Shaping a healthier future: Greenbank’s role in UK food policy

What has been announced?

As part of its newly published 10 Year Health Plan, the UK Government has committed in a world-first to introduce mandatory healthy food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector by the end of this Parliament. Using this new reporting, it will also set targets to improve the healthiness of food sales across all communities. These Targets will be mandatory for companies, but they will have the flexibility to decide how to meet them - whether through reformulation or expanding their range of healthy products.

What was Greenbank’s role?

This policy has been a core ask of the Investor Coalition on Food Policy since 2021. The Investor Coalition on Food Policy (the Coalition) was established by Greenbank in July 2021 in response to the launch of the National Food Strategy, a ‘farm to fork’ review of England’s food system. It exists to harness the power of the investment community to engage collectively with government on how to build a healthy, sustainable and affordable food system. Since the launch in 2021, we have been collectively engaging as an investor group with policymakers in the UK to drive greater transparency in the food sector. This work has helped us better understand the material risks facing companies, from poor nutrition to biodiversity loss and climate change.

Greenbank and the Coalition were acknowledged as part of the plan’s announcement as being supportive of the policy, following our three years of sustained engagement with policymakers on this topic, including our stewardship and engagement lead, Sophie Lawrence giving evidence to the House of Lords Committee on Food, Diet and Obesity. You can read more about the work of the Investor Coalition on Food Policy and its key activities to date in our recent paper: “Sustainable food systems and systemic risks”.

Quote from the 10 year Health Plan: 

"In a world-first, by the end of the Parliament, we will introduce mandatory healthy food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector. This will set a robust baseline upon which to base our future policies as well as improving transparency in the food industry. As well as supporting continued efforts on transparency, the data will support customers with their choices and support investors to invest in healthy companies. For example, an investor coalition led by Rathbone Greenbank Investments, which manages £6 trillion in global funds, has previously backed this policy."

Source: Fit for the future: 10 Year Health Plan for England (page 64)

Why is mandatory reporting important?

Mandatory reporting will bring much needed transparency and accountability to the food sector, making it easier for investors to compare company performance across the sector and invest in healthy companies. To date, reporting performance on a company’s health-related impacts has been voluntary, meaning that only some companies are reporting data. Where companies are reporting, they are often disclosing different metrics and using varying definitions of what constitutes a ‘healthy’ product. This hinders the ability of investors to compare performance across the sector, hold businesses to account and accurately understand what progress is being made as well as importantly analyse the risks and opportunities facing companies. 

Next steps

Greenbank will continue to work with parliamentarians to ensure the timely implementation of this policy through our continued role on the Investor Coalition on Food Policy’s advisory group. This will include seeking further clarity around the policy’s scope, timeline and enforcement's, along with the metrics companies will be required to report.