Several pension investors with shares in Nestlé have backed a resolution calling on the food manufacturer to increase the number of healthy food options it offers.

Ten investors, with a combined assets under management of £154bn, have declared their support for the resolution, including Cardano, Nest and PensionBee.

They have called on Nestlé to reduce the scale of unhealthy food it produces and increase healthy food production, with the resolution to be voted on at Nestlé’s annual general meeting (AGM) on 18 April.

The resolution was filed by five Nestlé shareholders, co-ordinated by ShareAction, including Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM).

ShareAction recently released the results of a survey, which found that 65.2 per cent of people supported the demand for Nestlé to reduce the amount of unhealthy food it produces.

This proportion rose to 67 per cent for those with a workplace pension scheme, while 83 per cent of people with a self-invested personal pension supported the resolution.

Previous research by PensionBee also found that 66 per cent of pension savers were in favour of Nestlé adopting internationally recognised standards for defining healthy foods.

“It should be clear to Nestlé that people want to see them reduce the amount of unhealthy food and increase the amount of healthy food they sell,” commented ShareAction director of corporate engagement and deputy CEO, Simon Rawson.

“This should also be a wakeup call to pension schemes who have investments in Nestlé about their members’ views. Voting in support of this resolution will send a clear signal to Nestlé about the change its shareholders and their beneficiaries want to see.”

Nest ESG analyst, Tom Sanders, added: “There is also a huge opportunity for a company like Nestlé, with growing consumer demand for healthier products.

“We want them to be ahead of the curve by tapping into this new market. For these reasons, we’ll be supporting the shareholder resolution.”

Nestlé previously said that it disagreed with ShareAction's point of view on its portfolio, and with the view that coffee and specialised nutrition should not be included in the more nutritious segment of its portfolio.

The company also disagreed with ShareAction's call to set targets to increase the proportion of its sales from the more nutritious segment, stating that this would require the group to weaken other parts of our portfolio, creating opportunities for competitors without yielding public health benefits.

"For Nestlé, we now put our focus on working to achieve our target, not changing it. A debate about whether the target has been set correctly is not useful at this time," the group stated.

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