Nestlé announced that it has voluntarily chosen to further strengthen its responsible marketing practices. The company’s new Marketing Communication to Children policy will prohibit direct advertising of confectionery and ice-cream as well as water-based beverages with added sugars to children below 16 years of age. The policy reaffirms the ban on product marketing communication targeting children between 0 and 6 years of age, as per previous versions. This standard will be applied to TV and online platforms, including social media and gaming ones with greater than 25% of their audience under 16 years old. Additionally, Nestlé will not collect data of minors and only partner with social media influencers over the age of 18.
The new policy will take effect as of July 1, 2023 and will be applied globally. Nestlé is one of the first food and beverage companies to voluntarily adopt such strict standards. The company has been recognized for its responsible marketing practices by the Access to Nutrition Index, and calls for more companies to put forward similar measures that support the wellbeing of children.
In addition to the Nestlé Healthier Kids program the company has launched an assortment of large-scale nutrition campaigns starting in 2016 including, “adopt a fruit, adopt a vegetable”, #cooktogether and “healthy food for the future.”
