Nomad Foods continue to increase sales from healthier choices

Nomad Foods continued to increase sales from products considered as Healthier Meal Choices (HMCs), with 93.9 per cent of net sales coming from HMC products last year.

Nomad Foods, Europe’s leading frozen food company, on Thursday (16) released its seventh annual sustainability report, providing updates on progress during the period January to December 2023, showing that the company is making good progress against its core commitments, particularly in areas such as sourcing and nutrition.

The report shows that product launches, renovations and rollouts to new markets are crucial opportunities to drive nutritional improvement. In 2023, 94 per cent of all new product innovations were HMCs and one standout example of nutritional improvement included in the report is Goodfella’s pizza. At the end of 2023, 100 per cent of the Goodfella’s pizza range was a HMC, up from 85 per cent in 2022. This means that 100 per cent of Goodfella’s pizzas are now compliant with the UK government’s 2024 maximum salt targets and are classified as non-HFSS (not high in fat, salt, sugar), states the report.

Additionally, the Goodfella’s range includes new pizza variants which provide less than 600 calories per serving.

The report adds that 99.5 per cent of Nomad Foods’ sourced fish and seafood volume was MSC or ASC certified, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from 2022. This puts Nomad Foods on track to achieve its goal of sourcing 100 per cent of fish and seafood from sustainable fishing or responsible farming by the end of 2025.

Nomad Foods is also making good progress against its target to source 100 per cent of vegetables, potatoes, fruit, and herbs though sustainable farming practices by the end of 2025. In 2023, 92.3 per cent of agricultural suppliers achieved a score of silver or above on the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI Platform) Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA), an increase of 1.5 percentage points from 2022.

Due to its strong overall performance on nutrition Nomad Foods received a 100 per cent Health and Nutrition score on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the 5th consecutive year.

Stéfan Descheemaeker, Nomad Foods’ Chief Executive Officer, said, “100 years ago, Clarence Birdseye invented the flash-freezing process and created a new industry. Since then, frozen food has played a critical role in bringing great tasting, nutritious, convenient, sustainably sourced and affordable food to consumers, while minimising waste.

“Our iconic brands pioneered the frozen food category and have been at the heart of family life for generations. We want them to remain favourites for generations to come and that’s why building a business that is resilient for the long-term is our collective priority. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved in 2023 across our key sustainability metrics, particularly the significant progress we have made in our two largest product categories – fish and vegetables - and on nutrition.

“As pressure to address the global food system’s contribution to climate change and its societal impacts intensifies, I remain confident that frozen food can be a key part of the solution.”