Nestle Innovacion

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Business principles in action nutritional labelling
Introduction
Consumers have higher expectations than ever before. They want products to match these expectations. They also want accurate, up-to-date and useful information about what they buy. In short, consumers want the facts. This growth of consumer power is known as consumerism.

CURRICULUM TOPICS • Marketorientation • Business ethics • Business communications • Value chain • Product positioning

GLOSSARY Consumerism: situation in which consumers of products exert power and develop consumer rights. Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG): wide range of everyday consumer products. Marketing orientation: focusing an organisation upon the needs of its customers. Market research: gathering, recording andanalysis of data obtained from consumers and markets. Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA): guidelines for healthy adults and children on the average amount of nutrients that they should consume over an average day. Corporate responsibility: the wider responsibility of a business or organisation. Responsibility to a range of stakeholders including the community & society at large. Trade association:independent body that works with suppliers within an industry.

In the area of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), marketing has become a specialised and complex process. When developing products, organisations try to meet the needs of their consumers as fully as possible. This is vital if they want to do better than their competitors. This process of development around the needs of its consumers is calledmarketing orientation.

Nestlé is the world’s biggest food and beverage company. It wants to be known as a ‘Respected, Trustworthy, Food, Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company’. Its actions are guided by a series of business principles. Market research by Nestlé showed that its customers have a genuine and growing interest in information about its brands. In particular, consumers want moreinformation about what they eat and drink. They felt this information should be supplied as part of the product.

Exercising corporate responsibility Market research

Meeting consumer needs

Corporate responsibility

GDAs

This case study shows how market research has helped Nestlé to exercise corporate
NESTLÉ

responsibility. It has done this by promoting healthy eating. The companyplayed an important role in the development of ‘Guideline Daily Amounts’ (GDAs). These were developed by the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD), a trade association. Leading manufacturers and retailers, including Nestlé, took part.

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Nutritionists and scientists provided the details of the nutrients that the average person needs to consume each day. The GDAs were produced in line withpublished government www.thetimes100.co.uk recommendations.

Having developed the guidelines, the next step was the most difficult. Consumers wanted the GLOSSARY Nutritionists: scientists or health professionals trained to understand how food and diet affects health. Ethics: values held by those within an organisation that influence the decisions that are taken. information in a form they couldeasily understand. So the GDAs were added in a visual form to the front of packs. This meant that consumers could easily understand and use the information. Nestlé and other major manufacturers chose to use symbols to help consumers make more informed choices. The symbols were designed to show the amount of calories, sugars, fat, saturates and salt in products. The consistent use of these symbolshelps consumers to understand the GDAs. This means they can make choices quickly and easily about their daily diets.

Each serving contains:
Calories Sugars Fat Saturates Salt

218 6.3g 3.2g 1.4g 0.2g
11% 7% 5% 7% 3%
of an adult’s guideline daily amount

Placing the GDA symbols on the front of packaging is a powerful tool. It gives consumers the information they need immediately. This...