The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has called on Government to provide greater financial support for smaller businesses investing in healthier product innovation.
FDF found that in 2023, food and drink manufacturers invested more than £160 million in creating healthier options for consumers, including modifying recipes to make them healthier, creating new products and adjusting portion sizes.
It said that many businesses, in particular small and medium sized businesses (SMEs), did not have the in-house expertise or financial resources to undertake this specialist R&D.
The Scottish-Government funded Reformulation for Health programme has provided specialist support for over 80 Scottish SMEs in the first five years, removing billions of calories and tonnes of fat, sugar, and salt from popular Scottish products, providing support to butchers, bakers and ready meal makers.
FDF said that expanding this successful programme with a £4 million fund for the rest of the UK would help more smaller businesses access the vital support they need to develop healthier recipes, grow their businesses, and drive investment in local economies.
For larger businesses, FDF said broadening the eligibility criteria of R&D tax credits to offset the significant upfront costs required to invest in product reformulation would support further healthier product innovation.
Karen Betts, chief executive of the FDF, said: “The UK’s food and drink manufacturers are some of the most innovative in the world, and FDF members are global leaders in developing new, healthier products. This is about making existing brands healthier by removing fat, salt and sugar, or adding fruit, vegetables and fibre; or by introducing new products to increase the choice of tasty, convenient, affordable and healthier options for shoppers.
“However, this work is complex and takes significant investment, it can be risky commercially and take many years to get a new product from concept to sale. As such, we’re asking Government to act to help mitigate the risk for companies. We’re asking them to broaden access to R&D tax credits to support companies investing in innovation for health. And we’re asking them to more actively support SMEs, who make up 98% of the companies in our sector and for whom the costs of investing in this sort of innovation can be prohibitive.
“With just £4 million, the Government could establish a support scheme for small and medium sized businesses across the UK. This would help to mitigate the risk of a company carrying out this important work to improve public health, while enabling them to access critical advice and practical support. The Scottish Government’s Reformulation for Health programme provides a helpful model here, which over the past five years has seen billions of calories and tonnes of salt removed from food and drink made in Scotland.”
‘Innovation for Healthier Diets’
The call was made at FDF’s ‘Innovation for Healthier Diets’ tasting event in Parliament, which shone a spotlight on the work of UK manufacturers to support healthier diets by reducing fat, sugar and salt and increasing fruit, vegetables and fibre. FDF members now contribute a third (33%) less salt, and a quarter less sugar (25%) and calories (24%) to the British grocery market compared to 2015, according to Kantar’s Worldpanel GB Take Home Purchase data.
At the event manufacturers showcased products with reduced salt, sugar and fat, as well as those with increased fruit, vegetables and fibre. This included pasta sauces with extra portions of vegetables, cakes with reduced sugar content, and stock cubes with less salt.
