A Joint memorandum by Cadbury Schweppes
and Cadbury Trebor Bassett (OB 41)
INTRODUCTION
1. We welcome the Health Select Committee's
inquiry into obesity and are pleased to submit a response.
2. Our submission does not address all areas
of the Committee's Inquiry because:
Others with greater expertise in
specific areas will be submitting evidence.
We wished to avoid unnecessary duplication
of the submissions of our trade associations[1]
which we fully endorse.
3. We have limited our comments to those
areas where we feel we can add particular value to the committee's
considerations. In addition, whilst Cadbury Schweppes is a manufacturer
of both beverages and confectionery[2]
we no longer have a soft drinks business in the UK[3]
so we have illustrated most of our comments with perspectives
from our UK business (confectionery).
Key points
4. In assessing our own response to the
issue we were struck by the fact that whilst obesity is rising,
calorie intake is falling. The explanation for this apparent paradox
seems to lie in the fact that activity levels have also declined
sharply.
5. Activity is the most variable component
of the "obesity equation" and, we believe, the easiest
to influence. In addition it also has wider health and social
benefits, particularly for young people.
6. This has led us to focus much of our
efforts on encouraging activity, notably the development of the
Get Active programme with the Youth Sport Trust.
7. In addition we are:
Reviewing our product range including
delivering them in a variety of sizes and formats.
Supporting the 5 A Day message.
Trying to help consumers make informed
choices about their overall diet.
8. Clearly there is a limit to what a single
company can do. However, we are seeking to play our part.
ABOUT CADBURY
SCHWEPPES
Our heritage and tradition
9. Cadbury Schweppes is an industry leader
with a strong heritage of social responsibility. For over 200
years we have been successful because we have understood the needs
of our consumers, customers and colleagues and operated to a clearly
defined set of values.
10. These values have allowed us to earn
our good reputation and build brands that people love. Our UK
business, Cadbury Trebor Bassett (CTB), manufactures some of the
nation's favourite confectionery brands which have been enjoyed
by generations. They include Bassett's Liquorice Allsorts (1899),
Cadbury Dairy Milk (1905), Maynard's Wine Gums (1909), Jelly Babies
(1918), Flake (1920), Crunchie (1929) and Roses (1938).
11. We have always recognised that businesses
do not operate in a vacuum and have wider obligations to society.
Since the company's beginnings, Cadbury was known for its pioneering
work. In creating the Bournville "factory-in-a-garden"
in the 1800s, the Cadbury brothers introduced a groundbreaking
social welfare programme which included the building of houses
for their workers, education and healthcare provision (with an
on-site doctor and dentist) and recreation facilities such as
cricket and football fields, gardens, sports clubs and a swimming
pool.[4]
We were the first company to give employees Saturday, as well
as Sunday, off and established formal Works Councils with elected
employee representatives in 1917.
Cadbury Schweppes today
12. We value that tradition. Cadbury Schweppes
is now an international group, employing over 55,000 people (7,000
in the UK) and manufacturing a wide portfolio of products, which
are available in over 200 countries. However, that clear sense
of responsibility continues to play a central part in how we do
business. Our Core Purpose is "working together to create
brands people love" with the associated requirement that
we not only approach issues in partnership, but seek to earn public
trust, respect and loyalty.
13. Around us, the world has changed and
the obligations of business to society have broadened. We recognise
this and seek to ensure the continuation of our own heritage,
addressing issues sensitively and in the spirit of good corporate
citizenship.
14. We were one of the first companies to
establish a Board Corporate and Social Responsibility committee
and are members of the International Business Leaders Forum, Institute
of Business Ethics and Centre for Tomorrow's Company.
Our activities in communities
15. We have won a number of awards for our
work in the community including the Food and Drink Federation's
Gold Award for the best Large Company in 2002-03. Our work in
Hackney Education Action Zone has also received a Lord Mayor's
Dragon Award. We are ranked ninth in The Guardian/Business in
the Community Per Cent Club index of FTSE100 company contributions
to communities with a UK contribution equivalent to 2.2% of our
profit before tax. We were voted Most Admired Company for Community
and Environmental Responsibility in the 2002 Management Today
poll.
16. We believe in being actively involved
in communities, as demonstrated by our emphasis on engaging the
talent and energy of our people. Over 1,500 of our UK employees
were involved in community activities in 2002, ranging from school
governors to help with reading to action days which have transformed
local community facilities. We focus our community investment
on educational needs, and we were one of the first private sector
supporters of Education Action Zones.
WHY WE
ARE SUBMITTING
EVIDENCE TO
THE SELECT
COMMITTEE
We need healthy consumers
17. We rely upon having a society of fit, healthy
consumers who can enjoy our brands as part of a balanced diet
and lifestyle. By the very nature of our business we have a significant
interest in addressing rising obesity levels.
We want to play our part
18. This is a serious problem for society
and one which requires the combined energies of all parts of the
community. As well as looking internally to see what part we can
play, we have continued to talk with governments, pressure groups,
consumers, parents, teachers and others about the nature of the
role we can take. We are active participants in the WHO's current
industry dialogue which aims to build consensus between governments
and the private sector to tackle the rising levels of obesity
and physical inactivity.
Our brands have the power to reach people
19. Our brands occupy a unique place in
people's lives and many are powerful tools for reaching people
because of their long heritage, the high levels of consumer trust
that they enjoy and their strong association with seasonal and
family occasions.
20. Two-thirds of all confectionery is bought
for what marketers call "emotional needs", with our
products fulfilling basic social needs to treat, celebrate, gift
or reward. Consequently the most successful periods of trading
also coincide with times of family bonding, such as Christmas
and Easter.
WHAT ARE
THE TRENDS
IN OBESITY?
21. The trend towards increased incidences
of overweight and obesity are well documented and no doubt others
with a greater expertise will provide the Select Committee with
the relevant supporting data.
WHAT ARE
THE CAUSES
OF THE
RISE IN
OBESITY IN
RECENT DECADES?
22. In assessing our own response to the
issue we were struck by the fact that whilst obesity is rising,
calorie intake is falling. The explanation for this apparent paradox
seems to lie in the fact that activity levels have also declined
and this has led us to focus much of our efforts on encouraging
activity, notably with the development of the Get Active programme.
23. The detail of our approach is outlined
below.
A simple equation of calorie intake = energy expenditure
determines weight
24. Weight gain comes from an imbalance
between calorific intake and energy expenditure. In order to gain
weight a person's calorific intake must exceed their energy expenditure.
Calorific intake has not risen
25. The data shows that, contrary to popular
opinion, the average per capita food calorific intake has in fact
decreased (see chart).[5]
26. Even when the figures are adjusted to
allow for meals consumed outside the home and for under-reporting
of alcohol, confectionery and soft drinks the data shows that
adults calorie intakes have dropped by 20% from 1970-90.[6]
Reduced intake is also true with children
27. A number of studies confirm that children's
diets have been getting progressively lower in total calorific
intake for decades, whilst obesity levels have been rising steadily
for the same period (see graph).[7]
28. It is also worth noting here that 95%
of confectionery is bought by adults.
The role of confectionery
29. Contrary to popular belief there is
no evidence that shows that confectionery consumption is linked
to rising obesity levels. As detailed in the BCCCA's submission
to the Select Committee, international comparisons and analysis
of dietary surveys show no link between consumption of biscuits,
cake, chocolate and confectionery and obesity.
30. In addition, confectionery consumption
has been flat. Our own industry's data shows that the UK confectionery
market has seen no significant growth (below).
31. Indeed our own latest consumer research
showed a slow decline in children's confectionery consumption
from 1995-2002.
Decreased physical activity is the key
32. Given that diet has not significantly
changed, we looked to the other side of the "energy in/energy
out" equation. Here we found that there has been a significant
decrease in physical activity.
People are less active
33. Less people are now engaged in physically
arduous jobs. We can certainly see this in our own employee population;
not only are there proportionally far fewer manufacturing operations
to desk-based roles, but everyone's daily work requires much less
physical activity due to increased mechanism of processes.
34. There is widespread use of cars and
other forms of transport over walking, and most domestic situations
are characterised by labour-saving devices. Leisure time is generally
spent on sedentary activities.
Children are very inactive
35. This is particularly true for children
who aside from having less activity at school are being driven
to school (whether for reasons of convenience/time or safety),
also occupy their leisure time with a whole range of new forms
of sedentary activities such as playing computer games, surfing
the web or watching TV.
36. There are a variety of factors at work:
Sedentary lifestyles: one-quarter
of all children undertake no vigorous activity. On average, children
spend two-fifths hours per day in sedentary activities[8]
and one-fifth of young people sit for five hours each day (excluding
time spent at school).[9]
Less walking: Only half of girls
and 38% of boys aged 11-16 years walk continuously for 10 minutes
on any day of the week.[10]
The number of children being driven to school has increased four-fold
since the 1970s. Less than half of all children walk to school,
one-third are driven in cars and almost one-fifth travel on the
bus. On average the walk to school takes just 10 minutes.[11]
Less activity: Overall, of children
spend less than half an hour each day in vigorous activities.[12]
In the past 30 years activity in school has fallen by 70%. In
the 1970s children received five hours of games lessons per week,
in 2000 this was just 90 minutes per week.[13]
More TV and computer games: Television
viewing has more than doubled in the past 30 years to 26 hours
per week.[14]
The average UK person now spends 26 hours per week watching TV
compared with just 13 hours in the 1960s. The previous Health
Select Committee inquiry into public health (2001) reported in
paragraph 191 that: "Active play amongst children is being
superseded by time spent watching television or playing computer
games. Nearly three quarters of 11-16 year olds watch television
for two hours a day and 10% of children spend the same amount
of time on the computer."
Reduced PE in schools: The Committee
also noted that "Schools in England allocated less time to
PE than anywhere else in the EU according to the last survey which
was conducted in 1994. Since then things have deteriorated: the
percentage of children spending two or more hours per week on
PE has fallen from 46% to 33%"
The result is that physical activity levels
are between 30-50% below government recommendations.[15]
Physical activity has other health, and also wider
benefits
37. No doubt health and sport bodies will
bring the wider health benefits associated with physical activity
to the committee's attention.[16]
It is also worth noting that activity has a range of wider psychological
and social benefits, particularly for young people:
Mental alertness and improved concentration
levels, impacting upon academic performance.
Raised self-confidence and social
skills.
Teamwork and the building of social
networks.
"Diversionary" activity
from anti-social behaviour.
Encourages healthy eating.
Physical activity is easiest to tackle
38. Physical activity is the easiest part
of the "obesity equation" to influence as well as the
most variable from person to person.
Diet and lifestyle needs to be managed by individuals
and families
39. As previously mentioned, Cadbury Schweppes
has a real interest in having a society of fit, healthy consumers
who can enjoy our brands as part of a balanced diet and lifestyle.
40. We also recognise that what is right
for one person is not right for another. Different consumers have
different diets as well as different metabolisms and lifestyles.
A physically active and growing 14 year old will have different
needs to a sedentary 40 year old. Individuals and families must
be able to take responsibility for balancing "calories in"
with "energy out".
41. All this means that we need to equip
consumers with the skills and information to manage their diet
and lifestyle.
Education and consumer awareness
42. George Cadbury was probably one of the
first proponents of the "5 A Day" message. Back in the
1800s few people had access to fresh goods so he ensured that
both the Bournville factory and the workers' houses had gardens
where employees could grow vegetables. He also made a particular
point of providing fresh fruit in the factory dining halls and
actively encouraged employees to eat it.
43. Today we can all readily choose from
a huge range of fruit and vegetables, but we still need to be
encouraged to consume them. Cadbury Schweppes provides healthy
options in our staff canteens and are supporters of the UK Government's
5 A Day Campaign through the FDF's "Join the Activators"
campaign[17]
which we are promoting in schools (Appendix 1).
Consumer information and choice
44. We can help consumers make informed
choices about the products that they consume by:
Labelling our products clearly and
in full compliance with local regulations.
Delivering our products in a variety
of sizes and formats so that consumers can choose the portion
size that is right for them. For example all our children's range
of Cadburyland products are less than 100k/cal as are our treat
and fun size bars. Our packaging is designed in a way which allows
the consumer to exercise portion control.
Promoting physical activity
45. Counting calories is not going to solve
the obesity problemwe need people to get active. We decided
our key contribution would be in finding a way to use the power
of our brands and their long-standing connection to millions of
consumers to encourage children (and their teachers and families)
to understand, and adopt, a more healthy and active lifestyle.
46. We have long supported initiatives to
promote physical activity. In fact, we started with our staff
back in the 1800s setting up the Men's Athletic Club in 1896 and
the Girl's Athletic Club in 1899. We still encourage our employees
to be active, providing access to sports facilities and running
an `Employee's Get Active' programme which incentivises them to
raise money for charity through physical challengesfrom
abseiling off office blocks to running marathons.
47. In the community our work on the Manchester
Commonwealth Games included raising the profile of the Games through
a TEXT4Gold promotion, as well as organisation of the Queen's
Jubilee Baton Relay which comprised hundreds of ordinary people
running with the Commonwealth Baton in a relay across the country.
We have also supported the British Heart Foundation's Walk for
Life and the annual Strollathon.
48. The new innovative Get Active programme
that we have developed with the Youth Sport Trust (YST)[18]
takes this support to a new level.
GET ACTIVE
(a) The programme
49. There are five elements to the £9
million programme:
1. Resources and training for teachers:
we are funding a primary and a secondary teaching programme to
support the delivery of high quality physical education and sport.
Resources providing training and lesson plans have been specially
developed by the YST in conjunction with PE professionals, higher
education institutions and national governing bodies of sport.
They use game-based activities to focus on common skills needed
for all kinds of sportssuch as running techniquesrather
than specific sports which can deter those who are not `natural'
football or cricket players. This is a standalone donation and
not linked to the wrapper collection element of the programme.
2. Free unbranded sports equipment:
From May 2003, tokens will appear on product packs which families
can collect for their local schools, who can exchange them for
free specialist sports equipmentfrom stop watches and dumb
bells to throwing games and skipping ropes.
The range has been developed by the YST based
on their understanding of what will get kids active. It is bright,
funky and innovative, and includes equipment for children with
special needs. The range is detailed in a catalogue and schools
can pick what they want, thus ensuring that relevant kit gets
to those schools who both need and will use it. It will not carry
any Cadbury branding.
3. Get Active day on 8 June (the start
of British Heart Week) marked by a free event at the NEC in Birmingham
to celebrate all forms of youth activity. This will include a
variety of activities including activity zones run by official
sporting bodies, a music zone and a dance area.
We would be delighted to invite the Select Committee
to attend and observe the event as part of its considerations.
4. Employee action building on our award
winning volunteering programme to talk to young people about the
benefits of balanced diet and healthy lifestyle, including promotion
of 5 A Day and school sports.
5. Creation of a new Get Active Fund
to support disadvantaged children who wish to get active but face
barriers to doing so.
(b) Developed in consultation
50. We have not created this initiative
on our own. We sought the advice of teachers and others about
what we could and should do, and are responding to the WHO's challenge
to business to find ways to use their brands to encourage activity.
51. We have worked closely with the YST,
Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Education
and the Department of Health as well as with teachers, sports
psychologists, educational experts parents and other stakeholders.[19]
(c) Addressing stakeholder concerns
52. Significant aspects of the scheme are:
There is no Cadbury branding on any
of the sports equipment.
Schools will not be selling our products
as part of the scheme, they will simply be collecting tokens.
The brands carrying tokens are not
our children's range. It is aimed at extended families and communities
rather than children.
The redemption level is deliberately
generous15p in the £1. For example, if every pupil
in an average-sized school of 250 pupils brought in just one token
a week for 8 weeks the school would have enough tokens to claim
a full set of equipment.
Our measurement of its success is
not linked to sales figuresit is linked to the amount of
equipment that is claimed.
The sports ambassadors (Paula Radcliffe,
Audley Harrison) are not being used in advertising or to promote
confectionerythey are being used to talk to children about
how sport has impacted on their life.
53. We will continue to listen to stakeholder
concerns, as well as the experience of the programme in action,
to ensure we get the right combination of commercial benefit for
the company and genuine social benefit.
(d) Re-branding physical activity
54. Get Active seeks to re-market or re-brand
physical activity which, in today's world, needs to compete for
the attention of young people against sedentary leisure activities
such as computer games and TV. It uses innovative teaching techniques
and "trendy" equipment to help teachers get young people
engaged and interested.
55. It is designed to spread the message
at street level, and has particular elements aimed at the key
audiences of:
Young womenwho can tend to
use unhealthy dieting or smoking as forms of weight control.
Disadvantaged groups such as ethnic
minoritieswho can see traditional school sports as "uncool"
or something that is "not for them".
56. It capitalises on the reach of the Cadbury
brand, which is one of the UK's most trusted, to involve parents,
teachers and the wider community and help them understand the
importance of encouraging activity. We are proud to have got this
debate onto the public agenda.
(e) What is in it for Cadbury?
57. Clearly we are a commercial enterprise.
This partnership is in addition to our standard UK community contribution
of 2.2% of pre tax profits and therefore does have some commercial
objectives. These are:
Growing our SHARE of the confectionery
market but not overall confectionery CONSUMPTION. This scheme
should not increase total sales of confectionery. We should see
increased sales of Cadbury products, but this should be based
on consumers SWITCHING from other confectionery brands in their
normal confectionery consumption. This could either be because
a consumer is collecting Get Active tokens or simply because we
will have been allocated more point of sale space in stores than
our competitors.
Positive reinforcement of the Cadbury
brand image.
(f) Support for Get Active
58. Over 4,000 schools have registered their
interest in the past month demonstrating support for the initiative
at the grass roots.
59. Get Active has also been endorsed by
Baroness Ashton, Education Minister and by Richard Caborn, Minister
for Sport, who said:
"We are all aware of the growing health
problems facing our young people and we are eager to encourage
more to get involved in sport and develop active lifestyles. I
am delighted that Cadbury are prepared to support this drive to
get more young people active... In partnership we could make a
real difference to the quality of young people's lives."
60. Baroness Greengross, in her capacity
as chair of the All-Party Corporate Social Responsibility Group,
called it "a good example of a carefully crafted corporate
social responsibility initiative".
61. Get Active is designed to be a long-term
and sustainable education initiative, getting the whole community
behind the need for young people to be more active. In year one
we will measure its success by the level of interest that schools
show, and by the amount of equipment that gets into the hands
of young people. In year two we will be looking for clear indications
that young people are more active.
62. We hope that the Committee will agree
with these ambitions and acknowledge Get Active as a well-thought
out and positive contribution.
CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS
63. We support the recommendations outlined
in the submissions of our trade associations, but would add the
following comments.
64. It is important to recognise that we
are facing an extremely complex challenge. Shifting public behaviour
is not a simple task. It will require governments and all other
stakeholders to work together with a clear eye on achieving real
results over the long term.
There are no quick fixes or single
solutions.
It will need to be approached on
the basis of science-based consideration of what will work rather
than emotive/subjective views, and with a clear understanding
of the actual impactand indeed wider ramificationsof
action taken.
Targeted action which takes into
account specific causal factors and is directed at high risk groups
(rather than everyone) is more likely to be effective.
Positive measures are more likely
to be effective than negative messages (which can have a negligible
or even counterproductive effect on consumer behaviour, especially
young people).
65. There can be a tendency for debates
such as this to become very adversarial and for the private sector's
contribution to be disregarded because of their commercial interests.
We believe that in order to make an impact on such huge issues,
we need to get all parts of society playing a role and find new
ways of working together and harnessing our respective skills.
66. We recognise that we have to earn the
trust of government and stakeholders, however we can either push
separately or push together. We need to understand and utilise
each other's strengthsand the power of the Cadbury brand
is one which has a relevance for parents and for teenagers. We
want to harness that power for good.
67. We approach this issue, as we do all
others, in the spirit of our core purpose of "working together
to create brands people love" and in the tradition of social
involvement that has been our hallmark for over 100 years.
30 April 2003
1 Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionery Alliance
(BCCCA), Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and Food Advertising
Unit (FAU). Back
2
Our confectionery range encompasses sugar confectionery, chewing
gum and functional confectionery as well as chocolate. Key brands
include Cadbury, Trebor, Bassett, Fry's, Maynards, Butterkist,
Hollywood, Sportlife, Trident, Dentyne, Halls and Stimorol. Our
beverages range encompasses mineral waters, juices, ready-to-drink
teas and flavoured milks, as well as still and carbonated beverages.
Brands include Malvern waters, Schweppes Tonic, Canada Dry, Snapple,
Nantucket Nectars, Oasis, Gini, La Casera, Big Apple, Orangina,
Mott's apple juice and sauces, Dr Pepper, 7Up, Squirt, Clamato
juices, Yoo-Hoo and Hawaiian Punch. Back
3
We sold the rights to our Schweppes brands to The Coca-Cola Company
in 1999. Back
4
Today we continue to provide such services through a range of
on-site and benefit choices. Further details are provided in paragraph
43. Back
5
National Food and Diet Survey, 2000. Back
6
Prentice, AM and Jebb, SA., Obesity in Britain: Gluttony or
Sloth, British Medical Journal 211, 1995. Back
7
1983 data taken from The diets of British School Children,
Department of Health, 1983. 1997 data taken from National Diet
and Nutrition Survey: young people aged 4-18 years, The Stationery
Office, 2000. Back
8
National Diet and Nutrition Survey, 2000. Back
9
Time Use Study, Exeter University, 2000. Back
10
British Nutrition Foundation, Obesity, 1999. Back
11
National Diet and Nutrition Survey, 2000. Back
12
Ibid. Back
13
British Nutrition Foundation, Obesity, 1999. Back
14
National Statistics, Social Trends 31, 1999. Back
15
National Diet and Nutrition Survey, 2000. Back
16
EUFUC Review, Understanding Obesity, Nov 1996 suggests
exercise helps reduce the loss of lean body mass which occurs
during dieting thus maintaining the body's basal metabolic rate.
It affects metabolism and increases protective high-density lipoprotein
cholesterol. It improves the body's handling of dietary fat and
enhances the body's ability to use glucose thereby reducing the
risk of diabetes. There is also evidence that it may help reduce
the incidence of coronary heart disease and certain cancers. Back
17
Featured on the DfES Curriculum Online website as a digital learning
resource addressing healthy eating and physical activity. Back
18
The Youth Sport Trust is a charity working to create opportunities
for young people to receive a quality introduction to physical
education and encourage active lifestyles amongst all young people. Back
19
For example, we met with the British Heart Foundation, the National
Obesity Forum, the Consumers' Association and others to discuss
the scheme and seek their feedback. Back
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