Table 2 Proposed new ESG + Nutrition metrics^a to evaluate the impact of consumer-facing food and beverage sector businesses on consumers’ nutrition and health.

From: The time is ripe for ESG + Nutrition: evidence-based nutrition metrics for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing

Domains^b and affiliated metrics	Potential metric definitions
Product portfolio Profile
Healthfulness	overall sales-weighted measure of healthfulness of products, based on either a continuous score or proportion meeting/not meeting certain threshold, using a validated NPS^c
Product distribution and equity Profile
Affordability of healthful foods	within company: ratio of price of 1 serving of healthful product to 1 serving unhealthful products (stratified by calorie bands), as defined by NPS
Affordability of healthful foods	between company: average price of 1 serving of healthful products, as defined by NPS (stratified by calorie bands) across companies
Financial accessibility of healthful foods	across country percentage of sales (PPP-adjusted) in top income quintile, bottom income quintile between countries - stratified by categories (quintiles) of healthfulness, as defined by NPS
Financial accessibility of healthful foods	within country: percentage of sales based on relative income (comparison of top vs. bottom quintile) in income-matched units - stratified by categories (quintiles) of healthfulness, as defined by NPS
Geographic accessibility of healthful foods	within country: percentage of sales by Census track (or equivalent geographic indicator) - stratified by categories (quintiles) of healthfulness, as defined by NPS
Marketing Profile
Marketing of healthful foods	within company: ratio of percentage marketing spending towards healthful products to unhealthful products, as defined by NPS - Stratified by race/ethnicity customer segment between company: percentage of marketing spending towards healthful products, as defined by NPS, compared to competitors - Stratified by race/ethnicity customer segment
Health claims	percentage of total product portfolio with marketing or package label health claims aligned with latest scientific evidence regarding health benefits of ingredients or nutrients
Responsible marketing policies	adherence score to ICC articles or equivalent for responsible marketing of food and beverages
	adherence score to CFBAI standards or equivalent for responsible marketing to children
	adherence score to International Code of Marketing of BMS or national equivalent for responsible marketing to mothers
Nutrition-related governance Profile
Corporate nutrition strategy	meet or exceed goals related to product portfolio profile, product distribution and equity profile, and marketing profile metrics
Nutrition education	commitment to (and/or performance on) educating the general public about nutrition and health, in line with the latest evidence
Innovation, research and development	number and percentage of new healthful products launched, as defined by NPS

BMS Breastmilk substitutes; CFBAI Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative; ESG Environmental, social, and governance; ICC International Chamber of Commerce; NPS Nutrient profiling system; PPP Purchasing power parity.
^aMetrics proposed encompass all or the majority of the following attributes identified for strong ESG metrics: (1) measure outputs of the company, including sales or performance with direct impacts on key consumers or community stakeholders; (2) are quantitative in resolution; (3) require minimal data assumptions for measurement; (4) utilize data that is publicly or privately available without substantial back-end effort for aggregation; (5) do not require the reporting entity to take subjective decisions on how to report; (6) measure the appropriate scope, with the flexibility to compare across companies, geographies and sub-sectors; (7) measure the intended construct; and (8) are adaptable as the science evolves over time.
^bConsumer-facing food and beverage business can contribute to nutrition and health through four broad domains: (1) through the types of products they sell (e.g., their product portfolios); (2) through the equitability of the distribution (affordability, accessibility) of these products; (3) through their marketing strategies and practices around these products; and (4) through their larger governance and other strategies related to nutrition.
^cProduct healthfulness must be measured by an objective, validated NPS. In addition, the use of categorical cut-points versus a standardized continuous scale for healthfulness must be decided upon apriori to evaluate the relative healthfulness of individual food and beverage products, and thereby assess the overall healthfulness of a business’ product portfolio.

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Table 2 Proposed new ESG + Nutrition metrics^a to evaluate the impact of consumer-facing food and beverage sector businesses on consumers’ nutrition and health.

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