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Listen to this siteWednesday 7 March 2007
Chaired by Caroline Flint (Minister of State for Public Health) with Dame Deirdre Hutton (Chair, Food Standards Agency).
Gavin Neath - President of Unilever
Salman Amin - President of PepsiCo UK & Ireland
David Reid - Chairman of Tesco Plc
Steven D Esom - Managing Director of Waitrose
Paul Kelly - Compass and Schools Food Trust
Sir Alexander Macara - Chair of National Heart Forum
Justin King - Chief Executive of Sainsbury�s
Lord Whitty - Chair National Consumer Council
Peter Vicary-Smith - Chief Executive, Which?
Rosemary Hignett - Head of Nutrition, Food Standards Agency
Simon Medcalf - Assistant Private Secretary to Caroline Flint, DH
Chris Holmes - Head of Social Marketing Team, DH
1. CF welcomed members and reiterated the Government's commitment to tackling childhood obesity. She welcomed the opportunity to discuss the social marketing campaign.
Back to top2. Members agreed that, as invitations had been extended on an individual basis, changes in Presidencies at FDF and IGD did not require any change in representation at NSSG.
Back to top3. These had all been discharged
Back to top3.1 The process for agreement of the contract for the evaluation study was clarified (see para 7 of minutes of 17 July). It would be signed by the FSA as funder. If the FSA were not able to accept the PMP's recommendation on the terms of the contract then it would consult with the NSSG before proceeding.
3.2 RH reported on the first meeting of the Project Management Panel (PMP), which had been held on 22 January. The Advisory Group (AG) had attended for part of the meeting. The meeting had been constructive. The PMP was satisfied its members had appropriate expertise and was grateful for the input from the AG.
3.3 The PMP had started to develop the specification for the study. It was ensuring it was aware of relevant available data, had asked AG members to notify it of the key unknowns as they perceived them, and was considering early focus group work to ensure all the key issues were identified. It was also asking businesses represented on the AG what sales/other data (such as from loyalty cards) might be made available to the study team.
3.4 The PMP would consult AG members on the draft specification, take account of responses, then consult NSSG. NSSG members would have advance warning, and would be asked to comment within a week. FSA would administer these consultations. Any comments the FSA wished to make on the PMP's proposal would be highlighted in the documents circulated to NSSG members.
Back to top4.1 Chris Holmes led discussion on a presentation of the DH-led obesity social marketing campaign (papers distributed prior to the meeting). The Obesity Social Marketing (OSM) team has, to date, identified c.120 separate national initiatives amongst stakeholder organisations, many of which overlap and confuse the core message. One of the key roles of the OSM campaign is to seek to engender improved coordination across these disparate schemes to deliver a common strategy. In discussion on the OSM work and potential for further involvement with NSSG stakeholders, the following points were raised:
4.2 For stakeholders in the retail sector, the key to driving initiatives linked to the OSM goals is competition, and any Government scheme needs to provide sufficient flexibility for organisations to retain a competitive edge.
4.3 Comments were made regarding the complex and confused nature of the delivery structure. Government has a role in providing focus in a national campaign and coordinating activities across national bodies and all areas of central and local Government. An example offered was that of an organisation sponsoring the National Games, only for UK Athletics to withdraw its own funding immediately afterwards.
4.4 There was general support for the idea of the OSM work creating an 'umbrella' under which initiatives and products could be marketed. The Red Tractor and 5-a-day campaign were cited as two good examples of such an exercise with slightly different approaches. It was also suggested that the 'Small Change Big Difference' tagline could be reinvented for this purpose. This was thought to be a good means of providing commercial organisations with a 'mark' to differentiate credible public health advice while allowing for independence in the particular schemes or products.
4.5 A Government-sponsored 'mark' would also be useful in helping consumers navigate the different schemes and products currently marketed. However, it was noted that it would be difficult for a Government endorsement to be marketed successfully in competition with corporate brands.
4.6 It was noted that the '5-a-day' campaign had been successfully taken up by industry precisely because it was aligned with the key business objectives of this area – work following on from OSM should take note of this.
4.7 The commercial sector would benefit from Government using the values behind OSM to develop a set of criteria for initiatives that are in keeping with this drive. This would be a valuable tool in helping organisations to choose between NGOs competing for sponsorship.
4.8 It was agreed in principle that the workforces of commercial organisations could contribute to the delivery of some of the individual initiatives within OSM, perhaps via existing corporate social responsibility models. However, this would require significant planning to prove its sustainability in the long-term.
4.9 Caroline Flint ended the discussion by noting that some NSSG members were represented in the OSM stakeholder network, and asked for their continued engagement with the campaign.
Back to top5. The next meeting would discuss food promotions and foodservice innovation, including in the workplace.
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