Drink Industry Research Articles

The financial efficiency of small food and drink producers across selected European Union countries using data envelopment analysis

There is an increasing awareness about the importance of the role that small food and beverage producers play in the socio-economic development in many countries. However, since they face many specific problems which create obstacles for their existence, small producers should be identified and supported. To properly analyze their position, one should consider multiple criteria within their operational, financial, marketing and strategic activities. This paper analyzes small food and drink producers from selected countries in the European Union and estimates their financial efficiency using raw financial variables instead of financial ratios. The research is based on the data obtained from the Amadeus database for the period from 2011 to 2015. The relative efficiency is determined by using the data envelopment analysis (DEA). The results show that the number of efficient small companies in the sample had varied throughout the analyzed period. The same holds for the number of efficient companies within countries and within the food and drink industry. Approximately 23% of food producers were relatively efficient, while the share of efficient drink producers increased over time from approximately 20% to 23%. Moreover, we detect countries having the greatest percentage of efficient small producers in the sample. The DEA approach identified efficient producers which have better liquidity, efficiency, leverage and profitability and pointed out cash liquidity as the area of inefficiency for the inefficient companies. This analysis provides policy makers with information for developing policies which could improve the strength of small food and drink producers on a country level.

Impact of the announcement and implementation of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy on sugar content, price, product size and number of available soft drinks in the UK, 2015-19: Acontrolled interrupted time series analysis.

Dietary sugar, especially in liquid form, increases risk of dental caries, adiposity, and type 2 diabetes. The United Kingdom Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) was announced in March 2016 and implemented in April 2018 and charges manufacturers and importers at £0.24 per litre for drinks with over 8 g sugar per 100 mL (high levy category), £0.18 per litre for drinks with 5 to 8 g sugar per 100 mL (low levy category), and no charge for drinks with less than 5 g sugar per 100 mL (no levy category). Fruit juices and milk-based drinks are exempt. We measured the impact of the SDIL on price, product size, number of soft drinks on the marketplace, and the proportion of drinks over the lower levy threshold of 5 g sugar per 100 mL. We analysed data on a total of 209,637 observations of soft drinks over 85 time points between September 2015 and February 2019, collected from the websites of the leading supermarkets in the UK. The data set was structured as a repeat cross-sectional study. We used controlled interrupted time series to assess the impact of the SDIL on changes in level and slope for the 4 outcome variables. Equivalent models were run for potentially levy-eligible drink categories ('intervention' drinks) and levy-exempt fruit juices and milk-based drinks ('control' drinks). Observed results were compared with counterfactual scenarios based on extrapolation of pre-SDIL trends. We found that in February 2019, the proportion of intervention drinks over the lower levy sugar threshold had fallen by 33.8 percentage points (95% CI: 33.3-34.4, p < 0.001). The price of intervention drinks in the high levy category had risen by £0.075 (£0.037-0.115, p < 0.001) per litre-a 31% pass through rate-whilst prices of intervention drinks in the low levy category and no levy category had fallen and risen by smaller amounts, respectively. Whilst the product size of branded high levy and low levy drinks barely changed after implementation of the SDIL (-7 mL [-23 to 11 mL] and 16 mL [6-27ml], respectively), there were large changes to product size of own-brand drinks with an increase of 172 mL (133-214 mL) for high levy drinks and a decrease of 141 mL (111-170 mL) for low levy drinks. The number of available drinks that were in the high levy category when the SDIL was announced was reduced by 3 (-6 to 12) by the implementation of the SDIL. Equivalent models for control drinks provided little evidence of impact of the SDIL. These results are not sales weighted, so do not give an account of how sugar consumption from drinks may have changed over the time period. The results suggest that the SDIL incentivised many manufacturers to reduce sugar in soft drinks. Some of the cost of the levy to manufacturers and importers was passed on to consumers as higher prices but not always on targeted drinks. These changes could reduce population exposure to liquid sugars and associated health risks.

Producción de vainilla (Vanilla planifolia) en México: análisis y pronóstico

La vainilla (Vanilla planifolia) es uno de los aromáticos más demandados en la industria culinaria y refresquera, y entre los cultivos lícitos es de los más rentables, solo después del azafrán. En 2017 la producción en México fue 505.32 toneladas, ubicándolo como el cuarto productor mundial después de Madagascar, Indonesia y China. El objetivo de este estudio fue desarrollar un modelo de pronóstico para la producción anual de vainilla en México (PVAINI). Los datos fueron del periodo 2000 a 2016 y se utilizó la metodología Box-Jenkins de procesos autorregresivos integrados de medias móviles (ARIMA). Los parámetros de los modelos se estimaron con el método de máxima verosimilitud con el paquete de cómputo Statistical Analysis System. Un modelo basado en la serie PVAINI se adaptó para el periodo 2000 a 2016 y se validó con los datos de los años 2016 y 2017. El mejor modelo estimado fue ARIMA (1, 1, 1) e indicó que los PVAINI se explican con la producción ocurrida 4 años previos. Los valores pronosticados para 2017 fueron cercanos a los valores observados. El modelo ARIMA representó con cierta precisión el PVAINI en el próximo año y proporcionó información para planificar y tomar decisiones para los próximos seis años.

Organizational communication and corporate social responsibility. Case study: Romanian vs. International CSR

When we say "Organizational communication", we think, unconsciously, about organizations and how they are influenced by the effectiveness of communication both between team members and the external environment. Because the world revolves around ideas, concepts and communication strategies well developed for the purpose of informing, helping or even manipulating local and global communities, the paper will emphasize the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaigns and how they influence the environment in the context of sustainable development, various categories of public or the image gained from such an initiative as they may represent a smart strategy to repair a stained name. To emphasize the importance of CSR, we will present some campaigns initiated by an the organization of the food and drink industry, both in Romania and internationally, between 2016-2018. Through this research, we set out to identify the main social responsibility campaigns of the organization, the main areas of action of the social responsibility campaigns and to establish comparative analysis between the particularities of the CSR campaigns in Romania and internationally.

Reductions in sugar sales from soft drinks in the UK from 2015 to 2018

BackgroundThe consumption of free sugars in the UK is more than double the guideline intake for adults and close to triple for children, with soft drinks representing a significant proportion. The aim of this study was to assess how individual soft drink companies and consumers have responded to calls to reduce sugar consumption, including the soft drink industry levy (SDIL), between 2015 and 2018.MethodsThis was an annual cross-sectional study using nutrient composition data of 7377 products collected online, paired with volume sales data for 195 brands offered by 57 companies. The main outcome measures were sales volume, sugar content and volume of sugars sold by company and category, expressed in total and per capita per day terms.ResultsBetween 2015 and 2018, the volume of sugars sold per capita per day from soft drinks declined by 30%, equivalent to a reduction of 4.6 g per capita per day. The sales-weighted mean sugar content of soft drinks fell from 4.4 g/100 ml in 2015 to 2.9 g/100 ml in 2018. The total volume sales of soft drinks that are subject to the SDIL (i.e. contain more than 5 g/100 ml of sugar) fell by 50%, while volume sales of low- and zero-sugar (< 5 g/100 ml) drinks rose by 40%.ConclusionAction by the soft drinks industry to reduce sugar in products and change their product portfolios, coupled with changes in consumer purchasing, has led to a significant reduction in the total volume and per capita sales of sugars sold in soft drinks in the UK. The rate of change accelerated between 2017 and 2018, which also implies that the implementation of the SDIL acted as an extra incentive for companies to reformulate above and beyond what was already being done as part of voluntary commitments to reformulation, or changes in sales driven by consumer preferences.

Production, purification and physicochemical characterization of D-xylose/glucose isomerase from Escherichia coli strain BL21.

Cell lysate of Escherichia coli strain BL21 showed significant D-glucose isomerase activity. The rate of glucose conversion was increased up to 40% when cells were induced with 1% D-xylose. E. coli BL21 xylose isomerase (ECXI-BL21) was purified to homogeneity, up to 1.9-fold with overall 10.88% enzyme yield by heat shock, salting out and electro-elution. The molecular mass of ECXI-BL21 was estimated as 43.9kDa on SDS-PAGE. pHopt. and Topt. of the enzyme were calculated as 7.0 and 50°C, respectively. Activation energy (E a) of ECXI-BL21 was 45kJ/mol. Enzyme was stable from 30 to 55°C and at pH range 6.0-8.0. ECXI-BL21(holo) was activated by 10mM magnesium (35%), 0.5mM cobalt (20%) and manganese (25%), and 0.5/10mM Mn2+/Mg2+ (50%) and Co2+/Mg2+ (30%) as compared to ECXI-BL21(apo). Catalytic affinity (K m) of ECXI-BL21 for D-glucose was calculated as 0.82mM, while maximum velocity (V max) of the reaction D-glucose(aldo) ⇌ D-fructose(keto) was 108μmol/mg/min. D-fructose formed was identified on silica gel plate. This thermophilic enzyme, T m = 75°C, has great potential for high fructose syrup production used in food and soft drink industries.

Parents’ Perceptions and Responses to the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy

To record parents' awareness of the UK soft drinks industry levy (SDIL) and explore associations between negative psychological reactance to the levy and motivation and intentions to change consumption and purchasing. A cross-sectional online survey with UK-based parents of children aged 5-11 years (n = 237). Regression analyses were used to test associations between psychosocial responses to the levy and behavioral intentions to change family consumption and purchasing. A total of 92% of responding parents were aware of the SDIL. Of the responding parents, 57% supported its aims, but 29% felt it threatened their freedom of choice. A total of 41% expressed intention to change shopping habits or restrict their child's intake as a result. Reactance and motivation were poorer in low-income families, and intentions to change were positively predicted by motivation. This snapshot suggests that the UK SDIL is largely supported by parents and associated with intentions to change their children's intake.

Trends in Free Sugar Content of Slovenian Pre-Packaged Foods and Non-Alcoholic Beverages

AbstractIn 2015, World Health Organization (WHO) has issued guidelines to reduce the consumption of free sugars to no more than 10% of the total daily energy intake, with additional health benefits achieved when aiming to less than 5%. For the general population, following these recommendations has proven difficult due to the massive amount of free sugar available in pre-packed products on the market. In Slovenia, a series of actions have been undertaken to reduce the availability and consumption of foods high in free sugar, including food industry responsibility pledges from soft drink and dairy industry (in 2015 and 2017, respectively).To monitor the efficacy of those actions as well as general trends in free sugar content on the Slovenian food market, the cross-sectional study from 2015 was repeated in 2017. Data from 21,115 pre-packed food items were systematically collected from major retailer shops in Ljubljana, Slovenia. All products were photographed and their European/International Article (EAN) codes scanned to assemble an online database. The products were later assigned to one of the 49 pre-defined food categories, matching those from 2015. The categories that contributed to free sugar consumption in 2015 the most were re-analysed in 2017.Results showed that in the category of Chocolate and sweets, which in 2015 contributed one third of all free sugar sold on Slovenian market, mean free sugar content increased by 4.7 %. Among Soft drinks, which followed shortly after, free sugar content dropped by 8 %. The decrease was also observed among Jellies (10.7 %) Yogurt products (5.7 %), Breakfast cereals (1.7 %), Biscuits (0.9 %), as well as Fruit and vegetable juices (0.9 %). On the other hand, large increase was observed among Ice creams and edible ices (31.3 %) and in the category of Jam and spreads, in which mean free sugar content increased by 20.3 %.The data showed some favourable trends in free sugar content in many food categories that contribute an important share to an overall free sugar consumption. However, free sugar in certain food categories such as Chocolate and sweets is still on the rise, exposing the need for additional actions that would encourage industry to reformulate products with a lesser amount of free sugar. Moreover, industry self-regulation may be one of, but not the only measure to efficiently reduce free sugar consumption among general population.

Investment analysis of Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company

Studying the investment attractiveness of a company is an integral part of the decision to buy or sell shares. Investment analysis includes a review of the company, competition in the industry, as well as financial analysis, likelihood of risks and company value estimation. In this article, we’ve conducted an investment analysis in regard to Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (HBC). Currently the company is undervalued compared to competitors in the market. However, it remains a good choice with its high stability in the market. Most of the economic indicators of the company are expected to grow rapidly in future periods. Environmental protection and health benefits of the product are the main demand drivers and trends now and in the near future (in addition to quality products and excellent communication with consumers through advertising and other activities). Moreover, existing trade and political conflicts between the countries are indicators of a looming recession, which can also affect the market of soft drinks. Besides, the company has strong competitors. We cannot say that Coca Cola HBC stands out strongly as a market leader. However, its development and market position is stable. We should mention that Coca Cola HBC 6 times in 7 years took the first place in The Dow Jones Sustainability Index and 9th year in a row company is in top 3 Global and European beverage companies. Coca-Cola HBC’s main investment risks include changes in regulations and consumer preferences due to raising health and environmental concerns. The company is also exposed to the risk of currency volatility, commodity costs uncertainty which can affect its financial performance. Such risk as cyberattacks, supply and distribution disruption can cause damage to company’s ability to operate effectively. There is a possibility of management failing to implement company’s business model and strategies in Coca-Cola HBC’s recent acquisitions. The article allows to delve deeper into the essence of the functioning of business processes in the soft drinks industry and to offer authors’ vision of Coca-Cola HBC assessment.

Determination of trace lead and cadmium in canned soft drinks in Syria.

ABSTRACTIntroduction:Soft drinks are highly consumed in Syria due to their preferable taste, advertisement, and lack of awareness about their harmful effects on the human body. Heavy-metal contamination is one of the top problems associated with the soft drinks industry. In this study, the levels of heavy metals (lead [Pb] and cadmium [Cd]) in carbonated and noncarbonated canned soft drinks in the Syrian market were investigated. The leaching of Pb and Cd in canned drinks was also investigated under different storage conditions.Materials and Methods:Soft drink samples were collected from the Damascus market. The samples were prepared using microwave digestion. All samples were analyzed using the developed and validated atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) method.Results and Discussion:All studied samples at all stages of the study were free of Cd. The mean concentration of Pb ranged between 13.76 and 42.12 ppb. Our results showed that the levels of Cd and Pb were in the allowed limits according to Syrian Specification (1992/47) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limits. There is no leaching of Pb and Cd in all studied samples under different storage conditions over 1 year of study.Conclusion:The results of this study showed that all samples are following good manufacturing procedure (GMP) and safe to be consumed by costumers.

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Development of a professional competency framework for UK food science graduates

AbstractFood science‐based graduates are a significant proportion of the United Kingdom (UK) food and drink industry's workforce. Aside from technical standards, there is no cohesive competency framework to support key stakeholders; employers, students, and degree providers. Clarity of desirable competencies for the range of graduate opportunities available would enable students to undertake effective career planning and personal development, and educators to refine programs to satisfy market needs. Using a previously developed language tool, a Likert style, industry‐wide online survey in UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI) was conducted involving 218 participants from a broad range of food science‐related employment areas, evaluated by a combination of descriptive and multivariate data analysis. The survey outcomes indicate types of desirable competencies in a food science graduate. The tailored competency framework, Competencies for Food Graduate Careers (CFGC), is a set of 48 elements across eight themes, outlining which are desirable for each of 14 typical initial graduate roles. To enhance the quality of “oven‐ready” graduates entering the food industry, it is recommended CFGC be used for careers education and competency development in higher education. The framework is aimed to have further applications for job specification development and also to improve awareness of careers in the food industry.

Obesity: locating social responsibility in the context of evolving norms

Most countries have experienced a significant increase in the incidence of obesity in their general population over the last 20 years. Indeed, the condition is now so common, commentators conclude that obesity has become normalised and no longer attracts social opprobrium. The prevalence of obesity and related morbidities when the condition is normalised places it beyond the scope of conventional government interventions. In this context, the UK government adopted a multisector approach in England by announcing in 2011 that its policy on obesity would be predicated on the importance of individuals' responsibility for their condition, while also facilitating food and drink industry responsibilities to its customers. This paper considers the social trend towards the normalisation of obesity as a lens to discuss government's role in supporting businesses to demonstrate and act upon their social responsibilities. Furthermore to question whether individual and social responsibility (SR) are theoretically robust terms for policy purposes, particularly in the case of obesity where the condition is now increasingly accepted as being the norm.

Optimal distribution route to minimize transportation costs in soft drink industry

Minimum mileage and maximization of utilities will help the product distribution process to be optimal. Soft drink companies in the city of Medan have problems in distributing products to consumers who are not on time. This is related to the lack of regulation of product distribution channels by the company. Therefore this research was conducted to optimize product distribution routes in order to minimize distribution costs. With the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) method, it will combine several closest distribution routes and improve the route sequence. Then the development of sub-routes that are formed from the travel time and utility of transportation equipment used. Formation of sub-routes is still done manually while increasing the order of sub-routes is done by using the Software Quant System (QS) version 3.0. and produce minimum mileage on each sub-route. In planning product distribution, 6 proposed sub-routes are formed in one week and are served by 1 transportation car with a capacity of 220 crates. The proposed sub-route is 171 km shorter than the available sub-routes, thus shortening the travel time of 302 minutes to transport the product.

Product Carbon Footprint: Still a proper method to start improving the sustainability of food and beverage enterprises.

Given the complexity of food production, supply chains and distribution, this paper sustains that the mere assessment of the product carbon footprint might still be regarded as a first trial in the field of improving the sustainability of the food and drink industry. After having reviewed the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the agro-food system in industrialized countries, and summarized the main direct environmental impacts of the food industry, the pros and cons of the Life Cycle assessment (LCA) methodology were briefly examined together with the current standard methods used toassess the environmental impact of food and drink products. Once a cradle-to-grave product carbon footprint modelling had been developed, some mitigating actions might be tested with the final goal of reducing the GHG emissions associated with the most impacting product life cycle stages. As an example, such a procedure was applied to approximately halve the cradle-to-grave carbon footprint of two cereal-based products (i.e., dry pasta and malt beer). A cost/benefit analysis is required to relate the marginal increase in the product processing costs to each reduction in the product environmental load.

The evolution of Coca-Cola Australia’s soft drink reformulation strategy 2003–2017: A thematic analysis of corporate documents

Governments around the world are pressuring the soft drink industry to reformulate sugary drinks, in particular through taxes on sugar content or front-of-pack labels identifying products high in sugar. Even in countries with no sugary drink tax, such as Australia, the soft drink industry has a reformulation policy. While reformulation is often framed as a “win-win” solution for business and public health, many public health experts consider it to be a political strategy to improve corporate reputations and minimise the threat of regulation. We use a case study of Australia’s largest soft drink company, Coca-Cola Australia, to examine the evolution of corporate reformulation policies. We analysed a dataset of 144 corporate documents published between 2003 and 2017 to analyse how Coca-Cola’s policies changed and how it described and justified its reformulation initiatives. Between 2003 and 2017, Coca-Cola Australia shifted its reformulation strategy from “offering choice” to “systematic” sugar reformulation. It also presented two predominant rationales for reformulation: that it would grow its business and that it was “part of the solution” to obesity. We discuss these findings in relation to market and regulatory challenges facing the soft drink industry globally, including the spread of sugary drink taxes as well as consumer rejection of artificial sweeteners. This paper examines how a regional branch of the world’s largest soft drink company is adapting to pressures to reduce the sugar in its products as well as the tensions and barriers it faces in negotiating different consumer and public health interpretations of healthy beverages.

Analysis of Local Economic Potential and Economic Competitiveness in Surabaya City

Abstract&#x0D; Law Number 23 of 2014 concerning Regional Government clause 29 verse 5 explains that "The strategy for accelerating regional development as referred to in clause (4) covers the priority of development and management of natural resources in the sea, acceleration of economic development, socio-cultural development, humans development resource, development of customary law related to sea management, and community participation in development. Economic growth is one indicator of economic success in Indonesia, but in the course of economic growth there are several economic problems. The main economic problems according to Adisasmita (2005: 201) are (i) consumption; (ii) production; (iii) distribution; and (iv) growth. Economic growth of Indonesia depends on the production of goods and services in the real sectors produced. Surabaya is the second largest city after Jakarta in Indonesia, it is important to explore local economic potential and regional economic competitiveness to encourage the acceleration of the regional economy. The potential of local economic may not be competitive with all districts in the East Java Economic Province. Location Quotient and Shift Share analysis can be a basic calculation method for determining the acceleration of economic development in a region. Based on the Location Quotient analysis, it can be seen that the three main potentials of the local economy are the company's service sector (LQ = 3.056); and the sector of providing accommodation and food drink (LQ = 2,818); financial and insurance sector (LQ = 1,937). While the three main sectors that are competitive are large and retail trade (SS = 11,172.2); car and motorcycle repair sector (SS = 8,113,6); and the sector of providing accommodation and food drink and processing industries (SS = 7,616,7). It can be concluded that the leading sectors and competitive sectors can be used as the basis for accelerating the economic development of Surabaya City.&#x0D;

Understanding changes in soft drinks marketing after introduction of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy: developing a theory of change by use of concept mapping and stakeholder interviews

BackgroundIn 2018, the UK government introduced a Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks and their health consequences. Taxes on sugary drinks might prompt changes in associated marketing, but whether and how this happens, and the implications for health, are unclear. To inform exploration of changes in sugary drinks marketing that might result from the SDIL, we developed a theory of change by use of concept mapping and stakeholder interviews. MethodsWe used concept mapping, an inductive technique, to develop an initial theory. We then elaborated this theory on the basis of one-to-one telephone interviews with six representatives of each of industry, academia, and civil society (total n=18), who had experience of strategic decision-making or marketing by sugary drinks firms. Interviewees were recruited using seed and snowballing sampling. Interviews explored motivations for and manifestations of changes in soft drink marketing. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. To maximise trustworthiness, four transcripts were double-coded, the revised theory was informally peer reviewed, three transcripts were excluded from initial coding to allow comparison with the revised theory, and the resultant theory was validated by interviewees. FindingsThe initial theory described strategic planning and decision-making followed by the analysis and selection of specific marketing responses. After analysis of interviews we developed this concept into an iterative and circular theory of marketing change. Briefly, firms change marketing by reviewing their internal and external context, identifying a catalyst, deciding their brand positioning, and then selecting a combination of strategies to enact this positioning. Resultant changes in purchasing feed back into factors internal and external to the firm. Ethics approval was granted by the University of Cambridge Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee. InterpretationThese findings extend understanding of industry responses to sugary drinks taxes and might be relevant for understanding of industry responses to fiscal interventions more generally. Our theory highlights that soft drinks firms are continually evolving, consider many external factors in addition to the SDIL, and think about marketing more broadly than just advertising. Our research was based on one case study of the SDIL; interviews were done 1 year after implementation of the levy. Future work should prospectively test our theory in alternative contexts. FundingJA and MW are funded by the Centre for Diet and Activity Research, a UK Clinical Research Collaboration Public Health Research Centre of Excellence. Funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Wellcome Trust, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged. TP, JA and MW are funded by a grant from NIHR (16/130/01) to evaluate the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy. HF receives funding for her PhD studentship from Public Health England and the Economic and Social Research Council. LL and FG are employed by Public Health England. MW holds an honorary consultant in public health contract with PHE. These funding sources had no direct role in the writing of the manuscript or decision to submit for publication.

A discourse network analysis of the public media debate on the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy

Abstract Background On 6th April 2018, the UK Government introduced the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) as a policy designed to reduce population level sugar consumption and related illnesses. Given that the successful introduction of upstream food and nutrition policies is a highly political enterprise involving multiple interested parties, understanding the complex network of stakeholders seeking to influence such policy decisions is imperative. Methods Media content analysis was employed to build a data set of relevant articles from UK national newspapers. Articles were analysed to identify stakeholder agreement or disagreement with defined concept statements. We used discourse network analysis to produce visual representations of the stakeholder network and coalitions evident in the debate, leading up to and following the announcement of the SDIL. Results We identified 3,883 statements made by 214 individuals from 176 organisations, relating to 47 concepts. Visualisations revealed a complex network of stakeholders with two discourse coalitions. Polarisation arose from 3 factors: (i) differences in political ideology; (ii) position on the specific policy option; (iii) interpretation of the evidence. Industry stakeholders appeared less united before the SDIL announcement. Some industry actors appeared in the supportive coalition, possibly due to the use of corporate social responsibility rhetoric. Jamie Oliver was a dominant supportive stakeholder, suggestive of his role as a policy entrepreneur. Conclusions This study illustrates the complexity of the network of stakeholders involved in the public debate on food policies such as sugar tax and the SDIL. Public health advocates seeking to gain support for future upstream regulation to promote population health would benefit from tailoring their communication to take advantage of sources of polarisation. Vocal celebrity policy entrepreneurs may be instrumental to facilitate alignment of stakeholders around a clear ideology. Key messages This study provides a novel insight into the network of stakeholders involved in public debates on food policies. Public health advocates may benefit by identifying and aligning with a clear ideology.

A comparison of stakeholder networks across two pricing policy debates using discourse analysis

Abstract Background Public health policy development is subject to a large number of stakeholders seeking to influence government thinking on policy options. One approach is via the news media. We compare the competing discourse coalitions evident in the UK public debate across two pricing policies, Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) for alcohol and the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL). Methods Existing discourse network analyses (DNA) for MUP and SDIL were harmonised in Visone to allow direct comparison. We applied a common tie-weight threshold to reduce ties to robust argumentative similarities and to maximise the identification of both network structures. We used network measures (size, density and EI index) to compare the two networks and principal coalitions. Results Both networks involve a similar range of stakeholder types and form two discourse coalitions representing proponents and opponents of the policies. The SDIL network is larger, particularly the proponents coalition with over three times as many nodes and a lower EI index. Both networks show tight discourse coalitions of manufactures and commercial analysts acting in opposition to policy supporters. The only actors that appear in both debates are politicians, government advisors, commercial analysts and supermarkets. While public health actors appear in both debates they appear siloed in their interests. Conclusions DNA enabled direct comparison of the discourse coalitions across two highly contested pricing policy debates, visualising the complex network of actors and relationships operating to influence policy-making via the media. Use of comparative DNA across policy debates shows promise for better understanding the common tactics of different unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs) to disrupt public health policies. Public health actors could improve their response to UCIs by seeking to work across policy and commodity arenas. Key messages We compared the competing discourse coalitions across two pricing policy debates, MUP and SDIL. Public health advocates could improve their response by working across policy arenas.