HiPP
Score 2024
Score
Score
Important:
The research findings regarding companies’ performance in this Index are based on information shared by companies or gathered by service providers, in addition to information that is available in the public domain.
The level of detail and comprehensiveness of information shared by companies and gathered through external service providers varied. In the case of limited or no engagement by companies, this Index may not represent the full extent of their efforts. Similarly, in the case of limited data collected by service providers, the findings of this Index may not provide a comprehensive representation of company practices.
ATNI’s research and Indexes do not assess compliance with local regulations or laws, but rather assess private sector performance against international standards and guidance.
BMS Country Studies
Score
The Country Studies component of the BMS and CF Marketing Indexes 2024 evaluates the extent to which a company’s marketing practices align with specific provisions of the WHO Code (not against local Code-related regulations). The main marketing channels assessed in the Country Studies for the BMS and CF Marketing Indexes 2024 are online points-of-sale, traditional and online media outlets, and product labels, which were all assessed according to the NetCode protocol. HiPP sells BMS products in three (China, Germany and Viet Nam) of the five countries selected for the assessment which altogether represent over 25% of HiPP’s estimated global BMS sales. The Country Studies results for HiPP are summarized below for each country and across each marketing channel.
Country Studies overview
| HiPP | Country assessments | BMS market | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total incidences of non-compliance across online, traditional media, and product labels | Number of product labels assessed | Company brands found | BMS market share | Proportion of HiPP's global BMS sales | |
| CHINA | 23 | 0 | Not applicable | <5% | No information |
| GERMANY | 36 | 24 | HiPP | 17% | 25% |
| INDONESIA | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| US | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| VIET NAM | 6 | 6 | HiPP | <5% | No information |
(0 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 100%)
(>0-10 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 66%)
(>10-20 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 33%)
(> 20 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 0%)
• A total of 65 incidences of non-compliant marketing practices for CF products were found for HiPP. Non-compliant marketing practices were found across online media channels and traditional media assessed in the three countries and a total of 30 CF product labels were assessed from the HIPP brand.
• Among the three countries where HiPP’s marketing practices were assessed, the company has relatively high shares in Germany (17%) which is a market that constitutes almost 25% of HiPP’s global BMS sales. It is also the market in which the highest number of incidences of non-compliance (36) were found for the company, and the largest number of product labels were assessed (24).
• In China and Viet Nam, the company has relatively low shares in these countries’ BMS markets. The number of identified incidences of non-compliance (6) was lowest in Viet Nam for HiPP across the three countries it was assessed in, where only six product labels were assessed.
• In China, although no product labels were found during data collection nor shared by the company for assessment, a total of 23 incidences of non-compliance were identified across the monitored media channels.
Observed incidences of non-compliance with the Code per country
Main in-country findings
The highest number of incidences of non-compliance for HiPP’s were found in Germany (36), followed by China (23), and Viet Nam (6).
Overall, the majority of incidences of non-compliance (34 out of 65) for HiPP were identified through the social listening of online platforms. Many incidences of non-compliance were also attributed to inappropriate product labels (30 out of 65) and only one incidence of non-compliance was found on traditional media in Germany.
In Germany, most incidences of non-compliance were found on infant formula labels intended for infants from birth, whereas in China they were largely concerning growing-up milks promoted online.
Online findings
• Among the total incidences of non-compliance found online, over half were point-of-sale promotions found on online retailers, mainly in the form of discounts and special offers. There were no observations of HiPP BMS products among the online retailers monitored in Viet Nam. In total, 18 point-of-sale promotions were found in China of follow-up formula and growing-up milk, and only one promotion of a HiPP growing-up milk was identified on the online retailer websites monitored in Germany, all of which are contraventions of the Code.
• The remaining 15 observations were found on the company’s local websites and social media platforms, with the highest number of findings in Germany (10) and five found in China. No online advertisements for HiPP BMS products and brands were identified in Viet Nam during the eight-week period the channels were monitored.
• In China and Germany, an average of two incidences of non-compliance were identified with each observation.
• Apart from advertising BMS – a non-compliance with the Code in itself – other common incidences found with those advertisements included the promotion of bottle feeding in China and soliciting caregivers in Germany to sign-up to baby clubs that provide education on infant and young child feeding.
• The majority of advertisements also included claims, ranging from 50% of the identified advertisements in Germany containing at least one type of claim, mostly nutritional claims, to 80% in China which were mostly marketing claims.
Traditional media findings
• One advertisement of a HiPP follow-up formula was identified on television in Germany during the six-month period the selected channels were monitored, which also included a nutrition and marketing claim.
BMS product label
• Of all products, 24 HiPP BMS products were assessed in Germany and six in Viet Nam. No BMS products were found in China for HiPP during data collection nor shared by the company for assessment.
• For all HiPP product labels assessed, at least one incident of Code non-compliance was observed. The average number of incidences of non-compliance per product label ranged from five in Germany to seven in Viet Nam.
• All six HiPP labels assessed in Viet Nam had health and nutrition claims, and 22 of the 24 labels assessed in Germany for HiPP had at least one type of claim, the most commonly found being marketing claims. None of the 30 labels assessed for HiPP included a statement on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to 2 years or beyond.
• In Germany, the products assessed for HiPP were found to generally meet the requirements of the Code regarding clear instructions on the appropriate preparation of powdered formula. However, most of the products (20 out of the 24) did not have clear instructions indicating the use of hygienic practices, including clean hands and surfaces, when preparing powdered formula. In addition, half of HiPP’s products assessed in Germany were missing a statement that the product should be used only on the advice of a health worker, in a font size that is easily visible, in bold and on a contrasting background, and only half included the recommended age range near the product name.
• It is worth noting that ATNI did not have the resources to collect products from the different markets and take pictures of their labels. In this iteration, ATNI’s research was based on product label images from an external provider. For some products, images were not clear enough or did not show all parts of the package, thus ATNI asked the respective companies to provide images of the labels. While HiPP directed ATNI to specific sections on its German website where product label images could be found, the company did not provide images for the products sold in China and Viet Nam. Incomplete assessments therefore remained for three products in Viet Nam. Since at least one incidence of non-compliance was identified from the existing images, these labels were counted as a non-compliant observation.
Recommendations
• With a total of 65 incidences of non-compliant marketing practices for BMS products found for HiPP across online and traditional media channels as well as product labels assessed in the three countries, HiPP is strongly encouraged to strengthen its marketing policies and ensure its marketing practices comply fully with the recommendations of the Code and all subsequent relevant resolutions, including the guidance supported by WHA resolution 69.9. ATNI has developed a model company policy on the responsible marketing of breast-milk substitutes which can guide companies on how to incorporate Code provisions and align with the latest public health requirements in practice.
• HiPP is urged to restrict the advertising and promotion of all types of BMS products and brands on all forms of media platforms globally. The company should also refrain from soliciting contact with caregivers and providing education and information on infant and young child feeding across all platforms.
• HiPP is strongly encouraged to take responsibility for monitoring its marketing practices beyond local regulations, according to the principles and the aim of the Code and subsequent relevant resolutions, and to take steps to ensure this includes online media channels as well as traditional media channels.
• HiPP is encouraged to look for ways to engage with its industry associations, retailers and/or regulators to ensure that there are no promotions of BMS products in the retail environment, and see that products are appropriately marketed in line with the Code.
• Given that all the labels assessed were found to be non-compliant with the Code requirements, HiPP is encouraged to focus on improving labeling practices across all markets to ensure full compliance with the Code and all subsequent relevant resolutions, including the guidance supported by WHA resolution 69.9.
• From our research, point-of-sale promotions from HiPP for growing-up milks were found, and observations on online platforms were also mainly for growing-up milk and brands associated with BMS product advertisements, which is contrary to the requirements of the Code, specifically the guidance supported by WHA resolution 69.9 that extends the scope of the Code to growing-up milks. Therefore, ATNI urges HiPP to ensure its commitments include growing-up milks in all markets.
• ATNI is calling on HiPP to review all incidences of non-compliance identified across all marketing channels, which were shared in detail with the company, and to take corrective action in each of the markets.
BMS Corporate Profile
Score
The Corporate Profile component of the BMS and CF Marketing Indexes 2024 evaluates the extent to which a company’s policies align with various provisions of the Code, the effectiveness of its related management systems as well as the company’s level of disclosure on commitments relating to BMS marketing. HiPP’s BMS marketing commitments were assessed across 11 topics that cover different aspects of the Code on which the company scored an average of 8%. This score is equivalent to the company’s initial overall Corporate Profile score before a geographic penalty (if applicable) is applied to each BMS product type. The final Corporate Profile score considers how the company’s BMS marketing commitments are applied for the different BMS product types sold by the company, and across different markets. As HiPP sells infant formula, follow-up formula, and growing-up milks, the company’s application of BMS commitments was evaluated for each product type, as shown in the next section on ‘Geographic application of BMS commitments by product type’. The scores and findings on each topic are described in further detail in the section below on ‘BMS Commitments by Topic’.
Geographic application by HiPP of BMS commitments by product type
The table below shows the percentage of product sales where commitments are upheld and the geographic penalty applied to each type of BMS. The penalty ranges from 0% up to 90% depending on whether a company fully upholds its BMS marketing commitments in all or none of the countries in which it operates, respectively, where national Code regulations are absent or less stringent than the company’s policies and standards.
|
Corporate Profile score before penalty |
Product type |
Percentage of HiPP’s global sales from markets where BMS commitments are upheld |
Geographic penalty applied |
Final Corporate Profile score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.5% |
Infant formula |
95% | 4.5% | 3.7% |
|
Follow-up formula |
0% | 90% | ||
|
Growing-up milk |
0% | 90% |
ATNI referred to HiPP’s 2018 Guideline for marketing breast-milk substitutes and other internal documentation that was confidentially shared with ATNI to assess how the company’s BMS marketing commitments are upheld for each product type and in which markets. Euromonitor retail sales estimates were used to calculate the proportion of HiPP’s global product sales covered per BMS product type.
Infant formula
The company upholds its commitments for this product type globally, even where local Code regulations are absent or weaker than the company policy.
However, HiPP did not share evidence to confirm that these commitments are also upheld for infant formulas for special medical purposes. Although commitments for infant formula products are upheld globally, it is not clear if they are upheld for infant formula for special medical purposes too; and this represents 95% of the company’s global infant formula sales.
The corresponding geographic penalty for this product type is 4%.
ATNI encourages HiPP to provide clear evidence that it covers all infant formula, without exception, including formulas for special medical purposes.
Follow-up formula
The company does not apply its BMS marketing commitments to follow-up formula.
The corresponding geographic penalty for this product type is the maximum of 90%.
To further improve the scope of the company’s policy, ATNI urges HiPP to cover the marketing of its follow-up formula globally.
Growing-up milk
The company does not apply its BMS marketing commitments to growing-up milks. This is evident from the country assessments where the majority of the observed incidences of non-compliance were attributed to growing-up milk products.
The corresponding geographic penalty for this product type is the maximum of 90%.
ATNI calls on HiPP to consider the expanded definition of the Code, following the World Health Assembly resolution 69.9 recommendations, to cover any milk products up to three years of age.
Topics Overview
BMS commitments by topic
Most topics include assessments on both policy commitments and management systems, except for the topic on ‘Implementation and Monitoring’, which mostly considers management systems, and the topic ‘Overarching Commitments’, which considers policy commitments only. A separate topic assesses the level of disclosure and transparency practiced by companies on the different aspects of the Code.