December 2020

ATNI PROGRESS

REPORT

OCT - DEC 2020 DGIS PROJECT NAME: Access to Nutrition Index DGIS GRANT REFERENCE NUMBER: 4000000128 December 2020

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ATNI ACTIVITY PROGRESS REPORT

OCT - DEC 2020

General project data

Project Name Access to Nutrition Index

Grant Reference Number 4000000128

Funding Period January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2020

Reporting Period October to December 2020

Organization's Address Access to Nutrition Foundation

Arthur van Schendelstraat 650

3511 MJ Utrecht,

The Netherlands

Total Budget 2.400.000 Euro

Contact Person's Name, Telephone Number and

Email

Inge Kauer, Executive Director, ATNF

Tel: +31 6 52026587

Email: inge.kauer@accesstonutrition.org

List of acronyms

ATNF Access to Nutrition Foundation

ATNI Access to Nutrition Initiative

AUM Assets under Management

BCG Business Constituency Group

BMS Breast-milk substitutes

CF Complementary Feeding

CSO Civil Society Organization

EG Expert Group

F&B Food and Beverage

FCDO Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

FSS United Nation’s Food System Summit

GAIN The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition

GNS Global Nutrition Summit

HSR Health Star Rating

IFBA International Food & Beverage Alliance

IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

N4G Nutrition for Growth

NBM Nutrition Business Monitor

NCP Nutrition Center of the Philippines

NDA Non-Disclosure Agreement

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

NPS Nutrient Profiling System

PAHO Pan American Health Organization

PR Public Relations

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers

RWJF Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

SBN SUN Business Network

SUN Scaling Up Nutrition

UN United Nations

TGI The George Institute

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

WBA World Benchmarking Alliance

WHA World Health Assembly

WHO World Health Organization

WHO PAHO WHO Pan American Health Organization

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Contents

Contents 4

Objectives Overview 6

Additional Objectives 6

Extra activities 2020-2022 6

Progress on relevant objectives for October-December 2020 7

Core Objective 1: Progress Global Indexes 7

Global Index 7

Core Objective 2: BMS marketing policies and practices 8

Core Objective 3: Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2020 10

Core Objective 5: Outreach activities 11

Investors 11

World Benchmarking Alliance – Allies Assembly 11

Communications update 12

Core Objective 6: Develop action research activities 14

Action Research on Complementary Foods 14

Core Objective 7: Develop Monitoring and Evaluation 14

Additional Objective 1: Developing indexes that assess the performance of other key segments of the F&B

industry, e.g., retailers, food service companies, fast food chains 16

Additional Objective 2: New Spotlight Indexes 17

US Spotlight Index 17

Additional Objective 3: Further development of verification-type activities 18

Nutrition Business Monitor project 18

Responsible Lobbying Framework 18

Extra activities 2020-2022 19

Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to Covid-19 starting April 2020 19

Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for

Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UN FSS) and World Health Organization (WHO)

starting August 2020 19

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Document Structure

This document presents the progress from October till December 2020 on the activities for which DGIS contracted the

Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF, Grant reference number - 4000000128). It is structured in line with the Objectives

for the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) as in the funding proposal, including additional funding support (£1,500.000)

from FCDO that was approved April 2020.

For 2021, ATNI has asked DGIS for a prolongation of delivering the objectives in the course of 2021, due to delays caused by

the Covid19 crisis that started in 2020.

[Core objectives and additional objectives, which are not relevant for the timeframe of this activity report, have been

marked with a * in the Objectives Overview and are further excluded from this report].

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Objectives Overview ATNI has committed to deliver the following Core Objectives.

Objectives highlighted with a * will not be reported on as they are not applicable for this reporting period.

Core Objective 1 Publish two further flagship Global Indexes for c. 25 manufacturers in 2018 and 2020.

Core Objective 2 Publish comprehensive analysis of companies' breast-milk substitutes (BMS) marketing

policies and practices in both Global and Spotlight Indexes.

Core Objective 3 Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20 manufacturers in 2016 and 2019.1

Core Objective 4 Publish Product Profiles for all India Spotlight Indexes. *

Core Objective 5 Extend outreach activities for different stakeholder groups, particularly investors, to amplify

impact.

Core Objective 6 Develop action research activities to advance thinking and practice in key areas.

Core Objective 7 Develop measurement and evaluations.

Core Objective 8 Conduct a feasibility study on expansion and innovation. *

Additional Objectives

ATNF also sees various options for expansion, on top of the Core Objectives, for which additional funding would be needed.

These include:

Additional Objective 1 Developing one or more Global Indexes that assesses the performance of other key segments

of the F&B industry, e.g. retailers, food service companies, fast food chains.

Additional Objective 2 Development of new Spotlight Indexes for other priority countries.

Additional Objective 3 Further development of complementary verification-type activities, such as the Product

Profile (that could be expanded to assess labelling compliance and marketing spending; more

or wider BMS marketing assessments, etc.).

Extra activities 2020-2022

With the additional funding support from FCDO as per amendment No. 01/2020, signed April 16th 2020, to the ongoing

Accountable Grant for this project (no. 300590) ATNI has embarked on the following extra activities:

1. Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to Covid-19 starting April 2020.

2. Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth

(N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UN FSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020.

3. Investor coalition starting October 2020.

4. Workforce nutrition action research starting January 2021. *

5. Action research to assess inequities in nutritional qualities of companies' product portfolios across markets starting

January 2021. *

6. Country approach starting July 2021. *

1 This objective was adjusted in 2018 from three to two India Spotlight Indexes

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Progress on relevant objectives for

October-December 2020 Core Objective 1: Progress Global Indexes

Global Index

In the last quarter of 2020, selected companies for the Global Index 2021 continued to engage on ATNI’s data collection

platform. After researchers addressed the first round of comments from companies, they engaged for a second time to

respond to outstanding clarifications and provide additional evidence where needed. 19 out of the 25 companies directly

engaged on the platform. This led to the finalization of companies’ assessments.

The Product Profile, which, in this iteration, will be integrated in Category B of the Index, progressed through several stages.

Companies provided feedback on the scope of countries and product categories selected for the assessment. Based on this

information, ATNI’s research partner, The George Institute for Global Health (TGI), had generated a list of products per

company by combining two datasets: pre-existing FoodSwitch (TGI’s database) food composition data for 8 of the 26

countries and food composition data for the other 18 countries, sourced from Innova Market Insights.

Within a six-week period, companies were asked to verify the accuracy of this product list and to provide information on

products that are missing. This verification includes the provision of nutrition information required for calculating the Health

Star Rating (HSR) and applying WHO Regional Nutrient Profiling Systems (NPS). In order to increase data precision,

companies were also encouraged to share additional nutrition content data beyond that on the label. The engagement on

Product Profile was positive overall. 18 out of 25 companies responded by providing additional evidence and confirming the

product list provided. Most questions related to WHO PAHO model, e.g. on the use of sweeteners.

The geographic scope of the Product Profile covered a total of 26 countries between all companies. Apart from the nine

countries that were also included in the 2018 Product Profile assessment, a list of additional preferential countries (Brazil,

Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia) was developed in the country-selection process to facilitate comparability of

results between companies and to select high-selling markets which are common across the Index companies. Low-and-

middle income countries in scope include, among others, Brazil, Mexico, and Nigeria.

ATNI’s research partner, TGI, programmed the selected NPS models (HSR and WHO) into a data analysis system, with testing

and validation included. The HSR will be used to rate all products to identify those that meet or exceed a threshold of 3.5

Health Stars - which indicates an acceptable level of nutritional quality. The WHO models will give a binary result (Yes/No) to

indicate if in theory the product is healthy enough to be marketed to children. Nutrition content data will be analyzed using

these selected models.

Micronutrient enhanced nutrient profiling: ATNI is using the opportunity of undertaking the Product Profile assessment for

Global Index 2021 to run a pilot to test a micronutrient-enhanced nutrient profiling system (NPS+). This system enables

products’ micronutrient content (initially folic acid, iodine, iron, vitamins A, B12 and D) to be assessed, in the context of

addressing micronutrient deficiencies of public health importance. The pilot will use product data shared by companies

active in Mexico, India and South Africa and 17 companies were invited to share micro-nutrient data. Companies are asked

on voluntary basis to add information on the micronutrient content of the products that are assessed for the 2021 Global

Index. These data will not be published or used in companies’ scores. They will be used to test the effectiveness and validity

of the enhanced NPS model.

Planning 2021: The first quarter of 2021 will be dedicated to peer review of company assessments before companies receive

their final score. On the product profile, the first quarter will be dedicated to analysis by ATNI’s research partner, TGI,

covering the following outputs:

• Overall Health Star Ratings (Mean) for Companies by Category and by Country

• Range of Health Star Ratings for companies by Category and by Country

• Percentage of products analyzed that meet a specified health standard (HSR of 3.5 or above)

• Percentage of products analyzed that meet specified criteria to be marketed to children (WHO)

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The ATNI team will conduct additional calculations on Product Profile results to obtain the elements necessary for the three

scored elements: Healthiness score (sales-weighted mean HSR score), relative category performance score, and change in

HSR score compared to 2018. After these steps, company scorecards will be developed.

In the second quarter, the final Global Index 2021 report will be developed and published.

Core Objective 2: BMS marketing policies and practices

BMS/CF Marketing 1

ATNI’s research on this element is now complete. ATNI is working to generate the final scores, by demonstrating what the

scores are by including - and excluding - companies' performances in relation to WHA 69.9, to provide comparability with

the 2018 Global Index. Nine companies are included in the research: Abbott, China Feihe, China Mengniu, Danone,

FrieslandCampina, Inner Mongolia Yili, Kraft-Heinz, Nestlé, and RB (the three Chinese companies are expected to score

poorly as there is no or very little information in the public domain that ATNI could assess). Additional reviews are being

undertaken to ensure that our findings align with PwC’s findings (on research undertaken under ATNI’s supervision for

FTSE4Good - see below).

Furthermore, ATNI participated in a roundtable organised by UNICEF China and the EU-China Chamber of Commerce, which

many BMS companies attended to discuss the situation in China regarding marketing of BMS products. ATNI had the chance

to present its work on BMS, as well as touch upon the BMS Call to Action.

Planning 2021: The next step in early 2021, will be to begin drafting the BMS/CF 1 Index report. In this iteration, the BMS/CF

Index will be published as a standalone report, prior to the Global Index. Scores on BMS1 and BMS2 will be incorporated

(adjusted) in the overall Global Index scores of the companies that are also assessed for their global performance.

BMS/CF Marketing 2

ATNI completed reviewing the first draft of the Westat Philippines report in December. The next steps are re-reviewing and

finalising the Philippines report. The aim is to publish it, along with ATNI’s summary report, in April 2021. In November, the

data collection in Mexico was completed and Westat started cleaning the data, organising them per company and doing the

Quality Control.

Planning 2021: Prior to publication of the ATNI Philippines country report, the four ATNI Index companies present in the

country –, Abbott, Danone, Nestlé and RB - will be given the opportunity to review the draft at the end of Q1 2021.

Regarding the Mexico country assessment, ATNI Index companies present in Mexico – Abbott, FrieslandCampina, Danone,

Kraft-Heinz, Nestlé and RB– will have the chance to review Westat's findings in the first half of February 2021. ATNI will then

finalise the results with Westat and pass the relevant data to PwC for its analysis for FTSE4Good. The ATNI Mexico country

report is planned to be published in Q2 2021.

Other BMS work

FTSE4Good

ATNI participated in the FTSE4Good BMS Committee meeting on November 20th, at which PwC presented their final reports

for the Philippines for Nestlé, Danone and RB. ATNI oversaw the interviews with the three FTSE companies (Nestlé, RB and

Danone) being conducted by PwC.

FTSE Russell has formally asked ATNI to begin discussions about how it might draw exclusively on ATNI's research in future.

ATNI made a presentation to the BMS Committee to outline initial ideas; they were welcomed and supported.

Planning 2021: The discussions will continue with FTSE Russell in 2021. The final PwC reports will be published in February

2021.

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BMS Call to Action

The BMS Call to Action was launched by the signatories on 25th June 2020. 20 BMS companies were asked to respond to it by

25th September 2020. Signatories to the Call to Action include WHO, UNICEF, Save the Children, 1,000 Days, BRAC, fhi360, fhi

solutions and Helen Keller International.

• 17 responses were received which ATNI evaluated for the Signatories.

• The Meridian Institute sent letters to all respondents on behalf of the Signatories to provide feedback and ask

clarifying questions.

• Calls were held between the Meridian Institute and selected signatories with four of the companies and were

sought with other companies.

• These four companies promised to revise their initial submissions. They were due by December 4. Several other

companies submitted revised responses.

• In mid-December, ATNI again evaluated all of the revised responses and submitted them to the Meridian Institute

for circulation to the Signatories.

Planning 2021: In Q1 2021, the companies’ responses will be posted on the website of the Call to Action, along with a press

release published on behalf of the Signatories and other communications. ATNI will be referenced as having undertaken the

initial evaluations of the companies’ responses.

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Core Objective 3: Publish two India Spotlight Indexes for c. 10-20

manufacturers in 2016 and 2020

In February 2020, ATNI launched and published the main results of the India Spotlight Index 2020, covering the 16 largest

food and beverage manufacturers based on 2018 retail sales. The detailed results and analysis of the scores of companies on

Category B were also published, which assesses the healthiness of the company's product portfolio and individual products

(through the Product Profile).

The release of the thematic chapters of the Index (on governance, access & affordability, marketing, healthy lifestyle

support, labeling and engagement) was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In November and December, ATNI started

to prepare the thematic chapters.

Planning 2021: the thematic chapters will be published in February 2021. In April-May 2021, ATNI plans to organize

webinars to share the results with stakeholders, also linking this to the recent Covid-19 report.

Later in 2021, ATNI will start preparing for a possible next India Index/tool.

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Core Objective 5: Outreach activities

Investors

ATNI is working actively to engage with new signatories and expand our profile in all markets. By the end of the year, ATNI

had 57 signatories to the Investor Expectations on Nutrition, Diets and Health, with asset under management (AUM) of

US$9.7 trillion. Most of the previous signatories have reconfirmed their support; some small funds in the United States have

not done so, though most have not previously engaged. The new signatories so far are: 4 Italian: BancoPosta Fondi sgr,

Cometa,PosteVita and Unicredit Pension Fund; 1 Norwegian: Storebrand; 2 Canadian: Hexavest and RRSE – Le

Regroupement pour la Responsabilité Sociale des Enterprises; 1 Dutch: Stichting Pensioenfonds Huisartsen.

Various updates have been made to ATNI's website to highlight ATNI’s work with investors. The password-protected

investor portal, a nutrition and finance resource hub, was launched in mid-January 2021. The platform provides ATNI

investor signatories with a one-stop-shop for investment-relevant articles, news and reports from a wide range of

organisations on nutrition, as well as ATNI data.

ATNI organised a webinar with the French Social Investment Forum in November to present ATNI and the Investor

Expectations to its members (below right). A lot of work has been done to develop communications messages tailored to

investors so as to be in a position to ramp up our communications to the investment community next year. These include a

social media plan, a new investor newsletter and placed articles in key publications, including RI.com in January 2021. ATNI

staff supporting our work with investors have also had training on using social media (Twitter and LinkedIn).

Planning 2021: In mid- January, the investor portal will be launched. The next investor webinar will be held in March 2021

for Dutch investors. ATNI is in the initial phase of collaboration with a consultant in the Japanese market to help to engage

Japanese and Asia Pacific investors in 2021 ahead of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit. In March/April, ATNI will start-

up preparations for the collaborative engagement process for investors with companies in the Global Index 2021.

World Benchmarking Alliance – Allies Assembly

ATNI evaluated the draft methodological framework/indicators of the new Food & Agriculture Benchmark and submitted a

response as well as proposal for future collaboration on submitting ATNI data and for assessing additional F&B

manufacturers and potentially retailers on nutrition indicators. On November 24, ATNI and World Benchmarking Alliance

(WBA) presented a side event on company accountability together, during the World Business Council for Sustainable

Development (WBCSD)/Wageningen pre-event of the UN FSS.

Planning 2021: Our next step in Q1 2021 is a strategy call with WBA in January to clarify and formalize collaboration on

sharing data as well as collaborating in the upcoming FSS.

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Communications update

The final quarter of 2020 was a busy one

for ATNI in terms of communications and

outreach. ATNI took part in the ‘Delivering

for Nutrition in India’ conference

organized by the International Food Policy

Research Institute (IFPRI) and Partnerships

and Opportunities to Strengthen and

Harmonize Actions for Nutrition in India

(POSHAN), which served as an opportunity

to check in with our stakeholders in India. It furthermore was a useful update on nutrition in India ahead of the publication

of the category chapters of the India Index in Q1 2021.

Mark Wijne attended the Micronutrient Forum 5th Global Conference CONNECTED

2020, on behalf of ATNI, contributing a poster presentation: “Designing a Nutrition

Profiling Approach to Improve the Assessment of Packaged Food and Beverage

Products Regarding Micronutrient Content Relevant to Public Health.

Additionally, ATNI attended

‘Plating Up Progress’ webinar

which posed the question: “How

can investors, businesses

and governments build towards a

healthier and more sustainable

food industry post-pandemic? ”

On November 24th, ATNI also co-

hosted a pre-event to the UN

Food Systems Summit with the

World Benchmarking Alliance and

the Sustainability Consortium. It

featured a diverse panel

representing the food industry

and investment community.

The ‘Healthy Markets’ project that

ATNI supported ShareAction on

was featured in ‘Footprint’ a

prominent Sustainable Responsible

Business platform.

The ongoing Investor Expectations

work ATNI has been working on was featured in Investment Week, a marker of success

in the aim to increase ATNI’s outreach in the area of investor relations and

communications. Our work was also featured in an article titled ‘Where ESG Ratings

Fail: The Case for New Metrics’ on the Institutional Investor website.

Excitingly, ATNI’s work was presented on the world stage during Dame

Vivian Hunt’s TED2020 talk titled ‘How businesses can serve everyone,

not just their shareholders’, Global Index 2018 data was referenced

throughout. Bloomberg also ran a story on how Covid-19 Puts a Spotlight

on the Food Industry’s Role in Obesity, citing our Global Index 2018 and

other aspects of our work. This piece was also later featured in The

Washington Post, a great opportunity to boost our coverage in the

United States, particularly in the year we are launching the next iteration

of the US Index.

Poster presentation for the Micronutrient Forum 5th Global Conference, CONNECTED 2020

The ATNI team participated in the Delivering for Nutrition in India conference

ATNI co-hosted a side event with WBA and Sustainability

Consortium

Global Index 2018 data showcased at TED2020

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Planning 2021: ATNI is in the process of hiring an agency to conduct a social media diagnostic to help ATNI boost its strategic

engagement and improve the social media identity, making it thoughtful and tactical while remaining true to ATNI’s brand

and values. The social media diagnostic will help ATNI to articulate goals and ambitions for social media, help identify,

engage with and grow our digital audience, and to learn – through in-depth benchmarking – what comparable organizations

are doing on social. The final stage of this process includes a half-day training for the wider ATNI team, which fits in well to

our overall goal of building capacity across the whole team in the area of communications.

ATNI will soon be sending out a request for proposals to find an PR agency to support with the ongoing external

communications tasks. As well as ensuring that ATNI is working strategically towards its overarching objectives and

communicating effectively about our growing project base.

In Q1- early Q2 2021, much of ATNI's communications will be surrounding the launch of the third Covid-19 Project report

which has done a deeper dive into three middle-income countries – Mexico (upper-middle income) and India and Nigeria

(lower-middle income) – combining research into the impact of Covid-19 on the country and the government’s response

with a look at the largest food manufacturers by 2019 retail value. The analysis used the ATNI Framework as a guide,

particularly focusing on the themes identified in the second report, and the desk research was supplemented by a series of

in-country interviews from a range of sectors (government, NGO, UN agency or industry) to provide on-the-ground context

and invaluable extra content.

Additionally, ATNI is working with AvianWe, its India-based communications agency to share the category deep-dives from

the India Index 2020 that will be published on the ATNI website in February.

In collaboration with its design agency, ATNI will work on improving the user-experience of the website.

To support with the increasing workload of the communications department ATNI is hiring an intern.

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Core Objective 6: Develop action research activities

ATNI is conducting various action research activities to develop knowledge on various nutrition topics relevant for its work.

Action research on accessibility and affordability

This research had been finalized in the first half of 2020.

Action Research on Complementary Foods

ATNI carried out two studies, one in the Philippines and one in Mexico with the aim to explore infant and young child feeding

practices and their determinants with a particular focus on mapping out the landscape of commercially produced

Complementary Foods marketed as suitable for infants and young children 6-36 months of age. The landscape studies aim to

study the evolution of the product market and the relevant laws and policies in place within the two countries. In the

Philippines, ATNI also did a pilot project for a Product Profile analysis of commercially produced Complementary Foods

available in the country using WHO’s Nutrient Profiling Model for Commercially Available Complementary Foods developed

for the European region. The primary aim of the Product Profile analysis is to evaluate the nutritional quality of these products

and also assess the promotional and labelling practices. Based on the results, ATNI ranks the complementary food

manufacturers based on the percentage of their products meeting all of the relevant nutritional criteria of the WHO model

and will provide recommendations for areas of improvement with regards to the healthiness and marketing of commercial

complementary foods intended for children 6-36 months of age.

In the last quarter of 2020, ATNI reviewed the first drafts of the reports and provided input to the local consultants. Together

with its local partner Nutrition Center of the Philippines (NCP), ATNI had a fruitful call with UNICEF in the Philippines to update

them on the scope and status of our research and align with other ongoing studies and activity in the country, designed to

inform ongoing discussions with government about revising existing laws and regulations governing BMS and CF marketing.

In recognition of our pioneering work in this area, ATNI was approached by the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office

to develop a joint project to build on our Action Research on Complementary Foods, by conducting further studies in the

region, and a potential to expand it to other regions. ATNI and UNICEF will continue to discuss the scope of this work and

ATNI’s role in it in 2021.

Planning 2021: In 2021, ATNI is planning to organize a joint webinar with UNICEF in the Philippines for local stakeholders to

launch the studies in the first quarter of 2021. ATNI will also explore what the best way is to launch the work in Mexico. ATNI

will collaborate with UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office to outline the scope of its research on Complementary Foods

in the region and potential to expand.

Core Objective 7: Develop Monitoring and Evaluation

In the last quarter of 2020, ATNI received feedback from the ATNI board on its Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework

and Impact Assessment Terms of Reference. The purpose of this monitoring framework is to generate learning to improve

ATNI programs and project performance, and to ensure ATNI is as effective as possible in driving private sector contributions

to better nutrition. More specifically, the framework is designed to: ensure accountability to donors and other stakeholders;

support project or program management (i.e., making immediate decisions to manage an existing project or program);

generate learning to contribute to better planning and performance in current or future projects or programs; provide

information that can be used for marketing, publicity or fundraising work; provide a basis for regular evaluations including

independent impact assessment. This framework is a living document and will be updated based on feedback from users as

well as external stakeholders such as donors.

The framework has served as a basis to design the Terms of Reference of an independent impact assessment. The objective

of the latter is to:

1. to measure the results brought about by ATNI’s programs

2. to assess the contribution of the programs to these identified results

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3. to provide a combination of findings, recommendations and learnings to the commissioner and other relevant

stakeholders

4. to determine the extent to which ATNI’s M&E and Results Framework fits in with ATNI’s theory of change.

Planning 2021: In the first few months of 2021, ATNI will conduct the selection process for M&E consultant(s). The team will

collect relevant data on outputs, outcomes and impact of ATNI’s work thus far. The Independent M&E Review and Impact

Assessment, including desk-research as well as interviews with ATNI staff and stakeholders, will be commissioned in the

second and third quarter after the launch of the Global Index 2021.

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Additional Objective 1: Developing indexes that assess the performance of

other key segments of the F&B industry, e.g., retailers, food service

companies, fast food chains

ATNI UK Retailer Index: In September, a kick-off meeting was held with ShareAction to start preparations for the first full

ATNI UK Retailer Index. It was decided that 11 retailers will be included in the Index: Ocado, an online-only retailer was

added to the ones in the UK Supermarket Spotlight upon request by ShareAction and given the rise of online shopping

(partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic).

In October and November, stakeholder consultations on the methodology were held with retail companies and other

nutrition stakeholders in the UK, including investors and CSO representatives. In December 2020 and January 2021, Expert

Group (EG) meetings were held. Input from the consultation sessions as well as the EG meetings was used to improve the

methodology and finalize the scoring and weighting system.

Planning 2021:. The methodology is currently being finalized and company research will start in February-April 2021. As

with other Indexes, retailers will be offered the opportunity to sign Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in order to provide

ATNI with confidential information.

Companies can provide input on the platform in May/June and add clarifications in July. After that, the research platform is

closed and data analysis, writing of scorecards and report will start. The agreement is to publish the Index in Q1 2022.

ShareAction has indicated its interest for a Product Profile of the major manufacturers in the UK, to follow up and compare

results to the previous UK Product Profile published in September 2019. ATNI is currently exploring funding opportunities

with ShareAction.

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Additional Objective 2: New Spotlight Indexes

US Spotlight Index2

Following a discussion with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in July 2020 about validation of the methodology,

ATNI started a process to review the methodology, led by its Research and Engagement Advisor and involving the Research

team. Three main elements of a verification process were planned in the process:

1. An Exit Survey for US-based F&B companies who participated in the Global Index 2021 and will also participate in

the US Index 2021 was planned.

2. Cognitive interviews to be completed with US-based F&B companies to test and improve the clarity of indicators

and answer options were also planned.

3. Following the cognitive interviews and adjustments to the platform, the research training manual will be updated

and each analyst on the US Index research will independently assess the same company with a sample of

indicators, using the same evidence. The level of agreement or inter-rater reliability will provide baseline

information of the consistency of analysts’ company assessments and potentially, identify areas for additional

training.

The survey was sent to companies in the last quarter of 2020 to understand feedback about their experience during ATNI’s

research phase (i.e., data collection) between June – December 2020. All companies that had recently stopped engaging on

the Global Index (11 of which are also part of the U.S Index) were invited to participate in this survey. The survey aimed to

(1) document the company stakeholder experience during engagement with ATNI to collect data and identify areas to

improve and (2) identify complex or challenging indicators, that are also part of the US Index.

Planning 2021: Based on findings from the exit survey, each company participating in the US Index will be invited for a

cognitive interview in January. This interview will aim to get a deeper understanding of the indicators identified by

companies as complicated in the survey. Together with the insights from these tools, adjustments will be made to the data

collection platform. Following these steps, company assessments will begin towards the end of the first quarter of 2021

which will be followed by a peer review. Once assessments are aligned during the peer review, companies will be invited to

engage on ATNI’s data collection platform to review the assessments and provide additional evidence where needed.

2 This Index is funded separately by the US-based RWJF.

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Additional Objective 3: Further development of verification-type activities

Nutrition Business Monitor project3

The Nutrition Business Monitor (NBM) tool was tested in Bangladesh in November 2020 with 13 companies that filled it in,

and a follow-up webinar was organised to get feedback on the tool. ATNI got a lot of positive feedback and one-to-one

sessions with three selected companies to get more in-depth input. ATNI stayed in close contact with the SUN Business

Network (SBN) Nigeria and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to discuss the next steps and start planning the

first half of 2021 and the capacity building activities.

Planning 2021: ATNI is planning to start the capacity building activities in the first quarter of 2021 which is the last year of

the project. The capacity building activities should be completed by June 2021. The planning of the final year will also be

developed in Q1 2021.

Responsible Lobbying Framework4

Irish Aid grant on responsible lobbying

ATNI had a good call with the new project manager at Irish Aid to present the work that had been done to date and received

a lot of positive feedback. Irish Aid said they would like ATNI to present the draft outputs to a small internal group in

February 2021 to build understanding and profile of our work, and to solicit feedback before finalizing the reports and

disseminating the work.

ATNI contracted Carnstone to write the final benchmark report, presenting and analysing the assessment they carried out

against the Responsible Lobbying Framework. The report covers the nine largest BMS companies – the same companies

included in the BMS/CF Marketing Index. The aim is to publish the report in February 2021.

Regarding the feasibility study of establishing a ‘lobbying observatory’ or similar initiative, ATNI has completed the research

and the stakeholder interviews, and is drafting the report summarising the inputs and conclusions about the feasibility of

establishing a 'lobbying observatory'. This report will be shared with Irish Aid (and other prospective funders at a later date if

deemed appropriate). ATNI plans to publish a summary of the work and conclusions in Q1 2021.

3 This project is funded separately by GAIN 4 This activity is funded separately by Irish Aid

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Extra activities 2020-2022

Map and monitor food and beverage (F&B) sector companies' responses to Covid-19 starting April 2020

In Q4, ATNI published the second report in the Covid-19 project series. The report summarized the results of an assessment

of 39 of the world’s major food manufacturers (companies that have all been included by ATNI in its other Indexes). The

research highlights that companies have quickly responded to shocks along their supply chains and have adapted to rapidly

changing consumer behaviors – for instance by expanding e-commerce platforms and setting up direct-to-consumer

channels. Most Covid-19 responses by food and beverage companies, however, still appear as short-term, ad-hoc measures

rather than long-term, targeted actions.

To coincide with the launch of the report, on Monday November 16 we hosted a webinar in collaboration with Nutrition

Connect as part of the ATNI Covid-19 Project series. The webinar – ‘Nutrition responses from food and beverage companies

to the pandemic’ – saw all stakeholders (NGO/CSOs, investors, companies, policymakers, academics etc.) interested in how

Covid-19 is impacting the food industry’s actions and nutrition outcomes globally participate in a stimulating discussion. The

event featured a panel discussion:

• Lucy Sullivan, Executive Director at Feed the Truth

• Laurene Aubert, Manager of SUN Business Network‘s Global Partnerships and GAIN Nutrition for Growth Lead

• Inge Kauer, Executive Director at ATNI

The webinar was well-attended by a diverse range of stakeholders, with companies and the investment community being

well represented. A recording of the webinar is available here: https://nutritionconnect.org/webinar-ATNI-covid19.

ATNI also hosted webinars for the companies assessed in the report, which provided an excellent opportunity to share the

in-depth results with company representatives and stimulate a dialogue with companies. ATNI also presented the findings at

a webinar for investors on 5th November. An invite was extended to the multi-stakeholder webinar during this event.

Planning 2021: In Q1 2021, ATNI will publish the third report in the series, and host another series of webinars in each of the

countries in the deep dive. The webinars will serve as an opportunity to disseminate the results of the report, and also to

share information about ATNI's other ongoing work in each country.

Private sector commitment monitoring hub supporting 2020 Global Nutrition Summit (GNS)/Nutrition for Growth (N4G), 2021 United Nation’s Food System Summit (UN FSS) and World Health Organization (WHO) starting August 2020

The Nutrition for Growth Summit: In October and early December, ATNI participated in the Business Constituency Group

(BCG) online meetings together with the Consumers Good Forum, IFBA, FIA, WBCSD and GAIN and representatives from the

Food Systems Summit (FSS). ATNI’s role is that of an observer. Additionally, ATNI is leading in defining the investors

statements for the Summit.

For N4G, ATNI is also participating in a GNR working group to outline the accountability mechanism for N4G commitment

tracking. GNR is still awaiting funding for developing the accountability mechanism. ATNI will be involved in monitoring

business accountability when funding will be available.

Planning 2021: In 2021, ATNI is hosting the BCG online meeting early March and will continue to participate in monthly BCG

meetings. Depending on the progress made in the GNR working group ATNI will start to develop a process to monitor

companies commitments for the N4G.

The UN Food Systems Summit: GAIN is leading the nutrition track for the UN FSS. ATNI participated in the internal GAIN

strategy meeting early November to share views on alignment of UNFSS and N4G and particularly on the role of private

sector in both events.

In November, ATNI had an online meeting with GAIN to further discuss the topic of company accountability for the UN FSS.

Planning 2021: in 2021 ATNI’s role in the UN FSS will be further explored. The UN FSS has requested a meeting to discuss

investors’ engagement with ATNI, Rabobank and WBA.

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WHO Global Monitoring Mechanism: In October, ATNI discussed with Francesco Branca (WHO Nutrition Director) WHO's

needs for ATNI to monitor (re-)formulation commitments/performances of companies. In November, ATNI submitted a

proposal for tracking trans-fat commitments of IFBA companies and performances against these commitments (together

with TGI). It is planned to report on this early 2021 for the WHO Director General to discuss with CEO's of IFBA member

companies; In the future, ATNI could also report on salt commitments (but no standards are available yet).

Action Research on Workforce Nutrition

The first discussions on the new action research project to learn from companies’ best practices in investing in workforce

nutrition in supply chains took place in December 2020.

In the first quarter of 2021, the actual work and planning will begin, including desk research and interviews with selected

stakeholders. The aim is to finalize the action research by the end of 2021 in order to share learnings and outcomes of the

action research on workforce nutrition at the N4G summit.

Country approach

The work on the landscape studies will start in January 2021 and will look into country specific approaches and tools to expand

its influence over companies’ actions on nutrition in lower- and middle-income countries with a high double burden of

malnutrition, through two different mapping exercises. Nutrition landscaping studies can map relevant stakeholders and best

pathways to better nutrition by also analyzing the role and influence of the private sector in improving nutrition.

One of the landscape studies will focus on Nigeria. Desk research will be conducted in first half of 2021 which will lead to a

report and framework for a Nigeria Spotlight Index, to be started in July 2021. The landscape study will aim to map out the

food and beverage sector in Nigeria and identify what the main research topics are that the Spotlight Index needs to cover.

For the other landscape study, ATNI will start with making a shortlist of countries for the country selection

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Access to Nutrition Foundation Arthur van Schendelstraat 650 3511 MJ Utrecht The Netherlands +31 (0)30 410 09 16 info@accesstonutrition.org www.accesstonutrition.org

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