Advocacy, Communication and Marketing

The success of a food fortification program is greatly enhanced by careful attention to communication and marketing. Both the food industry and the public sector have important roles to play in communicating the benefits of fortification and in marketing fortified products. The parties have different but complementary goals which need to be accommodated in the design of the communication and marketing strategy. For the private sector, maximizing revenue is a primary objective. The public sector seeks to maximize access to fortified foods without necessarily increasing the consumption of foods like oil, sugar, salt and flour.

A public private partnership which incorporates the strengths of each sector has the best chances of success. The public sector and not-for-profit sector contribute experience in nutrition and health education, while the private sector brings extensive experience in consumer marketing. The public education or communication sections of the Ministry of Health, or some such regulatory body, will usually take primary responsibility for educating the consumer. This is normally achieved via extensive media campaigns, public health messages at community health centres and primary health care centres, education programmes for health professionals and nutrition education programmes through primary and secondary schools. Private companies can educate the consumer by emphasizing the benefits of fortification in their advertising and marketing campaigns.

Each country has its own set of regulations relating to the marketing of foods. Some countries do not permit health claims to be made about the benefits of fortified foods. In such cases, claims such as "eating fortified flour will prevent heart disease" are not allowed. However, claims that "eating fortified bread or flour will increase your iron intake" may be permitted.

A logo identifying the food as being fortified is now used on the packaging in many countries and provides an effective means to differentiate a fortified product and to assure consumers that they are paying for a premium quality product. A government-sanctioned logo endorsing a product can be a powerful mechanism to encourage consumers to purchase a product, but the public sector cannot promote specific brands. The private sector on the other hand can incorporate reference to the logo in its standard communication and marketing campaigns. Logos need to be easy to recognize and understand, and simple and striking in design. To keep costs down, it is best to use only a few colours.

Chapter 10 (pp. 224-239) of the WHO/FAO publication Guidelines on Food Fortification with Micronutrients contains detailed guidelines on communication and marketing strategies for food fortification.