Reformulation: a good investment for our #FoodFuture

Have you ever thought about how and why your favourite food and drink evolves over time? Not just tweaking a recipe for taste, but making positive changes for our health and the environment. This is where the European food and drink industry has advanced through product innovation and reformulation – we’re on a mission to make our food better in every sense of the word.

Imagine taking your favourite snack and giving the recipe a little makeover. Less sugar, salt, and fat, but still just as delicious. That's food reformulation. And it’s not just about reducing some ingredients, it’s also about boosting others – like fibre, vitamins, and minerals.

Last year, FoodDrinkEurope developed a new toolkit to help small and medium-sized enterprises embark on their reformulation journey. In our latest reformulation guidelines, we look at the drivers behind food reformulation, such as technological or ingredient considerations, as well as consumer and sensory elements.

The toolkit is built to help small businesses to revise their recipes and make the healthier choice, the easy choice.

And at FoodDrinkEurope we’re playing our own part?with our Action Plan for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems, which builds out 15 core commitments to drive change in our food systems. For example, one of the targets is to create healthy, balanced, and sustainable diets for all European consumers. ?

This is where policymakers can help, especially as we’re approaching the new EU legislative term. FoodDrinkEurope has laid out a 5-step plan to help increase investment and boost innovation in our food systems. These are essential prerequisites for product innovation and reformulation in the food and drink sector.

Policymakers have a key role to play in making sure that the transition towards healthier and more sustainable food systems is matched with a competitive and supporting regulatory environment.

What’s needed are coherent and predictable policies that facilitate investment in new technologies, celebrate innovation, and recognise the strategic importance of Europe’s food sector. So we can truly achieve a food system that feeds people and the planet.

At FoodDrinkEurope, we're convinced that creating sustainable food systems requires strong leadership. That's why we're advocating for the European Commission to appoint a dedicated Executive Vice-President for Food. This role will ensure that food safety, environmental goals, food security, and economic sustainability are all given equal priority.

In short, we all have our unique role - from the agri-food chain actors leading the transition, to policymakers fostering an innovation-friendly climate, down to the consumers ready to enjoy the great food and drinks Europe has to offer.

By embracing food reformulation and supporting innovation, we can pave the way for a resilient #FoodFuture that benefits us all.