According to Nielsen in its 2015 Global Health and Wellness Report, 34 million people go hungry in Latin America. At the same time, 59% of the population is obese, 54% think they are overweight and 56% are doing something to lose weight. In Colombia, per the National Nutrition Situation Survey (ENSIN), 1 in 2 people are overweight and only 1 in 4 Colombians do 150 minutes of physical activity, the recommended weekly amount for a healthy life.
Nilsen figures also show that healthy purchasing trends in the region have strengthened, with a 16% sales increase. In addition, 75% of Latin Americans are interested in changing their diet, 63% are starting to exercise regularly and 48% are looking to reduce portion sizes.
In response to the nutritional indicators of Latin Americans that highlight the growing problem of malnutrition and obesity in the region, the Collaboration for Healthier Lives began its first LatAm regional initiative in Colombia in 2017.
‘Se Siente Bien’ (It Feels good), has been inclusive of food as well as non-food activities as part of in-store activities and digital communication. Overall, more than 10 million people have been impacted by the communications of this initiative.
The project saw new companies joining such as Ara, Henkel, Kenvue, L’Oreal and MARS and partnerships growing with Gran Alianza por la Nutricion (Great Alliance for Nutrition), ABACO and Blacksmith.
Activities in-store included having key messages displayed through internal audio and TV displays and having company specific stands. Around 23,000 customers were reported to have experienced these messages in-store. In order to include manufacturers in the activities, Grupo Exito organized a Healthy Fair which resulted in reported 24% increase of sales of healthy products.
As the pandemic greatly limited in-store activities, Se Siente Bien continued to provide health tips and guidance to consumers online. Companies related to the initiative developed joint activities focused on the customer which promoted the pillars of the initiative (personal and home care, healthy life, physical activity, nutritional education) increasing the presence of brands in different channels such as the store or websites.
Online pages on Grupo Exito and Carulla’s website were developed to include information to better understand company products – resulting in over 16,000 visits. During the past two years, JUMBO has been sending weekly emails on household tips resulting over 4 million people. In alliance with the Food Bank (ACABO), Super Inter, a branch of Grupo Exito delivered physical catalogues directly to the homes of over 220.000 residents of central Colombia.
The Misión Nutrición Wellbeing program, which began in 2021, forging partnerships from the private and public ministries (including notably the participation of the Colombia’s First Lady) has showed the power of public-private sector collaboration to address nutritional gaps in Colombia. The strategy promotes Healthy Habits based on the local dietary guidelines. The key partners include the Ministry of Health, ICBF, Cinco al Día, and the CGF as part of the Gran Alianza por la Nutrición. The initiative includes digital and in-store communication, selection of products based on the dietary guidelines from ICBF and development of recipes to promote the inclusion of balanced products in the families’ diets.
Misión Nutrición’s digital messaging has reached over three million Colombian residents and five cookbooks based on specific regions in Colombia have been developed to encourage the use of local ingredients.
In response to The Government of Colombia introducing a Labelling Law that requires a country-of-origin label on all processed food products, the CHL Colombia team conducted a webinar with the participation of the Ministry of Health. Grupo Bimbo and Savencia presented their experience implementing a similar law in México and Chile and France respectively.
To learn more about our activities in CHL Colombia, or to see how your company can get involved, please contact our LatAm manager.
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