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5 Tips for Responsible Nutrition Marketing

5 Tips for Responsible Nutrition Marketing

5 Tips for Responsible Nutrition Marketing

Getting consumers to trust you and your brand requires transparency and truthfulness.

When it comes to marketing the nutrition attributes of food, complying with local regulations is the bare minimum.

Food manufacturers also need to market their products in the context of a healthy diet. This combined approach, will not only ensure you stay under the radar of the regulators, but you will avoid the wrath of consumer and public health advocates.

 

Here are 5 tips to consider when marketing nutrition:

 

1.     Comply with food regulations

  • In Australia and New Zealand, and many other markets, nutrition, and health claims’ regulations extend to all forms of advertising, not just what’s on a label.
  • Take care with the content on your website, in social media posts, point of sale materials, press releases and so on. These are all considered advertising.
  • Remember that both the regulators and your competitors will be looking out for breaches.

 

2.     Align with dietary recommendations

  • This ensures your brand is positioned appropriately and in the right context.
  • Find out what nutrition experts such as dietitians and registered nutritionists think about your product. Would they recommend your product to their clients, and under what circumstances?
  • If you can’t see where your product fits, or if it doesn’t add nutritional value to the diet, reconsider promoting it as being “healthy”.

 

3.     Ensure serving sizes, recipes and imagery are consistent with healthy eating

  • Optimal nutrition is about balance and eating a range of foods.
  • Responsible marketers depict their products and brands in the context of a healthy diet.
  • Use portion sizes that don’t promote overconsumption and recipes without excessive amounts of saturated fat, sugar and salt.
  • Support with nutrition information and matching imagery.

 

4.     Rate your product’s nutritional profile against criteria

  • Use independent frameworks to assess the healthiness of your product.
  • In New Zealand, these include the Fuelled4Life Food and Beverage Classification System for children’s products or the Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion for health claim eligibility.

 

5.     Solve “real” nutrition problems for your consumers

  • Beware of the herd mentality and offering what you and everyone else think consumers need. Most people don’t need to completely exclude gluten, dairy and/or sugar from their diets.
  • Instead of jumping on the bandwagon, take the time to understand the “real” problem and give consumers solutions that will actually help them.
  • Aim to be different and ahead of the curve.