IFBA companies account for a relatively small fraction of global packaged food sales, while a few IFBA companies dominate soft drink sales
Overall, individual packaged food companies each contribute a small share of total sales and IFBA member companies vary in strength by country: IFBA companies that rank in the top ten for packaged food sales range in contributions from 2.3% of sales in China to 25.9% of sales in the US. The range of soft drink company involvement in each country varies widely: IFBA members in the top ten for soft drink sales range from 21.0% in China to 75.0% in Egypt.
Data gaps
Data are needed to describe the size of the informal sector in the packaged food and soft drink markets. Collection of data from the informal sector is difficult, as informal sector vendors mostly operate beyond the regulatory reach of governments. Further data are also needed from the informal sector and from companies on the amount of specific nutrients that each organization contributes to nutrient intake. This paper uses company shares sales data, the most specific data available for both packaged food and soft drink on Euromonitor; however, population intake data are needed to describe the nutrient contributions of companies and specific foods. The data on the nutrient contribution from each company and the informal sector will describe the role of each organization in contributing to nutrient intake.
The sales data detailed in Tables 2, 3 and 4 do not thoroughly describe the global reach of food and beverage industry MNCs. This requires detailed information about corporate ownership, partnerships, joint-ventures and local counterparts. The larger picture of corporate governance, ownership and control must be addressed to understand fully the global reach of companies.
Comparing the packaged food market to the fruit and vegetable market in a country will provide insight into food and nutrient intake. Globally, the sales volume of the packaged food market is smaller than the fruit and vegetable market with a ratio of 0.73 [Figure 3]. However, five of the nine countries examined have a ratio greater than 1.0 and the magnitude of difference between the markets is striking in several countries; for example, the packaged food market is more than double the size of the fruit and vegetable market in the US and Mexico, and more than triple the size in the UK. A ratio greater than 1.0 suggests a larger contribution of packaged foods than fresh foods to the diet in these countries, and packaged foods often contain high amounts of salt and fat as well as refined flour and added sugar.
What about the informal sector?
The packaged food and soft drink markets include a wide range of players including the formal and informal sector. Keith Hard first described the informal sector as those earning income through various activities yet not included in the census under wage employment [as cited in [4]]. Euromonitor describes the informal sector as retailing that is not taxed and overestimates the contribution of individual companies by not collecting data on the informal sector.
In some areas, especially in developing countries, the informal food sector comprises a large segment of the working population, gross national income, food processing output, as well as a significant portion of total nutrient intake [4]. Up to 60% of people in some African cities are employed through the informal food sector. The informal food sector accounts for a significant portion of food purchases and energy intake in some populations: 60% of Brazil's mini and midsize supermarkets are informal retailers and 40% of resident total energy intake in Bangkok, Thailand is accounted for by street food, including 88% of energy intake for children four to six years of age [4, 5]. Street foods are common in South Africa and are purchased at almost twice the amount of fast food--fruit is the most commonly purchased item, chosen by 60% of consumers (Steyn & Labadarios: Street foods and fast foods: How much do South Africans consume?, submitted).
In addition to contributing to higher energy and nutrient intakes, foods from the informal sector may also carry a higher food safety and health risk as these foods are not subjected to the same rigorous standards required for the formal packaged food sector. Unpublished data from South Africa, for example, show higher levels of artificial food color and sodium in Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) products than in brand-name products (PepsiCo data: RSA BoP Salty & Sweet Snacks Quality Survey). For example, BoP products contain 30% more sodium than Simba brand products, with mean sodium levels of 332 mg and 233 mg, respectively.
Corporate Health and Wellness Initiatives: IFBA vs. Others
Members of IFBA have made substantial progress in response to the five commitments made by IFBA in 2006 [6]. Other major regional pledges include those made by the CFBAI5 the EU pledge6, the GCC pledge7 and the ICBA pledge8 [7–10]. Many of these other pledges have been committed to by IFBA members, and most companies that follow the EU and IFBA pledges are large MNCs--few small and medium-sized companies are included.
Several top packaged food companies that are not IFBA members have health and wellness pledges, including Parmalat and Brasil Foods with pledges on marketing to kids, and Premier Foods with diet and health policies to improve ingredients. Conversely, most of the leading packaged food companies in China and India, and several companies in the US, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico and the UK are national companies without published evidence of significant health and wellness pledges. Additionally, numerous soft drink companies in each country are not engaged in significant health and wellness pledges.
Context: UN High Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)
The UN High Level Meeting on NCDs (September 19 and 20, 2011) offers the opportunity to place NCDs, specifically cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease, higher on government, NGO and development agency agendas. It will focus on ways to improve the four major risk factors for NCDs: unhealthy diet, tobacco use, physical inactivity and alcohol intake [11]. The draft Outcomes Document requests the private sector to reformulate foods and beverages, reduce sugar, salt, and trans-fats, and responsibly market and advertise to children. IFBA companies are actively engaged in such actions. This analysis highlights the importance of including small and medium companies, and in time, the vast informal food sector, in initiatives to improve population health. Without this active participation, IFBA gains will remain limited.
Future Work
Further work is needed to determine whether IFBA members represent the "healthiest" part of the food system. National health and wellness pledges are needed to include companies that are not incorporated through international pledges such as the IFBA. In addition, efforts aimed at informing consumers on health issues related to nutrition through health promotion campaigns in low and middle income countries are needed and can increase demand for health and wellness policies.
The lack of data describing nutrient intake from both the formal and informal sectors of the food and beverage market highlights research gaps in defining major contributors to intake. Further data need to be collected that describe nutrient contributions of foods from the formal and informal sectors.
The lack of engagement, including research, related to the informal sector is a target area for future progress. Defining the size and impact of the informal sector is necessary to understand the best ways to engage the informal sector in actions to improve diets.