Healthy Snack Industry ESG Thematic Report, 2023

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in the Healthy Snack Industry

Integrating ESG into decision making and business strategies contributes to an effective due diligence and a better investment decision for the company as well as relevant stakeholders. Companies that are part of the healthy snack industry have been disclosing ESG data and strategies.

A healthy snack generally offers increased nutrient intake, sustains energy levels, helps the body recover from exercise, and gives individuals plenty of healthy options in comparison with normal snacks.  The food safety and quality has been a dominant factor to which stakeholders are giving importance. Companies in this market offer various programs and campaigns to showcase their quality and safety throughout their value chain abiding by frameworks and guidelines. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) is a comprehensive framework that helps companies in this market obtain a perspective on the impact of their products and operations on ESG parameters.

Healthy snacks are in the category of healthy diet and tend to have a positive health impact and help progress towards UN SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing for all and UN SDG 2: No Hunger. However, managing food and package waste which are going to be landfilled or dumped into water bodies have been a critical negative area of impact on the planet, for most of the companies to address. Companies are also shifting to recyclable packaging and have targets to indicate their progress to attain sustainable packaging.

ESG Trends

Main ESG trends in Healthy Snack sector has been with respect to food quality and safety (SDG 12- Responsible consumption and production) various legal bodies like Food and Drugs Association (FDA), Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have been framed for ensuring better quality or safer food products. One of the companies had a voluntary product recall alongside with FDA on October 17, 2022, due to the presence of foreign material in toll houses as well as stuffed chocolate chip cookies. Foreign particles mainly consist of white plastic pieces but didn’t have any repercussions for the consumers. Since an average American consumes 2.2 snacks per day as per United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and package waste management (SDG 12- Responsible consumption and production) is also playing an integral role, as this segment has a significant environmental impact with respect to these factors. Companies had made commitments to attain 100% sustainable recyclable or reusable packaging by specific target year, one of the companies had made a commitment to reduce virgin plastic usage to one third. Progress to sustainable packaging has been appreciable for certain top notch companies as 85.4 % of total packaging has become recyclable and 75% of plastic is designed for recycling.

ESG Challenges

One of the main challenges with the Healthy Snack industry has been affordability, healthy snacks are costly compared to normal snacks but it offers a lot of advantages like high fiber content, better digestion, immunity and muscle recovery. Even though a huge population of people can’t afford healthy snacks due to inadequate supply chain operation or lack of infrastructure in certain countries. Another challenge lies with access to harvesting,from procuring raw material to preserving such a healthy diet has been a major challenge for this segment. Generally healthy snacks tend to have short expiry date tenure which might not be practical for certain consumers. Moreover, some consumers prefer organic and natural preservatives which is the suitable option for a healthy diet.

Growth of the Healthy Snack Market

To put it in a nutshell, Companies have to focus on negative impacts and work for innovative products that reduce health impact as well as waste management issues in order to sustain in the market. These industries have become more cautious for sustainability and have been seriously putting effort to achieve goals and abide by regulatory frameworks. In fact, the industry has been focusing on innovative procedures and initiatives to minimize food and package waste as well as introduce healthy ingredients to have a positive health impact. The Healthy Snack market will mostly be valued at USD 90.6 by 2022 with a compound annual growth rate of 6.6% during the forecast period.

Key Companies in this theme

    • Nestlé

    • The Kellogg Company

    • Unilever; Danone

    • PepsiCo

    • Mondelez International

    • Hormel Foods Corporation

    • Dole Packaged Foods, LLC.

    • Del Monte Foods, Inc.

    • Select Harvests

    • B&G Foods

    • Monsoon Harvest

Scope of the Healthy Snack Industry ESG Thematic Report

    • Macro-economic and ESG-variable analysis of the industry, including regulatory, policy, and innovation landscape

    • Key insights on infrastructure developments and ESG issues affecting the theme

    • Identify key initiatives and challenges within the industry

    • Identify ESG leaders within the industry

    • Understand key initiatives and the impact of companies within the sector to fuel an informed decision-making process

    • Analysis of industry activities based on multi-media sources, including significant controversies and market sentiment

Key Benefits of the Healthy Snack Industry ESG Thematic Report

    • Developing a comprehensive understanding of macro-economic, Policies & Regulations and innovations affecting the healthy snack space, globally

    • Key insights into environmental developments and ESG issues affecting the theme

    • Identifying ESG risks and opportunities to business among leading players in the healthy snack industry

    • Obtaining a clear and relevant understanding of company actions, progress, and impact and find opportunities for investment into the sector