New Delhi: Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Wednesday said the proposed food labelling requirements by the regulator FSSAI will bring transparency and the leading FMCG player will comply with the norms.
Companies like HUL are “very well placed” to meet the proposed labelling norms of FSSAI, given the work it has undertaken over the years to ensure that consumers receive healthy and good-quality products, according to its Managing Director and CEO Priya Nair.
“Firstly, we really welcome transparency to consumers. As a consumer in the country, that is what you would want: transparency in labelling,” said Nair in the post-earnings press briefing.
She added that discussions with industry forums were focused on how labelling should be implemented and how consumers could be educated about it.
“Whatever the regulation is, we will simply comply with the regulation,” Nair said.
HUL’s product portfolio comprises a wide range of food and beverage brands, including Kissan, Knorr and Hellmann’s in packaged foods and condiments, besides Horlicks and Boost in the nutrition drinks segment.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed front-of-pack nutrition labelling for packaged food products high in sugar, salt or fat, seeking to enable consumers to make informed dietary choices.
In August, FSSAI told the Supreme Court that it has proposed to provide a prominent front-of-pack warning label in red colour for food products which are high in added saturated fat, sugar and salt.
The food regulator submitted before the apex court that the proposal is intended to provide a simple, prominent and easily comprehensible warning to consumers regarding food products which are high in specified nutrients of concern.
As per the proposed norms, the warning label will indicate the applicable declarations, such as “High Fat”, “High Sugar”, “High Salt” and/or “Highly Sweetened Beverage”, as the case may be, to enable consumers to readily identify products high in the specified nutrients, FSSAI informed the Supreme Court.
“The warning shall be displayed in a font size one point larger than that used in the nutrition information table on the back of the pack,” it said.
FSSAI, in its affidavit, said it is proposed that front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FoPNL) be implemented in phases to facilitate consumer acceptability and provide industry adequate time for reformulation.
Meanwhile, commenting on reports suggesting that HUL was considering a share buyback as part of its capital allocation strategy, its CFO Niranjan Gupta said the company regularly evaluates different options for deploying its balance-sheet resources to maximise long-term shareholder value.
He said the options included stepping up capital expenditure, pursuing acquisitions and returning cash to shareholders through dividends or other means.
“There are different ways to deploy what resources you have on the balance sheet and what we do is that we always evaluate what the best way to create long-term value is,” Nair said.
