Lobbying: “Any direct or indirect communication with public officials, political decision makers or representatives for the purposes of influencing public decision making and carried out by or on behalf of any organized group.

–  Transparency International

The practice of lobbying can be an important part of the policy-making process. Allowing stakeholders to present their perspectives, data, and expertise, can contribute to better legislation, regulations, and standards by providing policymakers with a richer understanding of the (potential) impact of (proposed) policies on the ground. Meanwhile, when aligned with the public interest, this approach has the potential to drive stronger and more effective policy action on key sustainability and societal issues, achieving sector-wide impact and levelling the playing field for all.

However, lobbying does not always work this way in practice. Well-resourced interests can obtain access more easily, frequently, and effectively than other stakeholders, meaning their views have a disproportionate impact on public policy development. The result can be that policy outcomes reflect narrower interests at the expense of the wider public good. In this way, lobbying by the F&B industry has been cited as an obstacle in passing much-needed public policy changes to address the growing burden of obesity and other diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at the national level around the world.

This report is ATNI’s first in-depth benchmark of the world’s 25 largest F&B companies’ lobbying Policy commitments, Management systems, and Disclosures against the Responsible Lobbying Framework (RLF), with a focus on nutrition-related public health measures.

The RLF was developed to help organizations adopt corporate practices that ensure their lobbying activities are legitimate, transparent, consistent, and accountable, while providing the opportunity for other, more resource-constrained groups, to lobby in the public interest.

The methodology of this report, which consists of 35 indicators, was adapted from ATNI’s Spotlight on Lobbying 2021: BMS Manufacturers, which in turn was based on the RLF. The focus of this research is not to monitor actual lobbying activities or expenditures, but the company’s standards, positions, procedures, and transparency in doing so.

The aim of this report is to encourage F&B manufacturers to improve their corporate practices relevant to lobbying: setting high-level lobbying commitments; translating these into action through effective management systems; being open and transparent through comprehensive disclosure; and thereby lobbying more responsibly and in the public health interest.

Read the report