Signatories ask companies to be more transparent on food nutritional value and calories
European and UK investors are calling for restaurant and fast-food companies to be more transparent on the healthiness of the food they serve, following growing concerns around public health and associated financial risks.
A public statement — co-ordinated by non-profit ShareAction — has garnered support from big European investors, including Dutch manager Achmea Investment Management, the UK’s Aviva Investors and France’s La Banque Postale Asset Management.
The signatories, which collectively manage around $1tn in assets, say poor diets are at the centre of a major global health crisis and represent “material, systematic risk”.
In 2024, 30 per cent of people over the age of 16 were obese in the UK, shows the latest NHS research.
The investors are seeking more information on companies’ reliance on sales of less healthy products for profits, and are asking the sector to report against an internationally recognised nutrient model, as well as a measure of calories.
Some policy initiatives — including the UK government’s Healthy Food Standard and the US’s Make America Healthy Again campaign — have started to put pressure on companies to improve the quality of food they serve.
Transparency on the healthiness of food sold in restaurants and fast-food outlets remains “extremely limited”, lagging behind manufacturers and retailers, says ShareAction, adding that many of the biggest restaurant companies have shown “little willingness” to engage on the issue.
The non-profit plans to attend the annual meetings of McDonald’s, RBI, Yum, Domino’s Pizza and Greggs.
Climbing up the agenda
LBP AM says consumers’ health and nutrition is a topic high up its engagement priorities. Head of socially responsible investment solutions Héléna Charrier says the €75bn French manager will consider escalating its stewardship tools, including voting or supporting shareholder resolutions, “where appropriate and effective”.
It is engaging with companies on health-related issues through a combination of direct dialogue and collaborative initiatives, Charrier tells Sustainable Views.
Similarly, Mirabaud Asset Management head of SRI Hamid Amoura says the company would not rule out using shareholder resolutions where dialogue and engagement “prove insufficient”.
Health and nutrition are becoming a key stewardship focus for the Swiss manager, which views food health as an “equally systemic” issue to other mainstream environmental, social and governance themes. Progress is being made following engagements with European and UK companies, but it “remains uneven, largely due to the lack of standardised metrics”, says Amoura.
UK bakery chain Greggs this week set new sustainability targets, including a pledge to develop a methodology for measuring the healthiness of food sales by end-2026, and reporting on the healthiness of sales by the end of 2030.
The focus for now is to look at historical data, agree the right metrics and establish a “robust” baseline, a Greggs spokesperson tells Sustainable Views.
