London/Rotterdam, November 18, 2020 - Unilever today announced a new annual global sales target of €1 billion from plant-based meat and dairy alternatives, within the next five to seven years. The growth will be driven by the roll-out of The Vegetarian Butcher as well as increasing vegan alternatives from brands including Hellmann’s, Magnum and Wall’s.
The target is part of Unilever’s ‘Future Foods’ ambition, launched globally today with two key objectives: to help people transition towards healthier diets and to help reduce the environmental impact of the global food chain.
Unilever, which also makes PG Tips, Ben & Jerry’s and Knorr, has also committed to:
- Halve food waste in its direct global operations from factory to shelf by 2025 – five years earlier than previously committed, as part of the Champions 12.3 coalition target.
- Double the number of products delivering positive nutrition globally by 2025 – defined as products containing impactful amounts of vegetables, fruits, proteins, or micronutrients like vitamins, zinc, iron and iodine.
- Continue lowering calorie, salt and sugar levels across products
- 85% of Unilever’s global Foods portfolio will help consumers reduce their salt intake to no more than 5g per day, by 20221 .
- 95% of Unilever’s packaged ice cream will not contain more than 22g of total sugar, and 250 Kcal per serving, by 2025. This is in addition to the company’s children’s ice creams, which have been capped at 110 kcal since 2014.
These commitments build on the progress we have made in the UK & Ireland to help our consumers make healthier and more sustainable choices. For example:
- We had already committed to halve food waste in our operations as part of Courtauld 2025 and the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap.
- Knorr has inspired the nation to cook more meat-free meals through the "Cheat on Meat" campaign, which includes bi-weekly meat free recipes to inspire the nation to cook meat free & try new ingredients.
- We have taken action to reformulate our products to reduce salt, sugar and calories. For example, graze has successfully reduced the sugar level of its cereal bar portfolio by 30-50% and Cornetto now has 15 to 21% less sugar per 100ml.
- We’ve introduced new lower sugar, lower calorie brands such as Ben and Jerry’s Moophoria, Marmite Reduced Salt and Hellmann’s Lighter than Light so that consumers can choose healthier versions of some of our most-loved products.
- In 2014, we achieved our target for all our children’s ice creams to contain 110 kcals or less per serving and have maintained this every year since. 97% of our packaged ice cream does not exceed 250 kcals per portion.2
- We have committed that before the end of 2021 we will also include the healthier version of our core product alongside the core in all of our food and refreshment advertising in the UK.
Hanneke Faber, President of Unilever’s Foods & Refreshment Division, says, “As one of the world’s largest food companies, we have a critical role to play in helping to transform the global food system. It’s not up to us to decide for people what they want to eat, but it is up to us to make healthier and plant-based options accessible to all. These are bold, stretching targets which demonstrate our commitment to being a force for good.
“It is widely recognised that the current global food system is inequitable and inefficient. One billion people around the world are hungry3 while two billion are obese or overweight4 . One third of all food produced is thrown away5 . And animal agriculture is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions after fossil fuels and a leading cause of deforestation, water and air pollution and biodiversity loss6 .”
The 2019 EAT-Lancet report showed that a diet rich in plant-based foods and with less animal-sourced foods offer both health and environmental benefits7 .
Andre Burger, Vice President of Foods and Refreshment for the UK & Ireland said: “We are committed to playing our part in helping people make food choices that are better for them and better for the planet, and we all have a part to play in ensuring our food system is sustainable into the future. I hope these stretching global targets mean Unilever can play a meaningful part in making that happen. In the UK & Ireland we’ve already started to make headway on food waste and carbon reduction as part of the 2025 Courtauld Commitments and are already making progress on sugar and salt reduction in our products.”
Jessica Fanzo, Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of Global Food & Agricultural Policy and Ethics, Johns Hopkins University and a co-author of the EAT-Lancet report said: "The average person’s daily diet will need to change drastically during the next three decades to make sure everyone is fed without depleting the planet. By improving food production and food environments, transforming eating habits, and reducing food waste, we can begin to solve these problems. Unilever’s commitments are integral to helping people make changes to their diet, with healthier and more sustainable food products that are accessible and affordable for their consumers.”
Liz Goodwin, Senior Fellow and Director, Food Loss And Waste at World Resources Institute said: “Food loss and waste have massive impacts in terms of cost to the global economy, the environment and society. We know that food loss and waste contributes about 8% of global greenhouse emissions8 as well as wasting the land and water used in production of food. We need as many companies as possible to step up and prioritise the issue of food loss and waste and take action to reduce it. It is great to see Unilever showing this sort of leadership. Given the size and reach of Unilever, their commitment to halve food loss and waste across their global operations will undoubtedly lead others to take action as well.”
Unilever has been expanding its plant-based meat and dairy alternatives business for several years. After acquiring The Vegetarian Butcher in 2018, Unilever has expanded the plant-based meat brand into more than 30 countries and was last year chosen as the supplier of Burger King’s Plant-Based Whopper and Plant-Based Nuggets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In Ice Cream, its first vegan Magnum was awarded Best Vegan Ice Cream in the UK by PETA in 2019. Both Hellmann’s Vegan Mayo and Ben & Jerry’s Coconutterly Caramel’d Dairy-free were named as one of Nielsen’s top 25 Breakthrough Innovations in Europe for 2020.
In 2019, Unilever made an €85million investment in ‘The Hive’, a foods innovation centre at Wageningen University in the Netherlands to support research into plant-based ingredients and meat alternatives, efficient crops, sustainable food packaging and nutritious food.
The Foods & Refreshment Division’s targets also support Unilever’s global commitments to achieve a deforestation-free supply chain by 2023; invest €1 billion in a new Climate & Nature Fund; and achieve net-zero emissions for all products by 2039. The company has also pledged to ensure 100% of its plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025.
Media contacts
Lily Marriott
lily.marriott@edelman.com
Andriana Matsangou
Andriana.matsangou@unilever.com
1WHO recommends that adults consume less than 5 g (just under a teaspoon) of salt per day.
2Based on Q3 2019 data
3Oxfam study: a billion people hungry https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/billion-hungry-people
4More than two billion people overweight or obese: https://eatforum.org/learn-and-discover/more-than-two-billion-people-overweight-or-obese/
5One third of world’s food is wasted: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13364178
6Animal agriculture’s impact on climate change: https://climatenexus.org/climate-issues/food/animal-agricultures-impact-on-climate-change
7Food Planet Health - https://eatforum.org/content/uploads/2019/01/EAT-Lancet_Commission_Summary_Report.pdf
8FAO Report: http://www.fao.org/3/a-bb144e.pdf