Better for you
A multi-faceted strategy to help our consumers make the right choice when they want to enjoy our delicious confectionery products.
At PVM we produce delicious confectionery treats for our consumers worldwide, using high quality, safe and healthy ingredients. We are convinced that health and indulgence can co-exist and we aim to provide our consumers with products that combine gratification and pleasure with health attributes.
Practising responsible marketing
We support consumption in moderation and our advertising communication will not depict over consumption of food and of our products. We ensure the message and tone of our advertising communication is responsible, for example, we will not depict stereotypes, explicit sexual behaviour or controversial subjects.
Our core principles from our Marketing Code listed below shape the way we communicate and advertise globally across all media platforms:
- Our advertising messages will not encourage over consumption;
- Messages will encourage an active lifestyle (especially among the youth);
- Our advertising messages will not feature children below seven years consuming confectionery products. Children may be featured in our advertising and promotional communication as part of a family situation or in a playful environment, when relevant to the marketing message;
- Our advertising will feature products in a reasonable portion size for the situation depicted;
- Our communication and advertising messages do not treat our product as substitute for meals but as snacks and treats.
Promoting consumer well-being
Our position on key ingredients:
Added sugars are common components of modern-day diets, found in a wide range of foods and drinks, including confectionery. In addition to providing sweetness and an attractive taste, sugars are a source of energy. Confectionery products contain added sugars, and therefore best to be enjoyed in moderation.
We believe that the reduction of sugar intake can be achieved as a result of numerous actions taken by consumers. We are also aware of the key role that the confectionery industry can play and for this reason we have adopted a multi-faceted strategy based on three main goals:
-
Transparent calorie content information on our sugar based candies and chocolates
We will provide our consumers with clear calorie per piece labelling compatibly with availability of space on packaging: all new sugar based candies, lollipops and chocolate will visibly feature calorie information per piece and we will gradually change the existing candy and chocolate packs lacking the information.
With calorie per piece labelling as a reference, we provide clear information for our consumers to easily calculate and decide how many pieces they can consume based on their daily dietary intake.
-
Wide range of sugar based, sugar free and sugar reduced products
We offer our consumers a wide product range from sugar based products to sugar free and sugar reduced options. In particular, for all our global brands (Mentos, Chupa Chups, Alpenliebe and Fruittella), we commit to offer a sugar free or sugar reduced variant next to sugar based products in the coming five years.
Most of our chewing gum portfolio is sugar free. Chewing sugar free gum is beneficial for oral hygiene, as recognized by the FDI World Dental Federation and numerous national dental associations around the world. Chewing sugar free gum contributes to the maintenance of tooth mineralisation, the neutralisation of plaque acids and the reduction of oral dryness.
In 2016, we launched our reduced sugar Fruittella candy in the United Kingdom: this delicious fruit candy has 30% less sugar, delivering 350 (kcal) calories per 100g vs a standard Fruittella candy that delivers 400 (kcal) calories.
-
Products in smaller and resealable packs and single portions
We offer more options including smaller packs that help consumers enjoy our treats in moderation and do not provide stimulus for overconsumption.
Our smaller packs, single portion and re-sealable packs such as Mentos Mini, Fruittella Dummy and Alpenliebe pillow-packs have been part of our product portfolio for a long time. In 2016, around 26% of our revenue came from products sold in pack sizes less than 30g.
Consumers are increasingly health conscious and food-savvy and prioritise natural ingredients in their food choices.
Artificial colours approved as food additives by the national and international food safety institutions do not pose risks to consumers’ health but have often been a cause for concern, especially in terms of exposure to children. Although confectionery is considered an occasional treat, we strive to minimise and avoid the use of artificial colourings where possible.
We have committed to the following:
- For new product developments of local and global brands, we will work with our suppliers to identify available natural alternatives and use non-artificial colourings where feasible.
- Existing products will be gradually reformulated with the purpose of switching to non-artificial colour alternatives. This process will take several years because of the complexity of the task to maintain the same product appeal, quality standards and food safety levels as well as the large number of products involved in the reformulation process at global level.
- We have also begun to completely remove titanium dioxide (an approved colour additive used in a variety of applications, including food, to impart white colour) from all product recipes worldwide and we will stop using titanium dioxide in production during 2018.
Genetically Modified (GM) foods are made from crops grown from seeds with genetically engineered DNA. Genetic engineering is a relatively new technique and research linked to the long-term health effects of GM foods is limited.
In 2016, we defined a Policy at Group level: all PVM products sold outside of the Americas are GMO free. In the Americas we strive to find GMO free alternatives for the raw materials which are not GMO free.
Today all our products sold in Europe are GMO free and we are putting in place action plans to meet the requirements of the GMO Policy in other parts of the world.
Whilst palm oil is not widely used in our products, we decided to eliminate palm oil and derivatives from our recipes wherever possible and in all other cases within the coming year only RSPO MB (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Mass Balance) certified oil will be used.