The Better Food Index
A ranking of the 30 largest food and drinks companies in the UK on their actions and commitments towards a fair and sustainable food system.
In a nutshell
Food companies have an enormous impact on the planet, our health and our livelihoods. And yet, much of the food on our supermarket shelves is made by opaque companies that are rarely scrutinised.
The Better Food Index ranks the UK’s 30 largest food and drinks producers according to their performance and transparency around key measures of sustainability, affordability and nutrition.
The pillars
The Better Food Index is organised into 5 performance-based ‘Walk’ pillars: Environment, Social Impact, Nutrition, Affordability, Financial Sustainability.
Transparency, and a stand-alone commitments-based ‘Talk’ pillar which tracks companies’ targets and memberships are measured separately.
Environment
Focuses on the impact of the companies on the environment, from emissions to water use to deforestation-free sourcing.
Social Impact
Focuses on social responsibility, ethics and justice, including indicators on equal pay, modern slavery and animal welfare.
Nutrition
Focuses on the nutritional content of products a company produces, such as high levels of salt, fat, sugar and reformulation.
Affordability
Focuses on the relative pricing of goods different companies produce, as well as the pricing of healthier foods.
Financial Sustainability
Focuses on the capacity of a company to absorb financial shocks and sustainably grow.
Transparency
Focuses on the comprehensiveness of companies’ reporting.
Talk
Focuses on companies memberships and commitments.
Authors
Researched by Maddy Diment, Sophie Barnett, Will Mower, Jeevan Vasagar, Joe White and Alex Inch. If you would like to get in touch with the team, please email betterfoodindex@tortoisemedia.com.
Insight reports
The Tortoise Intelligence team creates bespoke insight reports on our indices, and offers licensing of our data. Please contact charles.sheppard@tortoisemedia.com for more information
Further reporting
Listen
The end of cheap chicken
Chicken is the UK’s favourite meat and that’s partly because it’s cheap. Per kilo it costs less than a pint of lager. But it looks unlikely that prices can stay that low. Why is the cost of chicken rising?
Check the label
The UK has the highest level of obesity in western Europe. Will better food labels help us break free of junk food?
Odesa
The Ukrainian port normally feeds the world, but the Russian invasion means nothing is getting out. Can we reopen the port – or will millions starve?
The price of pasta
Inflation has hit a 30-year high as energy, fuel and food costs continue to soar. A humble bag of pasta can tell us why the price of supermarket basics are rising.
