HAK enters Nutri-Score

Vegetable manufacturer HAK is not waiting for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) to take a final decision on a new food choice logo as a successor to the 'Tick', which was abolished in 2016. As of 1 September 2019, the vegetable manufacturer, following its decision in Belgium, will also use the Nutri-Score label on its products in the Netherlands. This makes HAK the first in the Netherlands.

Nutri-Score is a proven instrument to encourage consumers to choose a healthy product for their daily shopping. What is unique is that Nutri-Score is the only food choice logo that rewards favourable nutritional elements, such as proteins, fibres and the percentage of fruit and vegetables. For this reason, HAK anticipates that the introduction of Nutri-Score will lead to increased vegetable consumption. And it is precisely this vegetable consumption that is a highly relevant social theme in the Netherlands, because our country is at the bottom of the lists of daily vegetable consumption in Europe. On average, the Dutch eat 134 grams of vegetables a day (RIVM) and that figure has hardly risen for years. The Nutrition Centre recommends 250 grams of vegetables and two portions of fruit per day.

Stimulating vegetable consumption

According to Hoogeboom, it is especially positive that the consumer is helped with a clear food choice logo. "Our corporate mission is to make it easier for consumers to eat more vegetables, more vegetables and more legumes. The nutritional value of vegetables is very high because of the fibres, proteins and vitamins they contain. That's why almost all of our products get an A-score. If we want to encourage consumers to eat more vegetables and legumes easily, such a positive Nutri-Score will undeniably have a motivating effect".