At the end of 2016, we made strong progress against our global wellbeing targets. Our Better Choice options are now over 25 percent of our portfolio revenue and portion control options have grown by 39 percent. We met our goal to increase whole grains by 25 percent and reduced saturated fat by 6 percent and sodium by 5 percent respectively across our global portfolio. In addition, we achieved our goal of providing calories on the front-of-pack across our products globally.
As we look ahead towards 2020, we see an opportunity to build upon our achievements and evolve our portfolio to meet consumers’ growing expectations for snacks that offer good nutrition, as well as have fewer, more authentic ingredients. In 2017, we evolved our well-being portfolio approach to address those areas that are important to consumers. We will meaningfully enhance the well-being of people around the world by focusing where we can have the greatest impact. Our three pillars of action are:
Overall, we feel that going forward with this approach to well-being with our portfolio will be better aligned with what consumers are looking for in their snacks and what we are hearing from external partners. Our approach is in line with World Health Organization’s recommendations on tackling obesity and lifestyle-related diseases.
Experts agree that managing portions can help people manage their calories. We also know that people still want to enjoy a treat every now and then.
So to help people enjoy their snacks – but be mindful of their calories – we are offering more satisfying, portioned controlled snacks. That’s why we are increasing Portion Control options – satisfying, individually wrapped snacks that are less than 200 calories and meet baseline nutrition criteria that we use to assess new products being developed. At the end of 2016, we grew our portion control options by 39 percent - exceeding our original goal of 25 percent. Starting in 2017, our goal will be to make portion control snacks a meaningful segment of our portfolio, with an aim to deliver 15 percent of revenue by 2020.
Snacking is part of everyday living. It can provide fuel for energy or a boost to jump-start your day. It can also simply be a treat. Snacking mindfully is an approach that encourages people to eat with attention and to be present in the moment. It can help people improve the way they snack; as well as help build a healthier relationship with food.
At Mondelēz International we have partnered with Dr. Susan Albers, Psy.D., Clinical Psychologist and Mindful Snacking expert to provide information as well as tips and tools on how to snack mindfully – and enjoy the moment. Check out the information guide and tips on how to practice mindful snacking, as well as a resource guide for healthcare professionals and educators.
At the end of 2016, we surpassed our 2020 target of 25 percent, delivering 26 percent of our revenue from Better Choice options -- snacks that have an improved nutritional profile and meet a strict set of category-specific nutrition criteria. The criteria were developed with guidance from a panel of outside nutrition experts. In addition to meeting the criteria, Better Choices also delivered either a positive nutritional element (e.g., increase in whole grains) or a specific reduction in a nutrient of public health concern (e.g. sodium).
In 2017, we evolved our goal to focus on expanding 10 existing Well-being Brands in our portfolio that meet specific criteria – with goal of growing them at twice the rate of our base portfolio.
While we’re experts in taste, we're also experts in the nutritional science behind our products. We constantly evaluate our portfolio and look for ways to improve their nutrition. Here’s just a sample of our efforts to date:
At the end of 2015, we achieved our goal to increase whole grains by 25 percent across our portfolio. We continue to grow our whole grain options with the expansion of Triscuits and Wheat Thins in the U.S., as well as expansion of Club Social whole wheat crackers in Brazil. Our ongoing roll-out of belVita into new formats and new markets, including China, Russia, Finland and Sweden, has helped us reach our goal. In 2016, belVita alone delivered 65 million pounds of whole grains to global diets.
We continue to reduce the amount of sodium within our products, with the goal of achieving our 10 percent reduction targets by 2020. Halfway through our time frame, we have reduced sodium by 5 percent across our global portfolio. This is on top of the great strides we made in 2010-2012. During that time period, in North America, we took out 1 million pounds of sodium (about 193 million teaspoons of salt) from our US crackers and cookies. And in Latin America we reduced sodium in our biscuits by nearly 10% and by 19% in our cheeses. Going forward, we will focus on improving sodium as part of our overall renovation of our biggest selling brands, as well as introduce new products with less sodium in the recipes.
We made great progress on our saturated fat reduction efforts over the last few years. At the end of 2016, we reduced saturated fat by 6 percent across our entire portfolio, with success in regional recipe reformulations.
For example, we reduced the saturated fat content in our TUC crackers sold in the Middle East and Africa by 8 percent. We will continue to look at ways to reduce saturated fat in our biggest brands, as well as offer new snack options with better fat profile.
We continue with our efforts to remove industrially-produced trans fatty acids (TFAs) from our entire portfolio. Our ultimate goal is to eliminate them completely. Over the years, we have significantly reduced industrially-produced TFAs and partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) from our snacks, while maintaining taste and quality. As part of our efforts, we made a commitment along with members of the International Food & Beverage Alliance to reduce industrially-produced TFAs from PHOs in our products worldwide to be less than 1g of TFAs per 100g of product by the end of 2018.
Sugar reduction has been a focus for us over the past 10 years. We know that to maintain a healthier, more balanced diet, it is important to manage the intake of both sugar and calories. And we agree people should limit their sugar intake as part of an effort to reduce calories. This aligns with and supports the WHO and other regulatory agencies’ advice for consumers to limit added sugar intake to no more than 10 percent of daily calories. We take a multi-pronged approach to help consumers manage sugar and calories, focused on five areas: creating new products with less sugar; reducing sugar amount in current products; launching and supporting lower sugar sub-lines; increasing portion control options; and reinforcing portion messaging on pack. For example, we’ve introduced new sugar free and reduced sugar confection, such as our Trebor mints in the UK. And through our Oreo and Chips Ahoy Thins platforms, we’re offering fewer calories and sugar per cookie compared to the regular version. That way people can savor the taste they love, but with fewer calories and sugar. Globally, 90 percent of our gum and 70 percent of our powdered beverages, such as Tang and Clight, are sugar free. In fact, since 2012 we removed 154 million pounds of sugar across our global powdered beverages. We have also reduced sugar by 10 percent in belVita and Barni soft cakes recipes.
Our approach on under-nutrition – especially in developing markets – remains focused on where we can address and alleviate critical nutritional deficiencies with products that can and should be fortified.
We don’t simply add nutrients to any product for any reason. In product development, we look at the latest micronutrient deficiency data from international or national health authorities to understand what deficiencies need to be addressed in local market. We will also work with local health authorities and nutritionists to identify any specific micronutrients that are low in the local population. Based on that input, we take into consideration if the products we sell in that market are appropriate to fortify.
If a product is deemed appropriate to deliver micronutrients, we develop a fortification profile, which is permitted by law, and addresses the micronutrient needs of a significant portion of the population. We will also invest in technology that ensures the forticants we use can be absorbed by the body effectively and efficiently. We only fortify those foods that make sense for fortification.
For example, in Southeast Asia, our Tiger Biskuat line of biscuits is fortified with nine vitamins and six minerals recommended by the World Food Programme; in Nigeria, the Nutrition Society of Nigeria endorsed our Bournvita fortified milk-based beverage. Tang is fortified with Vitamin C in all geographies where we sell it. And based on local need, we will forify with additional nutrients. So in Southeast Asia, our Tang products are fortified with iron as children are iron deficient; in China we add B-12 and folic acid; and we fortify Tang with iodine in Middle Eastern markets. In the Philippines our local cheese product, Eden, is fortified with iodine and iron to help prevent anemia and stunting.
Finally, all nutrient fortifications must meet local regulations and should follow the general dietary guidance set forth by local government agencies. In those cases where regulations or standards have not been set, we will follow authoritative guidance set out by recognized bodies, such as CODEX (CODEX CAC/GL 07-1987); as well as the guidance outlined in the WHO/FAO guidelines on food fortification with micronutrients. And when we add a specific nutrient for fortification purposes, we will include information on that nutrient on the product’s nutrition label.