Tesco has set a target to increase the proportion of sales from healthier products in the UK to 65 percent by 2025. The move is in line with an anticipated shareholder resolution regarding expanded nutritious offerings, to be voted on at Tesco’s Annual General Meeting in June. 

The supermarket giant has committed to publish a strategy to achieve this goal and to report on its progress annually, as requested by the shareholder proposal filed in February.

“We want supermarkets to grow the proportion of sales from healthier products as defined by the UK Department of Health,” Jessica Attard, head of health at ShareAction, tells FoodIngredientsFirst. “This could include things like fruit and vegetables but, importantly, should include healthier alternatives from other categories too.”

“We think all families have the right to access healthier foods that enable them to stay healthy and to thrive. We want to see supermarkets supporting this by making healthier products more accessible through reformulation, marketing tactics and other in-store nudges.”

The announcement is pegged as a “significant achievement” for shareholder engagement on health issues. Notably, Tesco holds 27 percent of the British grocery market and aims to leverage this influence to boost the nation’s health.

Holding Tesco accountable to its targets
The upcoming resolution will the first health-based resolution to be filed at a UK-listed company, reflecting rising investor concerns with companies’ health impacts in light of the COVID-19 crisis.

With the resolution still set to be put to shareholders at the company’s AGM in June, ShareAction will continue its engagement with Tesco to address remaining questions about the scope of the supermarket’s plans and the methodology it is using to categorize healthier products.

“Healthier products mean those food and non-alcoholic drink products not identified as ‘high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS)’ under existing guidance issued by the UK Department of Health,” says Attard.

The charity highlights that Tesco’s plans cover only its Tesco-branded UK stores and exclude other parts of its business, such as Budgens and Londis-branded convenience stores, which are owned by Tesco, through Booker, and its international operations.

The responsible investment NGO notes that work is also needed to better understand the definition used by Tesco to categorize products as healthier.

“We are pleased that Tesco recognizes the need to take action on nutrition and is now ready to announce the nutrition target for 2025 in the Little Helps Plan,” remarks Peter van der Werf, senior engagement specialist at Robeco.

“It shows once more that engagement with companies and filing shareholder resolutions is a powerful tool to help companies moving in a more sustainable direction.”

The Healthy Markets coalition will continue to press for high-quality, comparable data from all food retailers and manufacturers.