Coke CEO Says Obesity Is a Challenge
New Coca-Cola Co. Chairman and Chief Executive E. Neville Isdell acknowledged that worries about obesity are a big challenge to the global beverage giant, but offered a spirited, market-driven defense of soft drinks, snacks and the right of consumers to choose them.
Coke can't ignore consumer tastes, healthy or not, Mr. Isdell said at a food-industry conference here. "That's the reality," Mr. Isdell said in a brief exchange with a reporter from The Wall Street Journal after giving a speech to food-company executives, retailers and other food-industry leaders. "We can't answer to what's out there philosophically. We have to respond to what consumers want."
During his speech -- Mr. Isdell's first substantive public remarks since taking the helm at Coke on June 1 -- he addressed the food industry's responsibility for improving consumer health and nutrition amid the growing number of overweight adults and children in developed countries around the world. Some public-health advocates, government regulators and parents in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere claim that the food industry's marketing of unhealthy products has contributed significantly to growing waistlines.
Mr. Isdell was attending the CIES World Food Business Summit, a meeting he helped organize. The obesity comments were more forceful and expansive than those of his predecessor, Douglas Daft. The 61-year-old Mr. Isdell said industry critics won't solve the obesity crisis with "bad science, funny solutions or even scapegoating certain foods which are good or bad."
Mr. Isdell added during the speech that the food industry hasn't gotten enough credit for steps it has taken to provide consumers with healthier options and smaller portion sizes, including new eight-ounce Coke cans and the C2 mid-calorie cola launched by Coke this month. Coke also offers more than 400 drinks besides its sugary soda, Mr. Isdell noted, pointing to zero-calorie Diet Coke.
Mr. Isdell's comments were largely in line with the standard position of Coke and other food companies, which argue that a lack of exercise -- not a sharp increase in caloric intake -- is the chief contributor to the obesity epidemic.
"Obesity is a very real problem for consumers, for us, for society at large," he told more than 900 top executives and other officials in attendance. "But it is a function of energy balance, the number of calories consumed versus the number expended."
Mr. Isdell said 40% of Americans engage in "absolutely no physical activity at all," also citing a study showing that student participation in physical education has declined 13% in the U.S. in the past 20 years. "In Ireland, where I come from, half the men just sit and do nothing," he said.
Still, Mr. Isdell said, the food industry must promote more physical activity among adults and children. "We want to get consumers moving," he said. Mr. Isdell declined to comment on specific steps Coke is taking, since he is new to the job. "I'm really not knowledgeable enough yet to do that," he said.
Mr. Isdell acknowledged that Coke and other food suppliers have been slow to respond to consumer interest in healthier eating habits, adding that manufacturers too often take a defensive posture when under attack. "The manufacturer is sometimes too busy protecting brands and products that are in their current mix they don't want to give up," Mr. Isdell said. "I've been guilty of that."
Success in curbing obesity actually would be beneficial for food suppliers, Mr. Isdell said, even if some consumers reduce their consumption of soft drinks and other foods. "Healthier consumers are going to be good for us," he said. "They will grow older, healthier, wealthier and, hopefully, therefore able to buy more from us."
可口可乐CEO承认肥胖是一个严重问题
可口可乐公司(Coca-Cola Co.)新任董事长兼首席执行长内维尔?艾斯戴尔(E. Neville Isdell)承认，人们对肥胖的担忧是这个全球饮料巨头面临的一个重大挑战，但是他对软饮料、快餐和消费者的选择权进行了强有力的辩护。
艾斯戴尔在一个食品行业会议上称，不论健康与否，可口可乐都不能无视消费者的口味。“这就是现实，”他在与《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)记者进行的简短对话中说。他在向食品公司高层、零售商和其他食品行业的负责人发表演说后称，“我们不能未卜先知的知道结果。我们必须对消费者的需求作出反应。”
这是艾斯戴尔自6月1日上任以来在公开场合的首次重要演讲，他强调，在全世界发达国家肥胖成人和儿童越来越多的情况下，食品行业有责任改善消费者的健康和营养。美国、欧洲等地一些公众健康的倡议者、政府监管者和父母声称，食品行业对不健康商品的营销是导致肥胖的一个重要原因。
艾斯戴尔是在参加CIES世界食品业务高峰会议(World Food Business Summit)时发表上述评论的。他是这个会议的组织者之一。他就肥胖问题的言论比他的前任道格拉斯?达夫特(Douglas Daft)更强硬和广泛。现年61岁的艾斯戴尔称，行业批评人士不会用他们拙劣的科学知识、可笑的方案、甚至或好或坏的某类替罪食品来解决肥胖危机。
艾斯戴尔在演讲中补充说，食品行业为消费者提供更健康食品和小份食品所做的努力并没有得到应有的认可，比如可口可乐提供新的8盎司饮料以及在新推出的C2中等卡路里含量的可乐等。艾斯戴尔指出，除含糖苏打水之外，可口可乐还提供超过400多种饮料，比如零卡路里含量的Diet Coke。
艾斯戴尔的言论基本与可口可乐以及其他食品公司的立场一致，他们认为缺乏锻炼才是肥胖人数增多的罪魁祸首，而不是卡路里吸收量的急剧增长。
他对900多名在场的公司高层人士和以及其他管理人员称，“肥胖是消费者、我们以及整个社会面临的一个非常现实的问题。但肥胖与能量的平衡有关，它取决于卡路里吸收量和消耗量之间的关系。”
艾斯戴尔说，40%的美国人不进行任何形式的身体锻炼，他还引用一份研究报告称，过去20年参加体育课的美国学生数量减少了13%。“在我老家爱尔兰，有一半的人只是坐著，什么也不做。”
但是艾斯戴尔说，食品行业必须在成人和儿童中间推广更多的身体锻炼。“我们希望让消费者动起来”，他说。艾斯戴尔拒绝就可口可乐将采取的具体促使发表评论，原因是他刚上任不久。“我还不是很了解情况，”他说。
艾斯戴尔承认，可口可乐和其他食品供应商对消费者更健康饮食习惯的需求一直反应迟缓，并补充说，生产商在遭到抨击时常常做出防御姿态。“生产商有时太忙于保护现有的品牌产品，他们不肯退让。我对此感到愧疚。”
艾斯戴尔说，成功的抑制肥胖实际上对食品供应商有利，即使一些消费者减少了对软饮料和其他食品的消费量。他说，“更健康的消费者将对我们有利。他们的年龄将会增长，他们将变得更健康、更富有，所以他们将能够向我们购买更多的产品。”
