Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) pledged its support to the Eat Right campaign launched in July 2018. Led by the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the Eat Right campaign aims to increase awareness about the right food and dietary choices to improve health and wellbeing among consumers. Over the last one year, HUL has made steady progress on this journey.
Eat Right on Streets
India has a rich tradition of street food that often reflects the local culture. Easy availability, coupled with a variety of offerings and low prices, have made street food popular with all sections of society. However, it is often perceived as unhygienic. Thus, there is a need for capacity building of street food vendors that should, in turn, lead to their behaviour change.
HUL and FSSAI took a 360-degree approach to Food Safety and Healthy Nutrition, which involved training and capacity building of the street food vendors, to ensure proper regulatory oversight.
Training for street food operators was implemented across 25 towns, and many more are in progress.
Many clean street food hubs have been implemented with the most prominent being Girgaum Chowpatty, Mumbai.
Eat Right on Tracks
HUL has also been closely working with FSSAI while partnering Railway Zones / IRCTC to propagate the ‘Eat Right India’ mission through their mass consumption channels. The focus is to generate passenger delight by improving eateries at stations, railway dining and providing training and education. A plan has been put in place to make Mumbai Central as India’s 1st Eat Right Station followed by Mumbai Railway Network. To emphasise hygiene & cleanliness in the Indian Railways catering services, HUL, in collaboration with FSSAI organised a Food Safety Supervisor Training & Certification Conference at Western Railway headquarters.
Eat Right on Campus
HUL has been a part of Eat Right on campus and Safe and nutritious food at the workplace initiative. HUL and FSSAI are working with several campuses (Corporate and Academic) to educate them on Eat Right practices such as healthy diet plans, food waste management techniques and promotion and building awareness of local and seasonal food. A process has been put in place for campuses to register, followed by training, self-assessment and audit. Post audit the unit will be awarded a certificate.
Some of the campuses where this initiative has already been implemented are IIT Roorkee, Wipro Bengaluru, HCL Noida, Genpact Gurugram, to name a few.
Improving Nutrition
HUL’s collaboration with the Eat Right campaign aligns well with the ‘Improving Nutrition’ pillar of the Unilever Sustainable Living Programme (USLP). Besides initiatives within the community, HUL is continually working towards making its food healthier, more accessible and affordable while improving the taste and nutritional quality of products. For instance, as part of USLP commitments, HUL has already reduced sodium, sugar across various food & beverage products and our products do not contain trans fats originating from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
By 2020, we aim to double the proportion of our portfolio that meets the highest nutritional standards, based on globally recognised dietary guidelines. This will help millions of people to achieve a healthier diet.
HUL’s commitment to providing the best possible products to its customers is a continuous effort. This commitment extends across product portfolios, including our food and beverages range.