ACCESS TO NUTRITION FOUNDATION

ACTIVITY REPORT: 2017

January 2018

ACCESS TO NUTRITION FOUNDATION

ACTIVITY REPORT: 2017

Contents

Message from ATNF 4

1. Global Index 5

2. Marketing of breast-milk substitutes 11

3. Product Profile 14

4. Spotlight Indexes 16

A. US Spotlight Index 16

B. India Spotlight Index 18

C. Other Spotlight Indexes 21

5. Strategic alliances with investors & investment advisors 22

6. Outreach activities 2017 26

7. Governance and Continuity 32

8. Outlook for 2018 34

Annex 1: Overview of outreach activities in 2017 35

4

Message from ATNF

During 2017, the Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF) carried out

most of the research for the third Global Index and the first US

Spotlight Index, both of which will be launched in 2018. The research

into the nutrition policies, practices and disclosure of the largest Food

& Beverage manufacturers globally and in the US, was conducted by

a hybrid team: Sustainalytics and ATNF’s research team.

ATNF continued to work with The George Institute on expanding our

research into the healthiness of companies' product portfolios. The

Product Profile, as this exercise is called, covers the five largest

selling categories of the 22 Global Index companies in nine markets

across all continents. This research is groundbreaking. It will, for the

first time, provide an objective analysis and comparison of the

healthiness of these companies’ portfolios. It will also reveal what

percentage of companies’ products are suitable to be marketed to

children. The results will be revealed in the third Global Index report

and, for the US market, in the first US Index report.

In addition to researching companies’ general nutrition activities,

ATNF has conducted two in-country assessments of the marketing of

breast-milk substitutes in Thailand and Nigeria in 2017. These studies

were conducted with Westat. The results will be shared through

individual country reports in early 2018. These results will be

combined with the results of the Corporate Profile assessment of

breast-milk substitutes (BMS), also conducted by ATNF in 2017, to

generate the BMS sub-ranking for the 2018 Global Index.

Looking back at 2017, ATNF is particularly excited about expanding

the team to a total of seven by the end of the year. We are also

excited about the growing engagement of companies in the Index

research processes, and by the growing network of investor

signatories and many organizations ATNF has met at nutrition

gatherings over the year. This indicates that fighting malnutrition is

becoming recognized as an important global sustainable development

goal and that our Indexes are increasingly seen as a trusted tool to

positively monitor the contribution of companies’ to this critical goal.

Inge Kauer (Executive Director ATNF)

5

1. Global Index

After publishing the 2016 Global Access to Nutrition Index in January 2016, the Foundation focused

in the second half of 2016 and beginning of 2017 on gathering feedback, having calls with Index

companies to discuss their results, and activities related to the preparation of the third Global

Index, due to be published in April 2018. The third Index will publicly rate 22 of the world’s largest

F&B manufacturers’ nutrition-related policies, practices and disclosure.

Access to Nutrition Index: Global Index 2016

Consultations

After the launch and rolling out of the second Global Index in 2016, preparations started for the

third Global Index. Consultations on the methodology involved 15 one-to-one company calls and

an in-depth evaluation discussion during the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA)

member meeting in October (2016). In March 2017, the feedback was evaluated with ATNF’s

Expert Group. Additional meetings with Consumer Goods Forum Europe and Choices International

were held.

For further engagement and feedback, an online survey was sent to ATNF’s stakeholder network

(including companies, investors, CSOs, academics etc.). In total 51 stakeholders responded (see

Graph 1 for further details).

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Graph. 1. Fifty-one (51) stakeholders participated in this online survey. Companies submitted one survey representing the whole

company. Both investors and F&B companies showed a big interest and represent 62% of participants.

Responses to the survey were constructive and supportive: almost all (89%) participants in the

survey agree that ATNI can play a valuable role in monitoring the performance of the world’s

largest Food & Beverage (F&B) manufacturers and in encouraging improvement in their policies,

practices and disclosure. Most respondents also think that ATNI is objective (74%), independent

(69%), credible (72%) and transparent (71%).

Graph 2. The majority of stakeholders see ATNI playing a valuable role in monitoring the performance of the world’s largest F&B

manufacturers in addressing global nutrition challenges.

Corporate Profile Methodology 2018 development

Based on the feedback from the consultations, ATNF revised the Corporate Profile Methodology for

the 2018 Global Index. Overall, the structure of the Corporate Profile methodology remains the

same (see Table 1). Most changes are minor and relate principally to new or updated standards or

global guidelines. Others expand the scope of some indicators by clarifying wording or providing

better explanatory notes. There are now fewer unscored indicators. The major structural changes

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are in Category B1 - Product formulation.

The focus is now on companies’ major categories, looking for specific reformulation targets per

category, and evidence of smaller pack or serving sizes in particular categories. The total number

of indicators is lower although more are scored in the 2018 Global Index than in the 2016 Index

(see Table 2). This means that it will be easier to make comparisons between companies’ scores in

2016 and 2018 and show clearly where improvements have been made. The Corporate Profile

methodology was shared and published in June 2017 and can be downloaded in full here.

Table 1: Global Index 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 (25%) Formulating appropriate products B1 Product formulation*

B2 Nutrient profiling system

C (20%) Delivering affordable, accessible

products

C1 Product pricing*

C2 Product distribution*

Section 3: Influencing consumer choice and behaviour

D (20%) Responsible marketing policies,

compliance and spending

D1 Responsible marketing policy: all consumers*

D2 Auditing and compliance with policy: all consumers

D3 Responsible marketing policy: children

D4 Auditing and compliance with policy: children

E (2.5%) Supporting healthy diets and active

lifestyles

E1 Supporting staff health & wellness

E2 Supporting breastfeeding mothers in the workplace

E3 Supporting consumer-oriented healthy eating and active

lifestyle programs*

F (15%) 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*

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* Criteria with additional undernutrition specific indicators

Table 2: Comparison of the number of indicators in 2016 and 2018 Global Index Corporate Profile Methodology

2016 Global Index 2018 Global Index

Total no.

indicators

Total no.

scored

indicators

Total no.

non-scored

indicators

Total no.

indicators

Total no.

scored

indicators

Total no.

non-scored

indicators

Category A 47 36 11 42 39 3

Category B 56 47 9 52 47 5

Category C 29 19 10 28 22 6

Category D 51 30 21 55 34 21

Category E 34 28 6 34 28 6

Category F 20 20 0 20 20 0

Category G 13 11 2 13 12 1

Total 250 191 59 244 202 42

Company selection

ATNF followed the same approach as in 2016 to select companies for the 2018 Index. The 20

largest F&B companies by global revenues are automatically included. Additionally, two other

companies in the top 25 that were constituents of the 2016 Global Index were again included to

continue to encourage them to improve their performance (Tingyi and Campbell Soup Company).

There are two new entries in the top 20: Suntory Beverage & Food Limited and Meiji. With

these new additions, the new Global Index will include three Japanese companies. ATNF visited

these three Japanese companies in Tokyo in July 2017 to explain the Index to them and request

their cooperation in the research process. Wahaha, a Chinese company that was in the 2016

Index, is no longer assessed as it has dropped out of the global top 25.

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Table 3: Company Selection Global Index 2018

N. Company Name Included

in 2016

Included

in 2013

HQ Products

1 Nestlé S.A. Yes Yes CH Baby Food, Powdered & Liquid Beverages, Dairy, Confectionery,

Ready Meals, Water, Snack foods

2 Pepsico, Inc. Yes Yes USA Baby Food, Confectionery, Dairy, Pasta, Snacks, Spreads, Drinks

3 The Coca-Cola

Company

Yes Yes USA Dairy; Carbonates; Concentrates; Juice; RTD, Sports and Energy

Drinks

4 Mars Yes Yes USA Confectionery, Pasta, Ready Meals, Sauces, Snack Bars, Hot Drinks

5 The Kraft Heinz

Company

As Kraft

and Heinz

As Kraft

and Heinz

USA Baby Food, Meal Replacement, Sauces, Dairy, Snack Bars, Ready

Meals, Spreads, Concentrates, Juice, Hot Drinks

6 Mondelez International Yes No (part of

Kraft)

USA Bakery, Confectionery, Dairy, Snack Bars, Snacks, Hot Drinks

7 Unilever Yes Yes NL/ UK Canned/Preserved Food, Ice Cream, Noodles, Oils, Sauces, Soups,

Soft and hot drinks

8 Danone Yes Yes FR Baby Food, Dairy, Water and Beverages

9 Lactalis Yes Yes FR Baby food, Chilled Processed Food, Dairy

10 General Mills Yes Yes USA Bakery, Confectionery, Dairy, Meal Replacement, Pasta, Ready

Meals, Snacks, Soup, Concentrates

11 Kellogg Yes Yes USA Dried and Frozen Processed Food, Snack Bars, Savoury Snacks

12 Grupo Bimbo Yes Yes MX Bakery, Confectionery, Dried and Frozen Processed Food, Snacks

13 Conagra Brands Yes Yes USA Bakery, Canned/ Preserved Food, Confectionery, Oils and Fats,

Pasta, Ready Meals, Sauces, Snacks

14 Koninklijke

FrieslandCampina

Yes Yes NL Baby Food, Dairy, Oils and Fats, Juice, Other

15 Suntory Beverage &

Food Limited

No No JP Mineral Water, Coffee, RTD tea, Carbonates, Functional drinks

16 Meiji Holdings No No JP Confectionary, Dairy, Baby Food

17 Ajinomoto Yes Yes JP Soup, Noodles, Concentrates, Frozen Processed Food; Sauces,

Dressings

18 BRF S.A. Yes Yes BR Processed Food, Dairy, Meat

19 Arla Foods amba Yes No DN Dairy, Oils and Fats, Sauces, Dressing, Soups, Spreads

20 Ferrero Yes Yes IT Confectionery, Spreads

22 Tingyi Yes Yes CN Meal Replacement, Noodles, Carbonates, Juice, RTD Tea

25 Campbell Soup

Company

Yes Yes USA Baby Food, Soups, Sauces, Beverages, Baked Goods; Snacks

At the International Food and Beverage Alliance member meeting in June, ATNF was able to

engage with many of the companies in the Index. In addition, several one-on-one phone calls

were held with the companies selected for the Index. By the end of June 2017, most companies

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were informed about being included in the 2018 Global Index.

Development of the on-line data-gathering platform

One clear concern voiced by the companies was the burden of collating and submitting data via

the data-gathering platform for the Index. Given how important it is that companies do so, ATNF

invested substantially in developments to the on-line data gathering platform. New features were

added to make the survey shorter and easier to use; for instance, several departments within a

company can now work on the survey in parallel. In addition, the platform was pre-populated with

2016 data so that companies only had to update it with changes made since then. To enable

companies to work on the two surveys (US and Global) simultaneously, functionality was added to

enable users to switch between the surveys in one click.

Research activities for the 2018 Global Access to Nutrition Index

The ATNF analyst team, that was set up in 2017 to do more research in-house, was first trained in

applying the new methodology and then started to pre-populate the on-line data-gathering

platform with publicly available data about companies’ nutrition commitments and performance in

June.

Company engagement activities

During the early summer, ATNF organized webinars for companies in the Global and US Index to

share the final methodologies and train them to use the platform. Sixteen of the 22 companies

participated, and Q&A were developed and distributed to them to help them understand the

methodology and to use the platform.

In September, the data-gathering platform was opened to the Global and US Index companies.

Sixteen of the 22 companies actively engaged by submitting confidential material to the data-

gathering platform, all or partly under a non-disclosure agreement (12). The platform was closed

on October 1st, after which the information the companies had submitted was checked and verified

with them as needed. The analysis was then reviewed to ensure consistency in how companies

were scored.

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2. Marketing of breast-milk

substitutes

In early 2017, ATNF gathered stakeholders’ views about whether any changes should be made to

ATNF’s approach to assessing BMS marketing for the 2018 Global Index, included were a range of

organizations, such as FTSE4Good, Save The Children, 1,000 Days and WHO. ATNF also met with

four major baby food companies (Nestlé, Danone, FrieslandCampina and Abbott) in January, with

the International Special Dietary Foods Industries Association (ISDI) of which they are members.

Overall, these companies expressed their support for ATNF’s work in this area and indicated their

willingness to engage in the research process for the 2018 Global Index. Working with the BMS

Expert Group (BMS EG) ATNF considered all of the stakeholder comments received to finalise the

approach to assessment for the 2018 Index.

2018 Global Index: BMS 1: Corporate Profile

Consideration was given to adding a new module to assess companies’ compliance with a new

resolution passed by World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2016 - WHA 69.9 - that set out

recommendations related to marketing complementary foods intended for young children from 6 –

36 months. Had this approach been taken, changes would have to be made in the BMS Marketing

Corporate Profile methodology to reflect the recommendations within WHA 69.9 that related to

formulas marketed as suitable for young children up to 3 years of age. However, ATNF decided not

to make these changes for this Index, in order to retain comparability between the 2016 and 2018

Index results and because ATNF recognized that companies may not yet have implemented the

required changes in their policies and practices to reflect these new recommendations. The

changes to incorporate WHA 69.9 will be included for the next Index.

The only small changes made to the methodology for the 2018 Index were that some wording was

clarified in few indicators and a small number were removed. One important difference, however,

was that a higher bar was set for evidence required from the companies to demonstrate that

effective management systems are in place to implement their policy worldwide.

In June, the ATNF research team prepared and pre-populated the online platform with information

previously submitted by the companies so that they only needed to submit documentation related

to any changes made to their policies or management systems since the last Index. The six

companies were invited to take part in webinars to be familiarized with the methodology and the

platform.

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Five of the six companies completed the survey on the platform and contributed documentation;

only Kraft Heinz did not. Following initial review by the ATNF team, these five companies were

asked to clarify some points or provide additional evidence in some areas, which all of them did.

The analysis was completed by the end of the year.

2018 Global Index: BMS 2: In-country assessments

In early 2017, ATNF again appointed Westat to undertake two studies in Thailand and Nigeria. The

studies were based on the NetCode protocol, which supersedes the IGBM protocol used previously.

ATNF used the first version of the NetCode protocol developed by WHO in 2015. (An updated

version was published in October 2017). It was developed by WHO and several expert

organisations including UNICEF, IBFAN, WABA, HKI, Save the Children Foundation and the WHO

Collaborating Center at Metropol University. The protocol is intended to provide practical, concrete

guidelines and procedures to Governments and others to use in Code monitoring.

The types of research required by NetCode are the same as those required by the IGBM Protocol.

The goal is to assess companies’ compliance with five Articles of The Code (Articles 4, 5, 6, 7 and

9), subsequent WHA resolutions and any local regulations that have provisions additional to these

documents. It does not extend to assessing the conduct of people employed by manufacturers and

distributors (Article 8) nor the quality of products (Article 10).

Scope of a NetCode study

• A sample of 33 health facilities that provide well-baby care. Facilities that only care for sick children (e.g. hospitalized children, emergency rooms, or sick clinics) are not included. The sample is drawn using a simple ‘proportionate to size’ model combined with a list frame for facilities that offer well-baby/child clinics, in the largest city. (Note this is fewer than the 40 facilities assessed using the IGBM Protocol.)

• Five mothers with children under six months of age and five mothers with children between six and 23 months of age are sampled by stratification from each selected health facility, giving a total sample size of 330 mothers. (Note this is fewer than the 800 women required by the IGBM Protocol.)

• 3 health facility representatives are interviewed in each health facility (i.e. head of the clinic, doctor, nurse/midwife). A total of 99 health workers will therefore be interviewed. (Note this is fewer in total than the 120 health workers interviewed under the IGBM Protocol. Although the number of representatives interviewed in each facility remains the same, a smaller number of facilities are visited.)

• 43 retail outlets selling covered products: One small store and one large store near each of the 33 health facilities, as well as ten large stores that sell a high volume and variety of products under the scope. These are purposively sampled based on local knowledge. (Note that the IGBM Protocol did not stipulate how retailers should be selected, nor how many.)

• 6 months of media monitoring, including traditional and some digital media. (Note that the IGBM Protocol mentions billboard/ posters, printed publications, TV, radio, internet and other (not further specified).)

• All BMS products for sale in the study area, i.e. all products encountered in store visits. (Note that the IGBM Protocol did not specify how products should be identified.)

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In preparation for the in-country assessments, ATNF visited Thailand in July and Nigeria in

September to introduce the Global Index and the BMS assessment to a wide range of

stakeholders. Local representatives of international organizations like WHO, UNICEF, Save The

Children, Alive & Thrive and HKI attended the sessions, along with local organizations that work to

promote breastfeeding, and good infant and child nutrition in their countries. The proposed in-

country studies received wide support in both countries.

In Thailand, Westat selected the International Health Policy Foundation (IHPP) as its research

partner. IHPP conducts research on national health priorities related to health systems and policy.

In Nigeria, the local office of Oxford Policy Management (OPM) was appointed.

Following extensive preparations and training of the local research partner, the study in Bangkok

began in July; data collection was completed by the end of August. The study in Lagos started in

September; data collection was completed by the end of October.

In early 2018, ATNF will publish a summary of each study, along with the Westat reports. The

results will be incorporated into the 2018 Global Index.

ATNF’s participation in other initiatives Meridian Institute consultative process: During 2017 ATNF participated in several calls and meetings organized by the Meridian Institute designed to bring a wide range of BMS stakeholders together to explore the potential for developing new mechanisms and approaches to promoting breastfeeding and monitoring BMS marketing. US BMS meetings: in April, ATNF also met with key US BMS stakeholders including Public Citizen, HKI a representative of the US Breastfeeding Committee and CDC to solicit their advice on how the US Index should address BMS marketing in the US. FTSE4Good: In June 2017, ATNF attended a stakeholder meeting to hear from FTSE4Good the results of the verification exercises, undertaken by PWC in Thailand and Nigeria during 2016. International Congress of Nutrition: ATNF’s Executive Director attended this congress in Buenos Aires in October at which WHO launched the second edition of the NetCode protocol, and presentations were made by institutions in Mexico of the results of their NetCode study.

Field training in-country BMS assessments

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3. Product Profile

Having received a positive response to the Product Profile in the India Index, ATNF is introducing a

Product Profile on a pilot basis for the 2018 Global Index. The Product Profile analyses how

healthy company’s products are as well as how many of its products are suitable to be marketed

to children. This data can then be aggregated to give an overall view of which companies have the

healthier or less healthy portfolios. Moreover, combining the nutritional quality of categories with

sales data provides an understanding of how healthy or otherwise companies’ sales are in the

markets being studied.

ATNF began discussions with The George Institute (TGI) early in the year – the entity which

conducted the Product Profile for the India Index – to determine the feasibility of working together

again for this study. Having agreed to do so, ATNF and TGI then developed the methodology for

the exercise for the Global Index.

As with the India Product Profile, two nutrient profiling systems are being used: the Health Star

Rating (HSR) to assess how healthy companies’ products are and the WHO Euro model to assess

whether products are healthy enough to be marketed to children. As it is impossible at this stage

to assess all markets worldwide, nine key markets were selected for which databases of the

nutrition content of a lot of products had already been compiled. These markets cover both

developed and developing markets in various continents: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,

United Kingdom, China, India, United States, Mexico and Hong Kong. Up to the five largest selling

categories of each company in each market are being assessed: some companies don’t sell five

categories in all markets and some are not present in all of the markets. The nutritional analysis

will be combined with sales data from Euromonitor to generate sales-weighted results, as in the

2016 India Index.

This multi-market Product Profile will allow ATNF to test the approach that has been used and to

learn from the experience. How the results will be used in the presentation of the 2018 Global

Index has not yet been determined. However, data collected for the US will be incorporated into

the results of the first US Spotlight Index report due in June 2018.

In July TGI started to extract nutrition content data for companies’ products in the nine markets (if

available). In September, the data TGI had collated was shared with the companies who were

asked to check it or add to it. Twelve companies shared their own nutrition content data and

another four responded in some way. This was a significantly higher level of engagement than

seen for the India Index. All data had been processed and TGI finished its research before the

year ended.

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4. Spotlight Indexes

A. US Spotlight Index

ATNF will publish the first US Spotlight Index in mid-2018. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

is funding this new Spotlight Index because its mission is to improve the health of everyone in the

United States.

A high proportion of the US population is overweight or obese, which can be primarily attributed to

poor diets and inactive lifestyles. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC), 71% of adults are currently overweight, of which 37% are obese - and these numbers are

rising. This results in a high prevalence of diet-related chronic diseases such as diabetes and

hypertension. Food and beverage manufacturers can - and should - play a role in addressing these

issues and trends. Many have made commitments to do so but at present there is no mechanism

to track their progress against these commitments and to compare their efforts consistently and

comprehensively.

Future for a Healthier America Summit, May 2017

17

The US Index will assess the contribution of the ten largest F&B manufacturers in the country to

fighting key nutrition challenges – obesity, overweight and food insecurity. Those companies

are: PepsiCo Inc, the Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Heinz Co, Nestlé SA, General Mills Inc., Dr Pepper

Snapple Group, Kellogg Co, Mars Inc., Unilever Group, ConAgra Brands Inc.

During the first half year of 2017 several consultations took place to develop the methodology for

the first US Index:

Early April: a kick-off meeting took place with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

Mid-April: ATNF visited the US to present at a breakfast roundtable of the Healthy Eating Research

meeting. In addition, ATNF hosted a lunch with experts specifically invited to give advice on how

the US Index methodology should be adapted to reflect key issues in the US.

Early May: A meeting was held for investors in New York with the global financial research firm

Bernstein where ATNF presented the Access to Nutrition Indexes.

May: A company meeting was held at the start of the Future for a Healthier America Summit

organized by the Partnership for Healthy America (PHA). Companies that participated were Mars,

The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Campbell’s, Hershey’s, Cargill, Abbott, and

Mondelez International. Further, a break-out session at the conference allowed ATNF to present

and discuss the US Index with a wider range of stakeholders.

Late May: Other consultation calls took place with the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising

Initiative (CFBAI), Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the Rudd Center and several

companies, including Unilever, Kelloggs, and General Mills.

In early June ATNF established a US Expert Group to review the draft US Corporate Profile

methodology. The Methodology was then finalized.

The US Spotlight Index methodology assesses companies’ policies, practices and disclosure beyond

what they are legally required to do. For example, it will assess whether they have targets to

reformulate products and their progress in achieving them, how they contribute to nutrition-related

public health programs and how extensive their policies are to restrict the marketing of less

healthy products to children. The accessibility of healthy and affordable nutrition for populations

most at risk - encompassing the rural and urban poor, including various ethnic minorities - is also

an important aspect of the US Spotlight Index assessment. The US Spotlight Index Methodology

can be found here.

In July, the research team started by pre-populating the on-line data-gathering platform with

publicly available data published by the companies in the US Index. In September, eight out of ten

companies in the US Index then submitted data to the data-gathering platform, often under NDA.

The data was checked and verified before the end of the year.

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B. India Spotlight Index

Alongside the Global Indexes, ATNF develops and publishes Spotlight Indexes that score and rate

the ten largest Food & Beverage manufacturers in a selected country. In 2013, ATNF piloted

Spotlight Indexes in Mexico, South Africa and India. The first full Spotlight Index published in 2016

was the India Index. It was well-received and gained much media attention as well as interest

from the public and private sphere. The India Index report can be downloaded here.

After the launch of the Index, calls were held with seven of the ten Index companies. These

companies had discussed the Index internally, at management level, and said that the Index had

provided them with new insights about India’s nutrition challenges and how they could better

address them. They expressed interest in doing more on key topics such as responsible marketing,

employee health, nutrient profiling and tackling undernutrition. They also suggested that more

Indian companies should be included in future indexes, e.g. some of the fast-growing soft drinks

companies.

The Indian government’s Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) expressed its commitment

to continue working on nutrition particularly through stronger labeling regulations aligned to Codex

standards and by introducing better food fortification standards to address micronutrient

deficiencies.

Access to Nutrition Index: India Spotlight Index 2017

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The India Index results were discussed with international investors via webinar in January 2017. In

April 2017, ATNF visited India to discuss the response to the Index as well as the roll out future

India Indexes. Meetings were held with FSSAI, CII (an industry association), GAIN India, the TATA

Trust Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Embassy of The Netherlands, DFID’s India

office and several companies. All expressed their support for the India Spotlight Index.

In June, ATNF participated in a visit to the Netherlands organized by “Rijksdienst Voor

Ondernemend Nederland” (RVO) on agri-processing and presented the India Index to participants.

This enabled ATNF to further engage with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the Embassy of The Netherlands in India, all of which

were in attendance.

Several in-depth articles referring to the first India Index were published, confirming new developments

both government and industrial:

• ‘CSR through food fortification’ – published in January on how Food Fortification is a key

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 addresses 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.

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Screenshots headlines Indian media after launching the first India Index

ATNF developed and discussed the roll-out strategy for future India Indexes at its board meeting

in May. It was concluded that for future Indexes, ATNF will aim to create 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. To do so, it needs to be more visible in India, by for example

establishing permanent local representation for ATNF and/or local research capacity, expanding

the India Expert Group and intensifying partnerships with local organizations such as CII, GAIN

India and The Indian Nutrition Initiative (TINI). Funding from Indian donors should also be sought

to contribute to achieving these goals.

Following this discussion, ATNF developed its concept for rolling out the next India Spotlight Index.

In November ATNF visited India again to discuss its plans with companies, CSOs and Indian-based

funders (the Embassy of The Netherlands, DFID, US AID, BMGF and the Tata Trust Foundation).

These stakeholders encouraged ATNF to broaden the scope of the India Index by including more

Indian companies and to look at nutrition issues at state level. Conversations about establishing

partnerships and further funding will continue in the new year.

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C. Other Spotlight Indexes

A central ambition of the Foundation is to develop more Spotlight Indexes, particularly in double-

burden countries. As Nigeria is one such country, ATNF is exploring the feasibility of developing

a Nigeria Spotlight Index.

One in three children under five in Nigeria is stunted, while 33% of Nigerian adults are overweight.

The double burden of malnutrition in Nigeria is alarming and with a rapidly growing economy and

middle class it is important that the private sector plays its role in ensuring access to adequate

foods of high quality. More people are moving to cities; urban lifestyles and work typically change

people’s eating habits, often for the worst.

A Nigeria Spotlight Index would provide Nigerian stakeholders with a tool to track Food &

Beverage manufacturers' contributions to improving their health through good nutrition.

In September, ATNF visited Abuja and Lagos where it met with many key nutrition stakeholders,

such as the SUN Business Network, the Nigeria Heart Foundation, the National Consumer

Protection Council, the Centre for the Right to Health, and with private sector players and

government institutions. The proposal for a Nigeria Spotlight Index was positively received. ATNF

continues to explore the possibility of developing a Nigeria Index.

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5. Strategic alliances with investors

& investment advisors

Investors are an important stakeholder group for ATNF because, as shareholders in many of the

Index companies, they have a substantial ability to influence their policies and practices. At the

beginning of 2017, 50 investors were signatories to the Investor Statement. By the end of the year,

this figure had increased to 54, with AXA Investments, Schroders, ACTIAM and Nationale

Nederlanden (NN) becoming signatories. Together these investors manage more than US$ 5

trillion. A further five responsible investment sector associations also support the Indexes.

ATNF engages with the Investor Signatories in several ways. Each time the methodology is

revised, investors are invited to contribute their views. They were invited to do so for the 2018

Global Index via the online survey. ATNF also holds webinars for investors to update them on

plans and progress. During 2017, updates were provided in January (webinar: India Index 2016

findings), June (London: general updates European investors) and November 2017 (webinar: 2018

plans). In mid-November, together with Boston Common Asset Management, ATNF discussed the

findings of the 2016 India Index in Mumbai with companies and investors at a session linked to the

ACGA Asia Business Dialogue conference.

During the year ATNF also consulted signatories on how it might provide even more support to

investors in their research and engagement with companies on nutrition issues. At a meeting

hosted by CCLA in London in June 2017, participants suggested that ATNF develop a web-portal

for signatories only where they could access more detailed analysis and material not published on

the ATNF website. ATNF began to work to develop such a portal in the fourth quarter of 2017; it

will go live in 2018. ATNF has also developed other ideas for how it might provide bespoke support

to investors which it hopes to be able to deliver after the launch of the 2018 Global Index.

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 to again collaborate on

engaging with listed Index companies to catalyze improvements in their policies, practices and

disclosure, based on Index outcomes and recommendations.

23

Investment management /asset owner signatories

1 ACTIAM

2 AMP Capital

3 Amundi

4 Arisaig Partners

5 Aviva Investors

6 AXA Investments

7 Bestweb

8 BMO Global Asset Management

9 BNP Paribas Investment Partners

10 Boston Common Asset Management, LLC

11 Calvert Investments

12 Candriam Investors Group

13 Catholic Health Initiatives

14 CBF Church of England Funds

15 CCLA Investment Management

16 CCM LLC

17 Christian Super

18 Church Commissioners for England

19 Church of England Pensions Board

20 Dignity Health

21 Domini Social Investments

22 Dominican Sisters of Hope

23 EdenTree Investment Management

24 Element Investment Management

25 Epworth Investment Management

26 Everence Financial

27 Fresh Pond Capital

28 Friends Fiduciary Corporation

29 Hermes EOS

30 Impax Asset Management

31 JLens

32 J Safra Sarasin

33 Lion Trust

34 Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF)

35 Local Government Super

36 Mercy Investment Services, Inc.

37 NEI Investments

38 NNIP

39 Pax World Management LLC

40 PGGM

41 Rathbones Greenbank

42 Reynders, McVeigh Capital Management, LLC

43 Schroder

44 Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati

45 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia

46 St Joseph Health System

47 Standard Life Investments

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48 The Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church

49 The Sustainability Group of Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge

50 Trillium Asset Management, LLC

51 Triodos Investment Management BV

52 Trusteam Finance

53 Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, U.S. Province

54 Walden Asset Management

Responsible investment association signatories

1 Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) – US

2 Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment – US

3 Region VI Coalition for Responsible Investment – US

4 Socially Responsible Investment Coalition - South Africa

5 VIP (Vereinigung Institutionelle Privatanleger) eV - EU

To learn more about how investors can support the mission of ATNF, please click here.

The Investor Working Group

Following the launch of the 2016 Global Index, some of the signatories offered to form a steering group to

develop a program of collaborative engagement with Index companies. A number of signatories took part

in that engagement with the 13 listed companies on the Global Index during 2016 and 2017 to

encourage them to improve their performance in areas ATNF highlighted as being weak. In

September 2017, the Investor Working Group co-chairs sent emails to the companies included in

both the Global and US Indexes to encourage them to take part in ATNF’s research process.

Other work with investors

Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is an independent, private-sector standard-

setting organization based in the US dedicated to enhancing the efficiency of the capital markets

by fostering high-quality disclosure of material sustainability information that meets investors’

needs. It develops and maintains sustainability accounting standards for 79 industries in 11 sectors

to guide listed companies’ disclosure of financially material information to investors in a cost-

effective and decision-useful format. In early 2017, SASB released its draft Standards for the

Processed Foods sector and the Non-Alcoholic Beverages sector for comment. ATNF made an

extensive submission to SASB suggesting a range of improvements to align the Standards to

indicators within our Indexes. The final standards are not due to be published until some times in

2018.

ATNF encourages Investor Signatories to engage with RB following its takeover of Mead Johnson Nutrition In April 2017, ATNF wrote to a number of its Investor Signatories to encourage them to engage with RB in relation to its intention to buy US formula manufacturer Mead Johnson Nutrition. We suggested they highlight concerns about the risks around the acquisition related to Mead Johnson’s poor policies and procedures in relation to marketing its paediatric nutrition products - also known as breast-milk substitutes (BMS). The company had ranked bottom of ATNF’s 2016 BMS marketing sub-ranking with a score of only 5%. We asked investors to urge the company to address this issue as a priority on acquiring the business.

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Alliance Bernstein is a large global investment management and research firm, which writes and

sells research to 85,000 investment sector clients. In May, the European F&B research team

distributed a nutrition-focused report to its clients summarising the 2016 Global Index results and

commenting on the companies it covers (Nestlé, Unilever and Danone). On May 8th, Alliance

Bernstein hosted an event in New York City for its clients; ATNF presented at this event and

received positive feedback. In July, Alliance Bernstein hosted another seminar for its European

clients at which ATNF was invited to speak. Danone and Nestlé also presented, as well as

Professor Susan Jebb, of Oxford University. ATNF and Alliance Bernstein are keen to exploring

further opportunities to collaborate.

Kepler Chevreux is a leading independent European financial services company that, among

other services, provides research to investors. In October, Kepler Chevreux issued to its clients a

report on food and nutrition security. ATNF’s work was heavily featured, particularly the Product

Profile in India.

Investors outreach

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6. Outreach activities 2017

ATNF took part in various activities to extend its outreach to different stakeholder groups in 2017.

World Benchmarking Alliance: together with other Indexes, ATNF can provide

stakeholders with information on companies’ contributions to the Sustainable

Development Goals

In September, the World Benchmarking Alliance launched its consultation phase during the UN

general Assembly. Its objective is to develop, fund, house and safeguard free, publicly available

corporate sustainability benchmarks aligned with the SDGs. ATNF became one of the first allies of

the Alliance.

Quote from Steve Howard of the Global Foundation about the World Benchmarking Alliance

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ATNF calls on makers of infant formula and complementary foods to strengthen their

commitments to infant health during World Breastfeeding Week

ATNF dedicated a blog and several social media posts during World Breastfeeding Week 2017,

which took place from August 1st until the 7th, calling on makers of infant formulas and

complementary foods to strengthen their commitment to the health of infants, children and

mothers everywhere. More specifically, ATNF urged them to protect and encourage breastfeeding

by committing to comply fully with The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes

(The Code) in all countries in which they sell their products. Read the full blog here.

Wilton Park US event, New York

ATNF attended the high-level Wilton Park US event that was organized by GAIN and

USCIB Foundation, about no more missed opportunities: advancing public-private partnerships to

achieve the global nutrition goals.

Sustainable Development Goals

During the Global Goals week, September 16-23, which marks the anniversary of adoption of the

SDGs, ATNF launched a blog and posted to social media on the link between the Sustainable

Development Goals and Global Nutrition Targets, emphasizing how the private sector can, by

investing in nutrition, contribute to 12 out of the 17 SDGs.

Screenshots of the outreach during World Breastfeeding Week

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“Nutrition underpins every person’s ability to grow, learn, and work, and suffering from malnutrition has been

proven to have a dramatic impact on long-term life outcomes. Put simply, the right nutrition allows us to fulfill

our potential, but a lot of people are missing out. Investing in nutrition can unlock socio-economic gains,

affecting educational and employment outcomes, long-term health outcomes and the economy”.

Not surprisingly, nutrition has become a global public health priority in the last few years, which is reflected in

the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); 2 of the 17 SDGs are directly linked to nutrition while in

total 12 of the 17 SDGs cannot be reached without nutrition related actions.”

Read the full blog here

Screenshot of an ATNF Twitter post regarding nutrition and the Sustainable Development Goals

29

Coverage in World Bank publication

The 2016 Access to Nutrition Index was featured by the World Bank in a report published in July

about the links between obesity and food systems. Proposed action regarding labeling and

consumer education were in line with the recommendations made by the 2016 Global Access to

Nutrition Index.

Sun Movement Global Gathering, Ivory Coast, November 2017

In November, ATNF was invited to speak at various gatherings. ATNF was honored to join the

panel at the 2017 SUN Movement Global Gathering hosted by Ivory Coast in November,

which brought together more than 1,000 representatives from civil society, private sector,

governments and academics.

The Vice-President of Ivory Coast clearly highlighted that “malnutrition, be it undernutrition or obesity, is an alarming public health problem and real global concern. It is at the heart of the problem of fighting extreme poverty, and an important dimension of social and human development.”

Screenshots of the World Bank publication featuring the Global Access to Nutrition Index

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ATNF joined a panel to debate “How can different stakeholders in nutrition develop impact and trust by working together”. The theme for this panel was the importance of building trust between

sectors to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. During her presentation, Inge Kauer

emphasized the importance of stakeholders’ investing time and resources in getting to know each

other in order to build sufficient trust to work together.

The UNICEF office for The Netherlands organized a conference in early December on the

impact of marketing on children’s rights.

UNICEF’s view is that the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides the basis for children’s-

rights approach to responsible marketing. Should businesses adopt this approach, it would imply

that they refrain from marketing unhealthy food to children.

ATNF spoke during the conference and presented the opportunities for F&B manufacturers support

children’s rights through responsible marketing. Other speakers were from, among other

organizations, WHO Europe, Leiden Law School, the European Advertising Standards Alliance,

Ahold Delhaize and Unilever.

A key topic was the importance of widening the scope of companies’ responsible marketing policies to children

up to 16 years old. Another important topic was the importance of developing better tools to track, for instance,

the audiences of digital marketing channels. Another discussion centered around the appropriate role for

industry in consumer education

Social Media: ATNF’s Tweets were seen 87,113 times on twitter and ATNF gained many 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: 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. The

website is also being prepared for the launch of both the 2018 Global Index and the US spotlight

Index (2018).

31

32

7. Governance and Continuity

ATNF started the New Year 2017 in a new office in Utrecht which ATNF is sharing with like-minded

organizations in the sustainability field. The ATNF team grew during 2017. In January, we

recruited a Program Assistant to provide support on financial administration and to programs. We

also recruited a Program Manager, a Communications Officer and Senior Research Manager.

With the expansion of the team, ATNF has adopted a hybrid research model in which the ATNF

research team now works closely with other external research providers: Sustainalytics continued

to provide capacity for the Corporate Profile assessments. The ATNF research team has done part

of the Corporate Profile research for the Global and US Indexes, and BMS Corporate Profile in-

house. BMS in-country research and Product Profile research continued to be outsourced to

specialist organizations, Westat and The George Institute.

The external Senior Advisor, Rachel Crossley, continued to provide support to the whole team in

developing Index methodologies, managing the BMS in-country assessments and the Product

Profile, on strategy development and other activities.

Table 6: ATNF Staff 31 December of 2017

Task Position Name

Overall management Executive Director Inge Kauer

Program Assistant Magdalis Mercilia

Program Management team Senior Program Manager Marije Boomsma

Program Manager Ellen Poolman-Manuweera

Communications Officer vacant

Research team Senior Research Manager Paul Vos

Research Analyst Simona Kramer

ATNF developed and published a new set of policies during the year as requested by the Board

and funders. These included: Code of Conduct & Ethics Policy, Conflict of Interest Policy, Anti-

Bribery Policy, Whistleblower Policy, Human Resources Policy and Procurement Policy.

An external financial audit of ATNF was prepared and took place on May 24th, 2017 and September

11th by Van Noort Gassler.

33

Board

The composition of the Board remained the same in 2017. In 2017 the board held 3 meetings by

phone and one in person in New York. The board has installed an audit committee consisting of

two board members: Lauren Compere (chair) and Paulus Verschuren.

The organization is governed by a board consisting of: Keith Bezanson

Chair of the Board of ATNF and Chair Independent Advisory Panel, Access to Nutrition Foundation; Former President, International Development Research Centre; Former Director, Institute of Development Studies

Lauren Compere Managing Director, Boston Common Asset Management

Inge Kauer Executive Director, Access to Nutrition Foundation

Paula Luff Director, Sustainability & Impact at Inherent Group; Board of Philanthropy New York; Senior Associate with the Project on Prosperity and Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

Kathy Spahn President and Chief Executive Officer, Helen Keller International; Board member of InterAction and International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB)

Susanne Stormer Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer, Novo Nordisk, Denmark; Adjunct professor, Corporate Sustainability, Copenhagen Business School; Member of International Integrated Reporting Council.

Marc Van Ameringen Former Executive Director Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

Paulus Verschuren Founder WorldFed NL; Former Special Envoy Food and Nutrition Security Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands; Former Senior Director Unilever Global Health Partnerships; Former Executive Director International Life Sciences Institute – ILSI Europe

Funding

Next to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ATNF welcomed two new funders in 2017: the Dutch

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the latter funding the

development of the US Index. Conversations with other new funders have been held and in 2018

ATNF expect to further diversify its funders base.

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8. Outlook for 2018

ATNF will publish the third Global Index that assesses 22 of the world’s largest Food & Beverage manufacturers in May 2018. The 2018 Global Index will for the first time include a Product Profile that assesses the healthiness of companies’ products. In the 2018 Index, ATNF will again publish a BMS marketing sub-ranking for the world’s six largest breast-milk substitute manufacturers. In addition to this, ATNF also plans to publish two other BMS studies, focusing on Thailand and Nigeria. With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, ATNF will launch the first US Spotlight Index in 2018 including a Corporate Profile, Product Profile and a commentary on BMS Marketing. ATNF plans to start developing the second India Index in 2018. The publication of the second India Index has been put forward to 2019. In preparation for this, ATNF will continue to engage with nutrition stakeholders in India, and later in 2018 will adapt the Corporate Profile methodology, begin Product Profile research and liaise with selected companies. An Indian Expert Group will also be selected. As noted, ATNF is exploring the feasibility of developing a Nigeria Spotlight Index and an Africa Index. Investor launch events will be organized in London, Continental Europe and the east coast of the US, immediately after the launch of the 2018 Global and US Indexes. Investor webinars will also be offered to those who cannot attend in person. As with the 2016 Global Index, a group of Investor Signatories will collaborate to engage with listed 2018 Index companies to press them to improve their policies, practices and disclosure in areas they are found to lag behind in best practice. Many of the outreach activities in 2018 will be related to the launches of the Global Index and the US Index. ATNF has already received various invitations to present the Index outcomes from IFBA, World Advertisers Organisation and companies. An external PR agency will support ATNF in developing a communications plan to maximise the reach and impact of the Indexes. In addition, ATNF aims to share the Index results in various nutrition gatherings such as Global Nutrition Report launch meetings and SUN Business Network meetings.

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Annex 1: Overview of outreach

activities in 2017

January Meeting with ISDI and 4 member companies (Nestle, Danone, Friesland Campina and Abbott)

February

March ATNF meeting/consultation with Consumer Goods Forum Europe and Choices International

April ATNF India visit, engagement with Donors, Government Institutions and companies

Kick off meeting with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) for US Index

ATNF presents at Healthy Eating Research Meeting in the US

May Consultations BMS Expert Group

ATNF presents at BernsteinAlliance US Investor Event in New York

ATNF hosts company meetings at the Future for a Healthier America Summit

Consultations regarding the US Index with Children’s Food and Beverage Initiative (CFBAI), the

Rudd Centre, Centre or Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), The George Institute and several

companies in the US

June ATNF presents at IFBA member meeting in the US

ATNF contributes to- and presents joined proposal FTSE4Good

ATNF joins AgriProcessing visit organized by RVO in the Netherlands, engagement with

stakeholders regarding the India Index

ATNF presents at BernsteinAlliance European Investor Event in London

ATNF engages with Investor Signatories in London, hosted by CCLA

July ATNF speaks at investor event BernsteinAlliance in London

ATNF holds consultations with investor signatories in London

ATNF company engagement in Japan

August ATNF hosts Company webinars to inform and update about 2018 Indexes

World Breastfeeding Week – ATNF Blog and Social Media Engagement

September Companies submit data on the online data gathering platform for the Global Index 2018 and US

Spotlight Index (2018)

ATNF blog and social media engagement during Global Goals Week on the SDGs and Nutrition

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October ATNF attends Wilton park US event, New York - No more missed opportunities: advancing public-

private partnerships to achieve the global nutrition goals

World Obesity Day - blog on ATNF website

ATNF attends 21st International Congress of Nutrition (ICN), Buenos Aires.

World Food Day – social media engagement

November Early November: ATNF Investor signatories update webinar and introduction webinar for interested

investors

ATNF attends Global Nutrition Summit and Global Nutrition Report Launch

ATNF attends and speaks at SUN Global Gathering

ATNF holds company and CSO consultation meetings, India

ATNF and Boston Common Asset Management investors round table at the ACGA event, Mumbai

ATNF Speaks at SUN Global Gathering in ivory Coast

December ATNF attends and speaks at UNICEF Netherlands event on marketing to children

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