BMS companies in the next iteration. Also, the number of country assessments will be increased to 5-7 countries, to be able to capture all companies on the ground.
Next steps: To this regard, ATNI will start an internal process of reviewing its current methodology to improve it and ensure that it fit-for-purpose based on the upcoming changes. To achieve this, ATNI will organize regular meetings with its BMS Expert Group, as well as regular internal brainstorming sessions. During the first quarter of 2022, ATNI will hold initial consultation meetings with key stakeholders, such as the Nutrition Center of the Philippines, Alive & Thrive, UNICEF China, Universidad Iberoamericana and WHO Europe to further explore how to approach the country assessments. In Q2 of 2022, ATNI will finalise the external consultation deck and plan meetings with external stakeholders, including CSOs, companies and other experts to review the methodology and approach for the next iteration of the BMS Index. Preparatory work and data collection will begin later in the year. In addition, in early 2022, ATNI also plans to develop and published a model policy to guide companies on BMS marketing. The model policy will consolidate the latest requirements around BMS marketing to-date to guide BMS manufacturers in fully implementing and complying with the The Code and all subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions in policy and practice. BMS manufacturers will be able to refer to this model policy when revising or developing their own policies on BMS marketing. If a company applies the entire model policy, it will ensure that BMS products are appropriately marketed in line with international standards and public health guidance to protect the health of infants and young children globally. This document is the first of its kind for BMS companies and ATNI hopes that it will become a useful tool for engagement, especially when reaching out to the new companies that will be assessed.
Action Research on Commercially Produced Complementary Foods
In May 2021, ATNI published a landscape study for the Philippines on Complementary Feeding and the role of Commercially Produced Complementary Foods in young children’s diets. The study contained two elements:
• Landscape Analysis: Infant and Young Child Feeding: What is the status of older infants’ and young children’s nutrition, diets, and health, what influences it and how can it be improved?
• Product Profile of Commercially Produced Complementary Foods (CPCF): More specifically, do these products meet the nutritional standards of the WHO Europe’s newly developed nutrient profiling model (WHO NPM) designed to assess the nutritional quality of CPCF marketed as suitable for older infants and young children (6-36 months), and whether are they labelled in line with WHO recommendations.
The goal of this research is to improve the nutritional quality of CPCF in the Philippines and to ensure that these foods are appropriately labelled. ATNI is currently also working on a landscape study on the role of Commercially Produced Complementary Foods in Mexico. This report will be published in Q2 2022.
A consortium led by UNICEF EAPRO called COMMIT, consisting of ATNI, WHO, World Food Programme, Alive&Thrive, and Helen Keller International's Assessment & Research on Child Feeding, is looking to adjust the WHO Euro NPM model for CPCF to Southeast Asia and use it to assess products founds in Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. ATNI will develop a regional company benchmark for Southeast Asia and country briefings to present main findings from each country. The consortium started in 2021 and will continue till 2023. The ATNI reports will be published towards the end of 2022, and they will be the first of their kind. This piece of work is funded by Irish Aid.
4. India Spotlight Index
In 2016, ATNI published the first India Spotlight Index, a first-of-its kind independent national assessment to measure the nutrition-related policies and practices of India’s 10 largest food and beverage manufacturers. This second 2020 iteration extended the scope of the Index by including the 16 largest food and beverage manufacturers in India – nine of which were previously assessed in 2016. In February 2020, ATNI launched and published the main results of the India Spotlight Index 2020 as well as the detailed results and ranking of the assessment on defining, formulating and producing healthy foods (Category B in our Index, the Product Profile). The principal finding, following months of in-depth research, was that the largest food and beverage companies in India are providing only limited options of healthy products to a population faced with major nutrition challenges. However, the report found that companies are showing a greater understanding of – and a commitment to fighting – the enduring and mounting double burden of malnutrition in India.
For the other Categories (on Governance, Accessibility, Marketing, Employee and Consumer Lifestyles, Labeling and Engagement), ATNI initially just presented the overall findings and scores. The detailed analyses and results of the other chapters were to be published throughout 2020. Additionally, ATNI planned to organize a CEO Roundtable for the 16 companies assessed in the India Index as well as other high-selling food and beverage companies in India in August 2020.
Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 this could not proceed. Since then, ATNI explored ways to engage with companies online to take forward previously planned discussions.
In February 2021, ATNI launched the detailed findings of the thematic chapters followed by a post-launch engagement phase.
Next steps: In 2022, ATNI will start up consultations for a next India Index/Accountability tool. In Q1 some online interviews will be held. In Q2, consultations will start-up. ATNI consultations will be aligned with the Large-Scale Food Fortification work. Methodology development will start Q2-Q3, after consultations. For Q3-Q4 data collection and drafting report is scheduled. The launch of the next India accountability tool is scheduled for 2023 (Q2).
5. Investor Engagement
Investor Signatories recruitment
ATNI continued to work on expanding the membership of the Investor Coalition in the first quarter of 2021. In addition, ATNI began working with a Japanese consultant to reach its profile in Japan ahead of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit and to include Japanese investors in its signatory base.
Following a process of stakeholder consultations, the ATNI Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health were published on July 1st 2020 and shared with existing ATNI signatories to ask them to reconfirm their support. ATNI has continued to increase its signatory base since then, and 12 new investors have pledged their support to ATNI between January and December 2021: Aikya Investment Management (UK), Apostle Funds Management (AU), CZ Group (NL), Ethos Foundation (CH), Fukoku Capital Management Inc. (JP), Guys's and St. Thomas's Charity Endowment Fund (UK), Legal and General Investment Management (UK), MUFG Asset Management (JP), Nomura Asset Management (JP), Pictet Group (only the nutrition fund was a signatory in 2020) (CH), Resona Asset Management (JP), UBS Asset Management (CH). The total number of Investor Signatories at the end of December 2022 is 76 investors, representing $16.4 trillion in assets under management.
Additionally, in 2021 ATNI has had positive introductory meetings with several investment houses, including Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management (JP), Invesco (US), HSBC (UK), and Newton Investment Management (UK).
Collaborative Investor Engagements
Two webinars for existing signatories were held in March 2021 to present the plans for the collaborative engagement, provide them with timelines and ask them on informing us with which companies they are planning to engage. 50 of the then-74 ATNI Investor Signatories, representing $12.3 trillion in assets, have been taking part in the Collaborative Investor Engagement facilitated by ATNI, based on the findings of the Global Index 2021.
After the release of the Global Index, in July 2021, the investor engagement letters drafted by ATNI were shared with all publicly listed companies in the Global Index 2021 (i.e., a total of 20 companies). Between September to December 2021, investors held a first engagement meeting with 16 of the 20 companies. Investors had extensive email correspondence with two of the three companies they have not had an engagement meeting with yet. Only one company has been unresponsive to investors thus far. Members of the ATNI Investor Support Team attended these meetings in the capacity of note-takers.
Ahead of most of the engagement calls with the companies, ATNI provided an in-depth investor briefing about each company, to support investors in their engagement efforts and to ensure the investor engagement is successful. Between August and December 2021, a total of 12 company-specific investor briefings were held by ATNI. Lauren Compere, Managing Director at Boston Common Asset Management (one of ATNI’s Investor Signatories) and former Board Member of ATNF, said that “the team’s really detailed investor briefings are fabulous. The nuance and the detail really make the engagement more effective.” Maria Ortino, Global ESG Manager at Legal and General Investment Management, said about the Keurig Dr Pepper briefing: "excellent pre-KDP meeting, well done to the team."
To ensure the smooth and successful running of the engagement, ATNI also organized several additional calls and teach-in sessions for investors:
• On September 9th, 2021, the ATNI team, in collaboration with The George Institute for Global Health, provided an overview of the Product Profile 2021 and presented an in-depth analysis of two companies’ assessments.
• On September 23rd, 2021, the ATNI team delivered a teach-in on the topics of responsible marketing and lobbying.
• On November 24th, 2021, the ATNI team provided an in-depth presentation about ATNI’s BMS / CF Marketing Index 2021.
These calls were well-attended by investors, with an average of 20 investors attending each teach-in session and additional investors asking for the event recording.
Investor Portal
Together with website developers, ATNI developed and launched a password-protected investor portal on its website in January 2021, as a repository of investor-authored or investor-relevant reports on nutrition. In September 2021, the collaborative engagement part of the Portal was launched. This is dedicated to storing all materials relevant to the engagement, including recordings of the briefings about each company and notes for each engagement meeting.
ATNI Investor Report
On November 30th, ATNI published a report, Institutional Investors’ Approaches to Addressing Nutrition, Diets and Health, outlining investor action on nutrition. The report was launched, with Vijay Rangarajan, Director General Americas, and Overseas Territories at FCDO giving introductory remarks, during an official side event of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit that was organized by ATNI in collaboration with Chatham House, Nomura Asset Management, Achmea Investment Management, Legal and General Investment Management, and Rathbone Greenbank Investments. The event was well-attended, and the report has been widely shared not only within the networks of ATNI’s Investor Signatories but also with a wider range of nutrition stakeholders. The report, intended to help global non-investment sector readers understand the pivotal role those institutional investors play in driving better corporate performance on nutrition and health. It includes eight case studies based on publicly available information and profiling members of the ATNI Investor Signatories group. The case studies outline how investors are tackling health and nutrition using strategies such as ESG integration, negative/exclusionary screening, norms-based screening, engagement, and shareholder action, positive/best-in-class screening, sustainability-themed investing, and impact investing. The report has been accessed over 400 times on the ATNI website.
Next steps: ATNI will continue to disseminate the Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health and to recruit new investors who can join the ATNI Investor Group. AUM size, geographical diversity and nutrition / health focus will be important considerations in new signatory recruitment efforts. ATNI will continue to support investors in their engagement with the Global Index 2021 companies and will draft an impact report at the end of the engagement program. Once interest from ATNI’s Signatories will have been gathered for the UK Retailer Index 2022 collaborative investor engagement, ATNI will facilitate this engagement in a similar manner. ATNI will explore how and under what conditions data can be shared with third-party data providers, to maximise the dissemination of ATNI’s data and their uptake by investors. ATNI will work to facilitate the inclusion of one ATNI Investor Signatory in the Responsible Investor Japan 2022 Conference, which includes a session on ‘Sustainable Food Systems’. ATNI will also explore opportunities to take part in other responsible investment conferences (e.g., the Responsible Investor Europe conference and the Principles for Responsible Investment in-person Conference) to continue its outreach efforts with investors.
6. Development of new spotlight indexes and accountability tools
Nutrition Business Monitoring Project (funded by GAIN)
The Nutrition Business Monitor (NBM) project is aimed at developing and testing a voluntary self-assessment tool for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to identify gaps and opportunities for improving their impact on nutrition. The project was funded by GAIN and was implemented in partnership with the SUN Business Network. The tool was tested in two countries: Nigeria and Bangladesh.
In the past year, ATNI worked on finalizing the testing of the tool in the two countries. 46 companies in total tested the tool – 23 in Nigeria and 23 in Bangladesh. Following the testing, ATNI organized 2-day trainings in Lagos and Dhaka on business development and on marketing with a focus on nutritious food. These themes were identified based on the outcomes of testing the tool.
In November 2021, ATNI co-organized with GAIN, WFP, FAO and SBN an official N4G side event called ‘Scaling up the contribution of SMEs to nutrition – tools and SUN Business Network case studies’ where the NBM tool and companies that tested the tool were presented.
Next steps: During Q1 of 2022, ATNI team will visit both Nigeria and Bangladesh where ATNI staff will meet with nutrition stakeholders to discuss the NBM tool and the potential for future collaboration on upscaling the tool. In March 2022, ATNI will publish a report, presenting what the tool aims to do and the success factors for further rolling it out. ATNI, together with GAIN, intends to promote and apply the tool in new LMICs and upscale the number of companies using it.
US Spotlight Index (funded by RWJF)
ATNI began preparatory work on the second US Spotlight Index in 2021. Based on insights gained through a set of tools to test and improve clarity of indicators and answer options in the US Index methodology (a 15-min survey and cognitive interviews with 6 of the 11 companies of the US Index), the ATNI team adjusted the methodology in Q3 of 2021. Specifically, this exercise resulted in lowered number of indicators, simplified answer options, integrated disclosure element within questions, integrated relevant information within questions, and reformulated questions to better link to company actions in the US.
In the last quarter of 2021, ATNI held consultations with the Expert Group and subject specialists on finalization of the methodology. Some key topics discussed related to the definition of priority populations in the US context and recent developments around federal assistance programs. After these consultations, the research team reviewed the adjusted methodology together to reach agreement on interpretation of final methodology. Data collection began in December 2021.
Next steps: Data collection will continue the first quarter of 2022. ATNI will begin analysis of data in April 2022 and the US Index is planned to be launched in Q3 of 2022. ATNI will explore promotion of the US Index during the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, Hunger, and Health in 2022.
UK Product Profile (funded by ShareAction)
Supported by ShareAction, through a fund from Impact on Urban Health, part of Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation, the U.K. Product Profile 2021 was launched on the ATNI website on September 23rd, on the day of the UN Food Systems Summit. The U.K. Product Profile 2021 is the second of its kind, following the first U.K. Product Profile published in 2019. The 2021 report assessed the nutritional quality of more than 4,000 products from 16 of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers active in the U.K., using the data from the 2021 Global Access to Nutrition Index. The products analysed accounted for approximately 50% of total U.K. retail sales of manufacturer brands’ packaged foods and beverages in 2019.
Key findings:
• Sales from healthy products has grown from 22% to 29% in the 2021 Product Profile
• Average HSR for all products assessed is 2.2 out of 5 stars, similar to 2019 UK Product Profile.
• Also similar, only 32% of products analyzed using the Health Star Rating met the healthy threshold of 3.5 out of 5 stars.
• Nine out of the 16 companies assessed were found to have improved to some extent the healthiness of their portfolios
• Overall, only 13% of products analyzed for all companies combined met nutritional standards for products that can be marketed to children, compared to 15% in previous report.
On October 26th, the ATNI team presented the findings of the U.K. Product Profile 2021 in a webinar organized by ShareAction titled “Health Matters: Assessing food and drink manufacturers ‘progress on health”. The event was well-attended and featured a lively discussion focusing on the nutrition challenges and the relative corporate responses in the UK market.
UK Retailer Index (funded by ShareAction)
As a follow-up to the UK Supermarket Spotlight report that was published early 2020, at ShareAction’s request, ATNI drafted a proposal to present to ShareAction’s funder, Impact on Urban Health (part of the Guys’ and St Thomas’ Foundation), to develop and publish a full UK ATNI Retailer Index in 2022. This was approved mid-2020.
The methodology for this Index was published in May 2021. The data input and engagement phase were finalized at the end of August 2021. 9 out of 11 retailers engaged on the ATNI data collection platform. ATNI also engaged with several of the retailers in one-on-one calls to clarify outstanding points. All engagement was positive, and four retailers signed a non-disclosure agreement to share more data. In September, the ATNI team began data analysis.
Next steps: In Q1/Q2 the team will finalize the report and company scorecards, including a thorough review and further quality control checks. Publication is scheduled for May 2022. After the launch, ATNI will offer one-one meetings to all retailers to discuss findings and company scorecards. ATNI will also work on investors engagement on this specific topic.
7. Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit and aligning global accountability mechanisms
Nutrition for Growth Summit
The Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit, originally planned for December 2020 and postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was held in a hybrid format in Tokyo in December 2021. The aim of the Tokyo N4G Summit was to secure new major nutrition commitments from governments, donor agencies and research funders, UN agencies, civil society organizations, academia, and private sector actors in the following five main areas: health, food, resilience, data-driven accountability, and nutrition financing.
Accountability working group
Following the preparatory conference in The Hague in the summer of 2019, co-facilitated by ATNI, ATNI co-chaired the accountability working group which advised the Government of Japan on the accountability mechanism for the Nutrition for Growth Summit.
Together with GNR and Results UK, ATNI co-led the Thematic Working Group on Accountability which was revived - along with the other Thematic Working Groups – two months before the Summit to provide input to the agenda of the Summit. The three co-leads, with input from the members of the working group, defined the agenda on Accountability for the second day of the Summit, as well as led the organization of 2 N4G side events on accountability. The first side event focused on focused on engaging all stakeholders in a discussion on the importance of accountability, specifically challenging the idea of accountability as a barrier to progress. Speakers representing the thematic working groups, as well as speakers from existing accountability mechanisms presented and discussed the importance of accountability for commitment-making and how accountability can be raised as the key element for enhancing nutrition policies. The second event aimed to be an opportunity to take stock of the commitments made - celebrating the tremendous effort from all participants - to discuss the key takeaways and learnings from the Summit and explore the future of accountability, engaging with key accountability mechanisms to understand the way forward for progress on nutrition and strengthened accountability (see also the section on Outreach).
In 2022 ATNI continues to engage further with Global Nutrition Report (GNR) on how to monitor accountability of commitments that were made at the Summit. Providing sufficient funding ATNI will monitor company accountability in this respect. A Technical Support group with representatives from different angels will be set up by GNR.
Business Constituency Group
In 2020 and in 2021, ATNI continued to regularly advise the Business Constituency Group (BCG), in which it participated as an observer offering advice on how companies can prepare and submit SMART commitments, which include accountability elements. ATNI participated in the monthly Business Constituency Group (BCG) online meetings together with the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), the International Food & Beverage Alliance (IFBA), Food Industry Asia (FIA), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the SUN Business Network (SBN) and GAIN as well as representatives from the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS). ATNI, together with other BCG members, co-hosted a side event for the N4G on the role of BCG.
Investor mobilization
Additionally, to its advisory role in the BCG, ATNI led facilitation of investor engagement at the Tokyo N4G Summit, securing possibilities for investor participation in the Summit events and exploring possibilities for an investor Call to Action to companies and governments.
ATNI drafted the N4G Investor Pledge, supported by 53 of its Investor Signatories representing $12.4 trillion in AUM. The N4G Investor Pledge was officially launched on Day 1of the N4G Summit by Akihiko Nishioka, President and CEO of Resona Asset Management. It was the first time that investors engaged in such a way at a multilateral global event. This pledge represents a smart commitment from investors to use the framework of the Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health in their engagement, analysis, and investment processes as well as a commitment to directly engage with all listed companies in the Global Index 2021. To ensure the Pledge received sufficient media coverage, ATNI contracted a Press Agency specialized in the investment sector. This resulted in several articles, most notably in Forbes (an interview with ATNI Executive Director Inge Kauer), Reuters, Nutrition Insight, and much more. ATNI will continue to monitor progress against the Pledge by means of creating the necessary track record of the collaborative investor engagement, which will result in an impact report to be drafted in Q4 2022 / Q1 2023.
Advising the Government of Japan
ATNI played an advising role to the Government of Japan, more specifically on accountability issues and on company engagement. ATNI also assessed the compliance of BMS companies against the Principles of Engagement of the N4G Summit and provided advice to the Government of Japan on whether the companies should be eligible to participate. More information on this point can be found in the BMS section.
UN Food Systems Summit
ATNI played an active role in preparations of the UNFSS, which took place in New York in September 2021 with a July pre-Summit event hosted by the Government of Italy. The UNFSS, focused on food systems rather than on nutrition specifically, aimed to launch bold new actions to transform food systems, delivering progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of the Summit was to produce commitments by Governments, UN Partner Organizations, Private Sector, and Civil Society. See section on outreach activities for details on ATNI’s participation in UNFSS.
Responsible Lobbying (funded by Irish Aid)
As a result of the Meridian process, a multi-stakeholder process involving a variety of actors interested in issues relevant to BMS products, a new framework on lobbying called the Responsible Lobbying Framework was developed. The Framework can be used both as a set of globally applicable principles and standards, outlining what responsible lobbying would look like, and as an evaluation tool of a specific organization’s lobbying activities. It is sector agnostic, and it is designed to be used by companies, industry associations, investors, and a wide range of other organizations. ATNI decided to develop a pilot methodology based on this framework and use it to assess the lobbying policies, management systems and disclosure of the 9 largest BMS companies globally, based on publicly available information. This work was funded by Irish Aid.
The output was a spotlight on lobbying report focusing on the BMS companies, including company scorecards. Additionally, ATNI conducted research on the taxonomy of influence for the BMS sector, and an internal research report on lobbying – the taxonomy of influence and the feasibility of a lobbying observatory was developed to help guide future work. In 2021, ATNI received funding for another year to conduct a lobbying spotlight for the 25 Global Index companies. This work will begin in March 2022 and is planned to be completed by September 2022.
WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism (funded by WHO)
This project includes an analysis on the levels of total fat, saturated fat, trans fats, industrially product trans-fat (iTFA) and ingredients to see the progress companies have made in meeting their commitment to reduce iTFA in products. ATNI engaged with WHO, IFBA and the 11 IFBA companies being assessed in this project in July 2021. ATNI started data analysis towards the end of 2021. Upon completion of data analysis. ATNI will continue with writing the final report and discuss a public launch.
Aligning Accountability Mechanisms: WBA and TFF
To continue efforts to work together to drive private sector change in safeguarding human health and providing nutritious and healthy foods at affordable prices, ATNI has collaborated with WBA to align data collection efforts between WBA’s Food and Agricultural Benchmark (FAB) and ATNI’s Global Index 2021 on a set of overlapping indicators. In May 2021, ATNI shared with WBA, company assessments from the Global Index 2021 research for the 50 indicators relevant for the 6 nutrition indicators in the FAB based on publicly available information, that ATNI has collected from the public domain before starting a first round of engagement with companies along with a list of publicly available evidence used. These assessments did not include scores or rankings. This data was used in FAB’s assessment, and the benchmark was launched in September 2021. The findings were similar to ATNI’s Global Index especially in areas of accessibility and affordability, with 80% of the companies assessed having no statements on affordability/accessibility.
WBA and Food Foundation launched a coalition to strengthen accountability mechanisms for benchmarking the food industry in one of UNFSS pre-summit events in July 2021. ATNI was one of the first members to sign up for the coalition and has been involved in the process of reviewing a toolkit developed by WBA and TFF to inform national benchmarks. TFF facilitated a pilot of the toolkit in India towards the end of 2021. Since this work overlapped to some extent with ATNI’s ongoing work in India, both organizations developed a collaborative approach and are strongly committed to collaborating to strive for alignment in measurement, to reduce duplication of effort and to ensure that engagement between the two organizations and companies is as efficient as possible. ATNI supports the pilot benchmark in India to ensure alignment with ATNI’s upcoming work in India in 2022 and 2023. The two organizations are committed to sharing contact information on implementing partners in-country, stakeholders, research data, and align consultations where needed to ensure maximum alignment.
8. Outreach activities
In 2021, ATNI continued to attend and host a multitude of events and activities. Some of these are listed below with a brief description:
April
• ATNI was invited, alongside GAIN, to co-host a technical session during the Global Health Science and Practice Technical Exchange, a four-day conference organized by USAID. The session, titled “Strengthening Private Sector Accountability and Engagement to Improve the Diets of Infants and Young Children” focused on ATNI’s latest research on Commercially Produced Complementary Foods.
May
• ATNI co-hosted an Independent Dialogue of the UN Food Systems Summit, together with The Food Foundation, GAIN, and the World Benchmarking Alliance. The session, which was well attended, focused on how benchmarking initiatives could be applied to low- and middle-income countries.
• ATNI participated in the Spring Conference organized by the UK Sustainable Investment and Financial Association (UKSIF) through a webinar on the role of nutrition for public health. Alongside speakers from ShareAction and the Guy’s and St Thomas’s Foundation, ATNI presented the business and investment case for nutrition.
June
• ATNI was invited to present its work at the National Academies of Science Engineering & Medicine of the US Food and Nutrition Board. ATNI Executive Director Inge Kauer and ATNI Research and Engagement Advisor Amanda Berhaupt-Glickstein delivered a presentation titled “The Business Case for Healthy Food at the Level of the Enterprise, Market, & Nation”.
• ATNI co-hosted a webinar with the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), titled “Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems: Considering the E and the S of ESG”. The webinar was well attended by several ATNI Signatories as well as by the broader investment community.
July
• ATNI launched the fourth iteration of the Global Index. The launch took place over 3 webinars: one aimed for companies, one for investors, and one large multi-stakeholder webinar. See section 2 on Global Index for more details on the outreach.
• During the UNFSS pre-summit in July, ATNI and GAIN co-organized two events on the topic “Mobilizing Accountability Mechanisms for Aligned Business Reporting”. This included an internal workshop with other accountability mechanism organizations; and a public event also co-organized by CGF and Nutrition Connect to broaden the discussion and discuss different initiatives.
• During the pre-Summit, ATNI launched the fourth COVID-19 report seconded by FCDO.
September
• ATNI was involved in the launch of the UNFSS Accountability Pact in September, which gathered over 200 signatures from researchers and food and nutrition experts to promote better monitoring mechanisms for food systems.
• During the UNFSS, ATNI published the second UK Product Profile 2021, and conducted a social media campaign in conjunction with ShareAction to disseminate the key findings of the report ahead of the Opening Plenary. ATNI attended the main sessions of the Summit and actively reported on the event through live tweeting.
October
• The ATNI team presented the findings of the UK Product Profile 2021 in a webinar organized by ShareAction, funder of the project, and titled “Health Matters: Assessing food and drink manufacturers ‘progress on health”. The event was well-attended and saw ATNI members take part in a lively discussion focusing on the nutrition challenges and the relative corporate responses in the UK market.
• ATNI presented the Global Index 2021 to the Japanese audience in a multi-stakeholder event, sponsored by Nomura Asset Management, supported by the Japanese Sustainable Investment Forum (JSIF) and co-hosted by Japanese consultancy Neural Inc. The event was well attended and concluded with a remark by Ms. Keiko Okada, Deputy Assistant Minister/ Deputy Director-General, International Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
November and December
• In November, ATNI Executive Director Inge Kauer was invited to take part in a n event at the 26th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) on the topic of food safety. With the UK hosting the COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, this event represented a unique opportunity to bring together regulators, food and feed scientists, consumer groups, industry experts, and academics from across the food system to discuss how to respond to global food systems challenges. The event was organized by the UK Food Standards Agency and by Food Standards Scotland and included a presentation by ATNI.
• Throughout November and December, ATNI played an active role as host, co-host, or event moderator in nine official N4G side events. These were shared with ATNI’s stakeholders via the ATNI website, the ATNI social media accounts, through an N4G-specific newsletter, and via targeted stakeholder emails.
o ATNI co-hosted two events on the topic of Workforce Nutrition together with the Consumer Goods Forum. The first event, on November 16th, focused on private sector commitments on supply chain workforce nutrition and saw ATNI Research Director Mark Wijne share findings from the Global Index 2021. During the second event, held on November 25th, ATNI Program Director Marije Boomsma shared preliminary findings from ATNI’s report on Workforce Nutrition Programs in Supply Chains: The Benefits of Addressing Malnutrition from Supply Chain Workers and How to Do So. The report was then officially launched on December 13th, 2021 and distributed widely within ATNI’s networks.
o On November 23rd, in partnership with GAIN, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme and the SUN Business Network, ATNI co-hosted an event used to present learnings from various organizations supporting SMEs as well as case studies by some SMEs. ATNI’s Nutrition Business Monitor tool was a key element of the webinar. The events were graphically summarized by a graphic illustrator, whose drawings can be found on the relative ATNI project page, here.
o On December 2nd and December 16th ATNI co-hosted two official side events on the topic of accountability for better nutrition, together with the Global Nutrition Report and with Results UK. The first event, which took place before the N4G Summit, focused on the role that accountability mechanisms can play in driving positive change within the nutrition space. The second event, which took place after the Summit, was used as an opportunity to reflect on the work that lied ahead after SMART commitments were made at N4G by governments, businesses, and civil society alike.
o The full list of all N4G side events organized by ATNI is provided below. The N4G side events not only helped ATNI gain new visibility and strengthen its position as the expert organization on corporate accountability for nutrition, but also helped ATNI grow its network and create new partnerships with a variety of stakeholders.
16th November: SMART private sector workforce nutrition commitments: Leveraging the workplace to bring improved nutrition to millions of employees
23rd November: Scaling up the contribution of SMEs to nutrition – tools and SUN Business Network case studies
25th November: Private Sector Nutrition Action: New Data to Inform Private Sector Commitments on Supply Chain Workforce Nutrition
29th November: Introducing the N4G Business Constituency Group: How business is stepping up to tackle malnutrition
30th November: The Business and Investment Case for Nutrition
2nd December: Accountability for action: Breaking down barriers to strong commitment making
6th December: Responsible Business Pledge for Better Nutrition: Business commits to tackling malnutrition
7th December: Building sustainable healthy diets and food systems: Aiming to improve nutritional literacy that leads to behavior modification
16th December: Action on accountability: Lessons learnt and the way forward beyond the N4G Summit
Mentions of ATNI’s work
In 2021, ATNI’s work was featured and mentioned in several journals and newspaper articles, most notably the following:
• In early 2021, ShareAction used the insights from the UK Supermarket Spotlight to form a coalition of institutional and retail investors and filed the first health-based shareholder resolution at Tesco, calling on the UK’s largest food retailer to set targets to increase the proportion of healthy products in its sales. Tesco responded to the resolution in March 2021 and set a target to increase the proportion of sales from healthier products to 65% by 2025. The supermarket giant commits to publish a strategy to achieve this goal and to report on its progress annually, as requested by the shareholder proposal filed in February.
• In July 2021, the launch of the Global Index 2021 was covered by NutritionInsight, New Food Magazine, Food and Beverage News, NOS Radio and many more.
• In September 2021, Devex published an opinion piece written by Inge Kauer titled “Opinion: How to close the global nutrition gap post-COVID-19”, reflecting on the Global Index 2021 findings in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In December 2021, the Nutrition for Growth Investor Pledge was covered by Reuters in an article titled ‘Investors push food & drink companies, govts over ‘nutrition crisis’’ as well as by Forbes, which published parts of an interview conducted with Inge Kauer on the topic.
9. Action research (funded by FCDO and BMGF)
Action research is designed to focus on areas where conclusive evidence, international standards and/or company practice is weak or emerging. The goals are to feed into the methodologies for ATNI’s Indexes, publish new analysis, and to contribute new insights on these topics to a wide range of stakeholders. In 2021, ATNI continued its action research on COVID-19 impacts and published the final report in the series. ATNI also conducted various action research activities to develop knowledge on nutrition topics relevant to the Indexes: action research on workforce nutrition, product inequities and on Large Scale Food Fortification (LSFF).
Monitoring Food and Beverage Companies’ Nutrition Responses to COVID-19
In 2020, with support from FCDO, ATNI developed a framework to identify action (and inaction) by food and beverage manufacturers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, adding an explicit COVID-19 lens to ATNI’s existing assessment of companies.
Throughout 2020 and 2021, ATNI reported on findings in quarterly reports, with each report focusing on a specific aspect of the response.
In July 2021, ATNI published the fourth and last report, including a comprehensive list of recommendations. This report summarizes company nutrition responses since the start of the crisis and presents recommendations for building food supply chains back better. ATNI researchers undertook a scan of the 39 companies’ main websites in early June 2021, focusing particularly on recently published annual reports and CSR reports. Interviews as well as email consultations on required urgent steps forward took place with the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF, FCDO, Feed the Truth, UNICEF, GAIN, SBN Nigeria and Food Industry Asia (FIA). Furthermore, media was monitored weekly on industry responses as well.
The final report was launched during the UNFSS pre-summit at the end of July, through social media channels, garnering over 9,000 views. After more than a year since the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 and the responses to it by companies and consumer reactions have presented risks and challenges for nutrition, including issues around increased consumption and marketing of unhealthy foods, donations that may not be of healthy products and concerns around inappropriate labelling of products as being immunity boosting. However, there are clear opportunities for companies to play a more positive role, with examples emerging – whether this is responding to consumer demand for healthier products, renewing a focus on equity and priority populations, or leveraging their ability to support supply chains. In the report, ATNI calls on all the world’s major food and beverage companies to step further along this path, taking consistent steps towards a future in which the food system is more resilient to COVID-19 and its economic and nutrition aftershocks, and also to any crises in the future.
Workforce Nutrition
Workforce nutrition programs throughout a company’s supply chain can have significant benefits for employees, employers as well as society. In 2021, ATNI conducted action research into this topic to explore what companies are doing to promote healthy diets and nutrition along their supply chains and how companies could act to do better. In the second half of 2021, ATNI conducted desk research focusing on several supply chains: cocoa, tea, coffee, horticulture, and garment. The ATNI team also conducted various interviews to understand the current landscape and the work that has been done so far, as well as to identify case studies from the sectors.
At the end of 2021, ATNI published a discussion paper titled ‘Workforce nutrition programs in supply chains – The benefits of addressing malnutrition among supply chain workers and how to do so’, along with six company studies namely: Nature’s Pride, Nestlé, Twinings, Unilever, Olam and VF Corporation. The reports and case studies were published on the website and shared with selected stakeholders. ATNI gave a preview of the results of this research project during an N4G webinar in November. The gained knowledge through this piece of research will be instrumental in further strengthening ATNI’s methodologies on workforce and supply chain nutrition but also for other organization, such as the Workforce Nutrition Alliance.
Product Inequities
ATNI’s latest Global Product Profile, undertaken as part of the Global Access to Nutrition Index 2021, assessed the relative healthiness of the product portfolio of the largest 25 food and beverage manufacturers globally across 25 countries. ATNI has written a short research paper to explore to what extent the healthiness of companies' portfolios varies by country, as an add-on to the Global Product Profile 2021.
In 2018 it seemed high income markets had higher overall HSRs compared to middle income markets. However, this 2021 paper highlighted that whilst there are differences in the mean healthiness (HSR) of product portfolios across all countries and categories assessed, no evident patterns across income level and/or geographic region were identified. At company level, discrepancies were found in the mean healthiness of products in the same categories across different markets.
The main message from the Inequities paper supported the overall message of the Global Product Profile 2021, that companies should do more to increase the healthiness of their portfolios and ensure that consumers are offered products with high nutritional quality and similar levels of healthiness across all countries where companies sell their products. The Inequities paper was published on the ATNI website in December 2021, following the Nutrition for Growth Summit.
Country Mapping
As part of the additionally funded activities by FCDO, ATNI has planned to develop more country specific approaches and tools to improve its reach to companies’ and their actions on nutrition in lower- and middle-income countries with a high double burden of malnutrition, to be achieved through two country mapping exercises. Nutrition landscaping studies can map relevant stakeholders and best pathways to better nutrition by also analyzing the role and influence of the private sector in improving nutrition. ATNI selected Nigeria for one of the landscape studies and planned to create a shortlist of countries for the second country selection in early 2021.
ATNI initially planned to begin the desk research for Nigeria in the first half of 2021, with the goal to produce a report and framework for a Nigeria Spotlight Index, to be started in July 2021. In agreement with FCDO, the work on the two landscape studies was put on hold due to budgetary restrictions at FCDO. ATNI however did continue with other activities in Nigeria, such as testing the SME Nutrition Business Monitoring tool and consultation sessions with Nigerian stakeholders in February 2022 in Abuja and Lagos around a potential Nigeria Index and on Large Scale Food Fortification. Based on these activities, ATNI plans to start consultations for a Nigeria accountability tool in the second half of 2022.
Large Scale Food Fortification Scoping exercise (funded by BMGF)
As part of the 2021-2023 BMGF grant, ATNI started designing the Large-Scale Food Fortification scoping project in September 2021.The objective of the exercise is to provide a better understanding of the components and actors of the Food Fortification value chains with a specific focus on Nigeria and India, and to identify knowledge and data gaps on the role companies play. The findings of the exercise will serve as a basis in defining the role that ATNI can play with regards to monitoring the role of the private sector in the Food Fortification value chain to drive positive change in fighting micronutrient deficiencies.
In February, initial meetings took place with BMGF Nigeria and GAIN in Abuja and, online, with other nutrition stakeholders, including FCDO Nigeria and Technoserve. A field visit is planned for April 2022. As part of the India scoping exercise, the ATNI team visited India in March 2022.
ATNI will produce a report presenting key findings from the scoping exercise including desk research and the outcome of the consultations. In addition, 3 to 4 case studies (focused on India and Nigeria) will be shared.
10. Monitoring and Evaluation
Building on the development of ATNI’s first comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system in 2020, ATNI undertook an independent impact assessment and M&E review of the organization in 2021. ATNI hired a firm called Steward Redqueen to conduct this review. The objective of the assessment was to:
• measure the results brought about by ATNI’s programs.
• assess the contribution of the programs to these identified results
• provide a combination of findings, recommendations and learnings to the commissioner and other relevant stakeholders
• determine the extent to which ATNI’s M&E and Results Framework fits in with ATNI’s theory of change.
In total, 52 key experts including senior management, staff, funding partners, investors, industry experts, civil society partners and food & beverage companies targeted by ATNI’s accountability tools, were interviewed. Besides interviews, the team conducted in-depth review of key documents, analysis of performance data, and a survey among staff to support the impact assessment. Using multiple sources of data allowed for robust analysis and triangulation of all findings.
As part of the research, ATNI prepared an extensive list of company impact that the organization made since its establishment. A few highlights are given in Box 3.
Box 3: ATNI’s impact on Company Policies and Practices
In its 2016 India Index, ATNI recommended Nestlé to increase its fortification efforts and programs to reach more vulnerable consumers beyond children. In 2020 the company was actively supporting and following the national guidance on Food Fortification, which was developed and adopted partly after ATNI’s 2016 India Index recommendations on this topic, by introducing new fortified products that specifically address undernutrition or micronutrient deficiencies.
In Global Index 2016, FrieslandCampina made no direct reference to low-income populations in its commitments on access and affordability. In 2018, the “Broadening access to nutrition” strategy of the company was under development but didn’t include concrete objectives on increased affordability. ATNI advised the company to create concrete targets to address vulnerable groups. Following ATNI’s recommendation, FrieslandCampina effectively adopted a formal policy on affordability and accessibility in 2021, and established concrete, measurable targets linked to it, with reference to low-income groups, especially in lower-income countries.
In the 2018 Product Profile, ATNI estimated that only 10% of Unilever's food and beverage sales revenues were from products meeting the healthy threshold. The average Health Star Rating for the company's products assessed was 2.1 out of 5. In the 2021 Product Profile this increased to 17% of global sales, and the average Health Star Rating increased slightly to 2.2 out of 5. In 2016, the company reported that 35% of products met company's own ‘Unilever Highest Nutritional Standards’, an increase of just 2% compared to 2014. The company then set the target to have 60% of its products to meet its own standards (UHNS) by 2020. The company achieved this target in 2021, with 61% of its product portfolio meeting the Highest Nutrition Standards.
In 2018, Kraft Heinz did not disclose any information on how it supports its employee health and wellness with programs covering nutrition or physical activity. Kraft Heinz was encouraged by ATNI to improve this by having a more robust, well-designed health and wellness program incorporating nutrition, physical activity, and healthy behaviors, and to make it available to all employees and their family members worldwide. In 2021, KH improved their employee health and wellness programs by including a focus on nutrition and physical activity. The new 'LiveWell' health and wellness platform was launched in the U.S. following a successful Canadian campaign.
In 2018, Reckitt did not disclose any policy, commitment or information about its management systems related to BMS marketing. ATNI recommended the company to increase its transparency and share more information publicly. In 2021, the company disclosed its lobbying policy and its engagement objectives in relation to addressing BMS-related issues with policymakers. The improvement was such that it achieved the highest score on disclosure among all the nine companies assessed in the 2021 BMS/CF Marketing Index.
Next steps: The outcomes of these discussions as well as the insights gathered from board meetings are used to develop a management response to the assessment, including concrete actions that ATNI will take to act upon the main recommendations of the report. The management response will be shared with core donors, serving to track progress against action-points identified to address the recommendations of the report. A public version of the report will be made available on ATNI’s website, including the executive summary as well as highlighted case studies.
In 2022, ATNI will further strengthen its M&E framework and reporting. Key follow-up activities include the enhancement of its TOC and alignment of its logframe to the updated TOC. The M&E system will be further operationalized with the development of a simple and centralized data-collection tool with a roles and responsibilities’ matrix. Templates for stories of impact will be developed and support will be provided to staff to continuously collect and share information on changes brought about by ATNI’s projects. Overall, ATNI intends to nurture a learning culture and improve its information management systems.
11. Risks
At the organizational level, ATNI identifies risks continuously through the stream of the regular staff meetings as well as in the context of the quarterly Board meetings. The results are furthermore reviewed by and discussed with the ATNI Board Audit and Risk Committee. Over the last year, two Committee meetings were held, in April and in September 2021. No major changes were made to the Risk Register.
Major other risks have been mitigated over the year by:
COVID-19 and other unexpected effects: Over the entire year, ATNI continued to monitor Covid-19 (and other risks) closely and adjusted timelines, work plans, and financial/funding forecasts accordingly.
Fundraising: To fill ATNI’s funding gap in 2022 and beyond, ATNI is prioritizing fundraising. It attracted new funding in 2021: BMGF new grant, ShareAction, Irish Aid, WHO. It continued conversations with existing (e.g., FCDO) donors and actively started approaching new donors building upon ATNI’s increased visibility in 2021. It also aims to partner with other organizations in fundraising (e.g., GAIN).
Reputation: ATNI continues to be highly consultative with all its stakeholders, be inclusive and transparent following international standards and guidelines. ATNI also continued not to include on the Board or Expert Group any members currently or recently employed by major food manufacturers and not to receive funding from industry. With regards to loss of reputation because of making errors in analysis and commentary, ATNI hired more senior staff members and continued extensive QA processes including information checks with companies prior to publication and intensive oversight of all research and analysis. ATNI also continued to implement and adhere to safeguarding policies that meet international standards and to monitor legal & donor requirements regularly. ATNI has adequate policies and procedures in place to manage fiduciary risk. This includes oversight by its Board, and quarterly financial and annual external audit reports
Competition: To prevent companies, investors and other stakeholders losing interest in the Access to Nutrition accountability tools because of competing with other accountability mechanisms and/or loss of interest in nutrition, ATNI continued in finding ways to make its tools and research more impactful and efficient in use (e.g., Global Index 2021 data-collection). ATNI also continued improving outreach to changemakers (particularly investors and policymakers but also civil society organizations; see SAN framework result in the Annex I). Moreover, ATNI keeps track of international priorities and other initiatives and identifies ways of aligning and partnering with them (e.g., GAIN, WBA, Food Foundation, GNR and Informas).
Impact on all countries, also LMICs, and Visibility: ATNI continues to be recognized as an organization that leads to companies changing their actions or products which benefit all countries, also low-income countries. ATNI started to increase its focus on ATNI's impact on malnutrition in low-income markets through BMS work; through its work with SMEs, through the NBM tool, in Nigeria and Bangladesh; and through starting the Food Fortification scoping mission in India and Nigeria. It will continue increasing its scope on LMICs in 2022 and beyond through expanding its activities to other countries (India, Nigeria and potentially others for the SME tool). ATNI continued to clearly communicate in ATNI’s Theory of Change, publications, media and in fundraising, ATNI’s activities and impact on fighting malnutrition in LMICs. Moreover, ATNI strengthened strategic and impactful communication around the outcomes/ messages of research, which is described in the above Section on Engagement. ATNI hired a new Senior Comms Manager, who will start working for ATNI April 2022.
Loss of data: breaching or loosing data due to data platform provider issues or internal file and back-up management issues. ATNI has a data protection policy for detailed measures in place, back up data is available (having several back-ups including internal and regular checks on the back-ups are being done) and contractual arrangements are in place.
Staff and workload: ATNI has been a fast-growing organization in terms of projects and in terms of staff. ATNI prioritizes fundraising (see earlier) so that more (senior) staff can be recruited to strengthen the capacity of the relatively young team, while simultaneously focusing on consolidating and strengthening its team and organization and reducing workload. ATNI’s Board oversees balance staff/workload and consistent quality and credibility, while donors monitor ATNI's performance through regular meetings with the Executive Director and Program Director of ATNI. The Executive Director has decided to leave ATNI after 9 years of building up the organization in the course of 2022. She is supporting the ATNI board in recruiting and onboarding her successor.
Access to Nutrition Foundation Arthur van Schendelstraat 650 3511 MJ Utrecht, the Netherlands
Goals 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (health and well-being for all), SDG 12 (target 12.3)
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ATNI Annual Activity Report 2021
ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.
Objectives highlighted with a * will not be reported on as they are not applicable for this reporting period.
Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.
Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.
Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019. *
Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes. *
Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify impact.
Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.
Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.
Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. *
Additional Objectives
ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed. These include:
Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.
Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.
Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).
Extra activities 2020-2022 (funded by FCDO, not part of prolongation)
With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16, 2020, to the ongoing Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI will embark on the following extra activities:
1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to COVID-19 starting April 2020.*
2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UNFSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.
3. Investor coalition starting October 2020.
4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021.
5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting January 2021.
6. Country approach starting July 2021*.