Food and nutrition
We aim to provide foods which both taste great and are good for you, and, in so doing, become the world’s leading food and nutrition business.
To fulfil our goal, we are systematically improving the nutritional profile of our product range through our Nutrition Enhancement Programme. By the end of 2007 we had assessed the nutritional composition of all our products – totalling over 22 000 recipes – and removed a further 2 750 tonnes of saturated fat, 170 tonnes of salt and 5 000 tonnes of sugar. This is in addition to the substantial reductions already made by 2006.
We are also committed to ensuring that consumers are able to make informed choices when buying our products. As well as listing nutritional information on the back of packaging, we are implementing the Choices programme, with a front-of-pack stamp that identifies products which meet internationally accepted dietary advice. In 2007 we continued rolling the programme out globally together with other food companies, under the auspices of the Choices International Foundation. This was launched during 2007 and is advised by an independent scientific committee. The stamp can now be found on products in more than 50 countries around the world. See www.choicesinternational.org for more information.
Landmark pledge on sustainable tea
Unilever took a historic step in 2007 when it committed to buying all its tea from sustainable, ethical sources – transforming the tea industry and improving the crops, income and livelihood of 2 million people across three continents. Lipton, the world’s largest tea brand, and PG Tips, one of the UK’s leading brands, became the first to carry the Rainforest Alliance logo, showing they meet the independent organisation’s strict sustainability criteria – covering areas such as wildlife protection, water conservation and fair treatment of workers. The first certified tea was supplied to restaurants and the catering trade in Europe; all Lipton tea bags sold globally are expected to be certified by 2015.
We focus on three key areas of consumer benefit when developing new products: functional foods, lighter options, and naturalness and authenticity. For example, in 2007 we developed Promise Activ SuperShots, a Vitality shot with added natural plant sterols, ingredients that are clinically proven to help actively remove cholesterol as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
Meanwhile, Hellmann’s Extra Light uses citrus fibre to create a great tasting, very low fat mayonnaise. Because of its low fat content the product has a higher margin – particularly valuable at a time of increasing edible oil costs.
Lipton Green Tea in the US, Lipton Linea slimming teas in Europe, and Lipton Milk Tea in Asia all flourished by exploiting tea’s credentials as a healthy beverage. And a new range of restaurant-quality frozen meals from Bertolli, which are packed with fresh vegetables and ready to eat in minutes, was a hit with North American consumers.
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