BlueBand Manufacturer, Upfield Foods, launches ‘A Better Plant-Based Future’ Initiative …Calls for sustainable food systems, healthy diets

Upfield Foods, the largest plant-based consumer products company in the world, has launched a new initiative and global advocacy platform to encourage people to eat healthy, plant-based meals towards attaining sustainable food systems.

This is in line with Upfield’s purpose to make people healthier and happier with great-tasting, plant-based nutrition products that are good for you and better for the planet. Upfield is the foremost producer of plant-based spreads and cheeses globally with more than 100 iconic brands, including Blue Band, Flora, Rama, Country Crock, Proactiv, Becel, and Violife.

Upfield entered the African market in 2018 with the acquisition of the iconic Blue Band spreads brand which is currently produced and sold in several Africa countries including Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya, with ongoing plans to extend the brand into other healthy and nutritious food products and brands in African markets.

The A Better Plant-Based Future initiative which was launched on 2020 World Environment Day is a platform designed to encourage healthy, plant-based diets while challenging people to become a part of the shift towards sustainable, healthy food systems.

To launch the platform, four mini-documentaries showcase community leaders pioneering plant-based eating and plant-based living. These documentaries all focus on the idea that plant-based diets can be accessible to us all. The current pandemic has inspired creative home cooking and innovation from small businesses. These are exactly the actions needed to help us all choose plant-based diets that are healthier and have a lower environmental impact, while enjoying the foods we have grown up with and love.

At the launch of the campaign, Upfield Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer, Dr. Jeanette Fielding stated that “to responsibly feed a global population of 10bn by 2050, a shift towards plant-based foods is needed, to protect biodiversity, limit global warming, and promote human health. For this shift to happen, plant-based eating must become accessible and familiar to people. This is why we are challenging as many people as possible to go plant-based for a day – as a start. If healthy, sustainable diets are accessible to all, we have a much greater chance of achieving the groundswell needed to lead a sustainable food system.”

Speaking on the initiative, Upfield’s Managing Director West Africa, Bamidele Moses Amao, said the initiative and the one-day challenge will promote improved public health and environmental sustainability.

He added that “If everyone continues consuming dairy and meat at the current level, the resulting impact on the climate, land use and water use, paired with the negative effects to human health, may result in environmental degradation and proliferation of non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes and certain cancers. This is why our initative “A Better Plant-Based Future” challenges us all to go plant-based for one day. Going plant-based for one day shows us that plant-based diets are not a complete reversal of our traditional diets. They can be accessible, affordable and familiar. Through simple plant-based swaps for meat and dairy products, we are all able to make the long term shift required for our planet and our health, without giving up on taste or performance.”

The Head Corporate Affairs and Communication Africa, Motola Oyebanjo further explained “the #ABetterPlantBasedFuture challenge is a social media challenge. Participants will showcase their plant-based diet for the day and challenge their family members and friends to also take up the challenge. We are using this fun and engaging approach to communicate the essence of this initiative while we educate the people on the best ways to achieve a sustainable and healthy plant-based diet.”

Participants can visit the initiative website as well as Upfield’s social media pages to learn more, join the campaign and challenge their family and friends to share a photo of their plant-based meals on social media with the hashtag #ABetterPlantBasedFuture.