Nutrition Insight: ATNi urges food industry to prioritize nutrition for commercial success in Africa
7 August 2026Key Takeaways
- ATNi reveals that African food manufacturers and retailers are not yet consistently supporting healthier diets.
- Healthier products make up a minority of assessed portfolios, and healthier baskets generally cost more than less healthy ones in the region.
- ATNi says nutrition and commercial success can coexist, pointing to Carrefour’s additive removal and Nutri-Score commitments.
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The Access to Nutrition initiative’s (ATNi) recent webinar explored the main drivers of consumer demands in Africa alongside the role of private-sector strategies and policy frameworks in encouraging the adoption of nutritious diets.
Nutrition Insight speaks with the nonprofit to learn how retailers, brands, suppliers, and governments can help improve the food environment in the region.
Webinar presenter and researcher Freddie von Kaufmann observes that food manufacturers and retailers increasingly influence what people consume across Africa, especially in urban and peri-urban areas.
“Our findings show that these companies are not yet consistently supporting healthier diets,” he tells us. “Healthier products represent a minority of assessed private-label portfolios and online promotions, while healthier baskets generally cost more than less healthy ones.”
“Alongside this, the majority of companies lack comprehensive nutrition strategies, targets, and public reporting, with companies in higher-income countries generally performing better across these areas.”
Attention on improving health in Africa has come under the spotlight after the recently published 2026 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World underscored that, although global hunger eased slightly, Africa now ranks highest, with 309 million people affected. Healthy diets became more costly in 2025 and out of reach for 66.6% of Africa’s population.
Nutrition as a strategic business priority
ATNi’s webinar framed a tension between commercial objectives, affordability, and nutrition goals. Sharing a key finding from its benchmarking, senior researcher Brenda de Kok tells us that trade-offs between commercial success and healthier portfolios are not required.
“Although some companies are currently the exception rather than the norm, we do see some examples of companies with relatively healthier product portfolios that also hold strong market positions, demonstrating that nutrition and commercial performance can be compatible.”
“A common feature of these companies is that they tend to treat nutrition as a strategic business priority, rather than a standalone corporate responsibility initiative,” she notes. “This is reflected across their business practices in areas such as targets for portfolio healthiness and responsible labeling and marketing practices.”
ATNi finds companies are not yet consistently supporting healthier diets in Africa.ATNi suggests companies integrate affordability into nutrition strategies by setting measurable targets and clearly defining “affordability” and “healthy.” Companies are also recommended to close the price gap between healthier and less healthy products while increasing the availability of affordable private-label options.
Furthermore, she points to Carrefour as a successful example from ATNi’s global research. The retail store committed to removing controversial additives from its private-label products as part of its nutrition strategy. This was also used as a form of competitive advantage while meeting consumer demand.
“Carrefour, and other French retailers we assessed, also have strong commitments to displaying Nutri-Score across their private label portfolios, thereby supporting consumers in making healthier choices,” says De Kok.