The UK faces a dual challenge: rising obesity rates and the urgent need to cut food-related greenhouse gas emissions. Less than 1% of the population currently meets the government’s Eatwell Guide recommendations, while the food system contributes 30% of national emissions
Against this backdrop, IGD has launched its Framework for Population Diet Change—a roadmap for food and drink businesses to accelerate the shift toward healthier, more sustainable diets (HSDs). What sets this framework apart is its focus on delivering not only public health and environmental benefits but also commercial value growth.
Why Now?
Obesity costs the UK an estimated £126 billion annually, with nearly one in five children leaving primary school with obesity. At the same time, the climate crisis threatens food security, with fruit, vegetables, beans and pulses—the very foods we need more of—most at risk from climate disruption
Consumers want to eat better: 57% say they aspire to healthier, more sustainable diets, but barriers such as cost, complexity, and convenience remain. GLP-1 weight-loss drugs may change consumer behaviour at the margins, but they are no substitute for a systemic shift.
The Framework: Seven Levers for Change
The report identifies seven strategic levers for businesses to embed diet change into strategy and operations:
- Building the Value Case – Reframe health and sustainability from compliance to growth opportunity.
- Business Integration – Embed healthy, sustainable diet KPIs into governance, incentives, and category strategies.
- Data – Break silos between sales, nutrition, and sustainability data; improve transparency and readiness for mandatory reporting.
- Supply Chain – Build resilience and align sourcing with health and sustainability goals.
- Innovation – Reformulate and launch products that are healthier, more sustainable, and accessible.
- Consumer Behaviour – Nudge shoppers toward healthier baskets through marketing, placement, pricing, and digital tools.
- Policy & Sector Alignment – Shape and respond to regulation, and drive change through cross-sector collaboration.
Each lever is backed by case studies from major players including Tesco, Danone, Sainsbury’s, Lidl, and Premier Foods, demonstrating how dietary change can drive category growth, brand equity, and investor confidence.
From Risk to Opportunity
The framework reframes dietary change as a core growth strategy rather than a risk. For example:
- Tesco’s “Better Baskets” drove a 12% sales uplift in healthier, lower-impact products.
- Sainsbury’s increased the share of sales from “Healthy & Better for You” products to 81.9% by 2024.
- Lidl exceeded its plant-based sales targets by nearly 700%
These examples show that prioritising healthier, more sustainable baskets is not only good for public health but also profitable and brand-building.
Implementation Pathway
The framework sets out a staged approach—mobilise, embed, transform—helping organisations assess where they stand today and what steps are needed to scale impact. Crucially, it places the Eatwell Guide as the “north star” for population diet change, with clear health and environmental benefits if adopted at scale.
Nutricomms Opinion
IGD’s framework lands at a pivotal moment. With obesity, climate disruption, and shifting consumer behaviour converging, the food industry cannot afford piecemeal action. What we see here is a blueprint for aligning public health goals with commercial success.
For us three points stand out:
- Communication is key: Businesses must translate complex health and sustainability goals into simple, motivating messages for consumers—“every time you eat or drink, you can improve personal and planetary health.”
- Beyond reformulation: Innovation must move into core, high-volume categories, not just premium niches.
- Systemic mindset: This is about organisational integration, not CSR add-ons. Linking diet shifts to financial KPIs, investor expectations, and resilience planning is critical.
The real opportunity lies in moving from fragmented initiatives to a connected, system-wide strategy. Done well, the UK could set a global benchmark for how food businesses can improve diets, deliver climate impact, and unlock growth simultaneously.
More Information:
https://www.igd.com/reports/framework-for-population-diet-change/71698
