Nutritional strategy

With its nutritional strategy for the period up to 2027, Podravka has reaffirmed its dedication to a healthy, balanced and sustainable diet through the development of new and innovated products. The nutritional strategy is our guide in developing new and updating existing product recipes in order to be able to offer you healthy, high-quality products of adequate nutritional value and excellent taste for any occasion.

Podravka’s new nutritional strategy adopted for the period up to 2027 shows its continuing dedication to caring about the health of its consumers and retaining their trust. In this way, Podravka has confirmed its commitment to social responsibility and its focus on a healthy, balanced, high-quality and sustainable diet through the development of new and innovated products. The company will continue to adapt and expand its wide range of products in line with health recommendations, nutrition trends, as well as the needs and preferences of its customers. This includes products with less salt and added sugars, enriched with fibres, protein, vitamins and minerals, as well as products based on fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, plant protein sources and similar.

The main goals that Podravka plans to achieve with its nutritional strategy by 2027 are:

• reducing the average salt and sugar content by 20% in 75% of our new and innovated products compared to the current average content
• incorporating at least one ingredient that supports a healthy and balanced diet, e.g. fibres, protein, vitamins and minerals, in 75% of our new and innovated products
• basing at least 40% of our new and innovated products on ingredients associated with sustainable diets, like fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, plant protein sources, etc.
• supporting a sustainable diet with 100% of our portfolio

In this way, Podravka continues to focus on consumer care, as it has done from the very beginning. Podravka has been present in many homes for 75 years. From then until the present, our goal has always been to produce high-quality food of controlled origin that is quick and easy to prepare. For us, Podravka’s motto – Always with heart - has meant nurturing the closest possible ties with our consumers.

A strong focus on a sustainable diet which is nutritionally adequate (promotes personal health and well-being), has little impact on the environment during production and consumption, is accessible and culturally acceptable, is now more important than ever, as shown by the research conducted by Podravka in cooperation with the Ipsos Agency.

The research has shown that 36% of Croatian citizens have some healthy eating habits, the most prominent being avoiding fast food (37%), salty foods (22%) and fattening foods (21%). At the same time, 47% of citizens admit that they have some unhealthy eating habits, with insufficient intake of fruits and vegetables (40%) and enjoying not-so-healthy foods (36%) taking the lead.

Most people don’t pay attention to their salt and sugar intake. Only 36% of citizens control their salt intake, while 44% of citizens pay attention to sugar intake levels. Moreover, only 5% of citizens over the age of 16 are familiar with the daily salt intake recommendations, i.e. up to 5 g according to the World Health Organization. The recommended daily sugar intake is 25-50 grams; however, only 2% of citizens are familiar with this recommendation. Additionally, most citizens do not read food labels to learn more about the ingredients, with only 31% of the respondents reporting that they read the nutrition declarations.

In view of the results of our research, we are focusing on preserving the health and contributing to changing poor dietary habits of our consumers and their families, and this is why we developed the Podravka nutritional strategy, undertaking the following commitments:

• reducing the content of saturated and trans-fatty acids, salts (sodium) and sugars in our products,
• optimizing products by incorporating nutrients that ensure better health,
• in the development of new products, focusing on children, the elderly, consumers with special dietary requirements, supporting the health of the digestive system, supporting achieving and maintaining  healthy body weight and healthy lifestyles, providing consumers with accurate and important information about our products via packaging and promotional activities,
• educating and indicating the importance of nutritional value of meals and portion sizes.

Since 2014, when the company adopted its first nutritional strategy, Podravka has reduced the amount of salt and sugar in its products by 300 tonnes and 1432 tonnes in total, respectively. The biggest salt reductions involved soups, bouillon cubes, Fant, and meat products. The most significant sugar reductions have been achieved in baby food, breakfast cereals and fruit spreads.

In addition to adapting the existing product recipes in such a way that our products retain their recognizable and consumer-favorite flavors, we have also developed new products that support a balanced diet or meet individual lifestyle needs. We have enriched our offer with a number of new products without additives, artificial flavour enhancers and colours, products that provide specific benefits, such as gluten-free products and products enhanced with extra nutrients, like protein, vitamins, minerals, fibres, and similar.

In addition to reducing its overall use of palm oil, Podravka only uses RSPO Certified sustainable palm oil. The company has also launched BIO, vegetarian and vegan product lines.