ATNI and Planet Tracker Collaborate on Seminal Materiality of Nutrition Report
26 Junio 2024 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Are financial markets missing the value of
healthy food?
Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) and Planet Tracker, in
association with The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, have
published a seminal Materiality of Nutrition Report. The first
collaboration between ATNI and Planet Tracker sets the scene for a
new conversation – how can healthier foods drive healthy profits,
people and planet?
The report compares the healthiness of food product portfolios
from 20 of the largest global food manufacturers with their profits
and market valuations. The findings reveal a link between healthier
food product portfolios and higher profitability but this is
obscured by poor company disclosures.
Key Findings
NB: The sample size is only 20 companies. Neither ATNI nor
Planet Tracker wish to suggest this report is more than a
discussion paper to stimulate further debate.
Health & Profitability: Analysis shows that companies
with broader, healthier food portfolios have higher average profit
margins (15.2%) compared to those with unhealthy portfolios
(13.4%). However, a subset specializing in unhealthy products, like
soft drinks, shows even higher margins (16.7%), highlighting the
complexity of the market.
Health Star Rating (HSR) and EBIT: Understanding the
relationship between HSR and EBIT is key to drive investments
towards health and wealth. Our findings suggest there is not a
strong negative association, in the companies assessed, between HSR
and EBIT. What’s more, our results suggest there are positive
associations between HSR and EBIT among smaller companies with
broad portfolios.
Investment Opportunities: In addition to the obvious
benefits to society, investors would benefit from a switch to
healthier foods. In a scenario where companies with unhealthy
portfolios switch to healthier products and achieved similar
margins, profits would also rise by nearly USD 350 million and
valuations by USD 60 billion.
Investment risks: Most companies fail to provide
sufficient information, making it difficult for investors to assess
the impact of nutrition on their valuations. This lack of
transparency is a missed opportunity for companies and a risk for
investors, particularly with potential regulations on the
horizon.
Social & Economic Impact: Unhealthy food products
reduce productivity, increase costs for employers, and impose a
significant burden on society, potentially reducing GDP by 3.3% and
life expectancy by three years by 2050.
Policy & Regulation: Effective policy actions in
various countries signal rising pressure for broader regulation,
posing risks (and opportunities) or companies relying on unhealthy
products and the financial institutions that support them.
Greg S Garrett, Executive Director, Access to Nutrition
Initiative,
“This report is part of a small but critical and growing body of
evidence showing that food companies should improve the healthiness
of their portfolios and disclosures. By not doing so, they increase
their own risk and miss the opportunity to improve societal
outcomes.”
Peter Elwin, Head of the Food and Land Use programme at Planet
Tracker,
“Unhealthy food products are costing society and employers, but
the issue is being overlooked by financial institutions. Regulation
presents an increasing threat to companies profiting from producing
unhealthy foods, but poor disclosure is hiding the risks. Our
analysis shows that there could be investment opportunities
associated with producing healthy food so there’s an incentive for
investors to ask for change.”
Read the report here.
About ATNI
ATNI is a global non-profit founded in 2013 that exists for the
sole purpose of transforming markets for nutrition. ATNI believes
the private sector has an important role to play in fighting
malnutrition. ATNI’s mission is to improve (financial) market
performance by challenging key actors in the food system – notably
industry and investors – to accelerate access to affordable,
sustainable, and nutritious food for all, especially for society’s
most vulnerable. ATNI does this through the development and
publication of accountability tools and strategies in close
collaboration with industry, investors, policymakers, consumers
organizations and other nutrition stakeholders.
About Planet Tracker
Planet Tracker is an award-winning non-profit financial think
tank aligning capital markets with planetary boundaries. Created
with the vision of a financial system that is fully aligned with a
net-zero, resilient, nature positive and just economy well before
2050, Planet Tracker generates break-through analytics that reveal
both the role of capital markets in the degradation of our
ecosystem and show the opportunities of transitioning to a
zero-carbon, nature positive economy.
About GAIN
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a
Swiss-based foundation launched at the United Nations in 2002 to
tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with
governments, businesses and civil society, GAIN aims to transform
food systems so that they deliver more nutritious foods for all
people, especially the most vulnerable.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240626413872/en/
Philip Eisenhart +44 7894 66 33 01