以下是DSM Strategic Communications的创始人Sean McBride的来宾帖子，也是杂货制造商协会（现为消费者品牌协会）的前执行副总裁，也是美国饮料协会的前通信总监。
For most of the past 20 years, the food and agriculture industry’s biggest external challenge came in the form of demands to change the way it does business to help solve the global obesity crisis, principally by making food healthier by reducing sugar, fat and salt.
That was then and this is now. In 2022, food companies are confronting multiple external threats that represent the most difficult issues-management landscape they have faced in the post-World War era.
议程上的某些项目（例如环境可持续性）已经闷闷不乐了十年或更长时间，而其他项目（如多样性和供应链中断）却最近出现在现场。
Whether they have been urged to engage by their stakeholders or are driven by enlightened self-interest, most companies have chosen to confront a wide swath of these emerging issues, some of which are not directly related to market share and profit objectives. In a significant departure from the past, they have decided to use their brands, influence and resources to tackle the world’s most pressing societal problems.
Thus, this cornucopia of challenges, collectively known as environmental, social, corporate governance (ESG) issues, has moved from supporting cast to starring role at most food companies.
Beyond the obvious impetus that these companies want to do the right thing, they are also responding to consumer demands that they plow their profits into making the world a better place. They also know that activist investors, venture capitalists and Wall Street analysts reward companies that pursue a progressive agenda.
This expanded worldview is made possible in part by pandemic-related windfall profits. Most organizations involved in retail grocery food production were pandemic winners, as consumers bought more groceries and cooked and ate more meals at home.
Packaged food companies that were mired in market share contraction or low-single-digit annual growth prior to COVID found their brands were back in vogue, as families sought comfort and value during the pandemic. Double-digit sales growth in 2020 and 2021 made it easier for companies to fund an expanded ESG agenda.
Now it appears COVID-19 is reaching an endemic phase, away-from-home dining is making a comeback and grocery shopping patterns are returning to pre-pandemic levels. As a consequence, most packaged food companies are telling Wall Street analysts they expect single-digit growth in 2022. As the new normal sets in, there will be a natural retraction in the cash reserves companies can tap into to tackle ESG, supply chain disruption, labor shortages and food inflation, resulting in hard choices in the months ahead.
包装食品的最新趋势也产生了意想不到的后果。许多包装食品公司的抗肥胖议程都放慢了。如今，公司花费更多的时间来集思广益，减少碳，减少碳，多样性，公平和包容性，投入成本，物流接触点和净零排放农业，而不是花在思考肥胖症的情况下。
But companies don’t have the luxury of keeping obesity on the back burner. The recent hiatus in society’s battle against the issue is poised to make a strong comeback in the months ahead, and the government is going to lead the charge.
For starters, the pandemic highlighted the overall cost of obesity in terms of healthcare and loss of life. Obese people are at a风险明显更高与Covid作斗争时的住院和死亡。这是公共卫生社区的新集会呼声，因为它试图将新的生命呼入与肥胖症的斗争中。
另外，华盛顿特区的政策制定者在大流行期间停顿后再次开始重新关注抗肥胖议程。拜登政府和国会主要成员正在计划白宫食品，营养，饥饿和健康会议在九月。预计会议将以全面的建议结束，这将影响粮食的种植，加工，销售，征税和标签，以期解决肥胖，饥饿，气候变化和平等。
In addition, the Biden Administration, the FDA and the USDA are under pressure from non-governmental organizations and influential members of Congress to move forward with new rules, regulations and guidelines impacting salt and sugar, front-of-pack nutrition labeling, ultra-processed foods, as well as radical changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
健康和健康议程的复兴，加上目前关于气候变化，食品通货膨胀，社会正义，道德采购和供应链破坏的举措，为包装食品公司带来了强大的威胁矩阵或机会。
那么，一家食品公司要做什么？
U.S. World War II General Anthony McAuliffe famously told his troops when they were encircled by the German Army in Bastogne, France, in the winter of 1944-45, “Men, we are surrounded by the enemy. We have the greatest opportunity ever presented an army. We can attack in any direction.”
It will take similar bravado for food and agriculture organizations to successfully tackle the challenges facing them in 2022. But unlike McAuliff, they do not have the luxury of picking just one axis of attack. They must attack in all directions, including the battle against obesity.
前第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马（Michelle Obama）在一代人中解决童年肥胖的目标伴随着兴奋，这显然消失了。尽管创造了更健康的粮食供应以及私营部门在营养教育上花费了数十亿美元，但在过去20年中，肥胖率在几乎每个年龄段的人群中一直保持稳定或更糟。糖尿病和高血压也是如此。
责备大食物作为肥胖的主要原因的组织和个人 - 争辩政府税，禁令，限制和标签授权 - 有望再次将其强大的聚光灯照在包装的食品公司上。
尽管ESG，供应链中断和食品通货膨胀使食品高管在晚上保持不变，但这些挑战将很快在公司威胁矩阵的顶部再次加入糖，盐和脂肪。他们需要准备朝各个方向攻击，以赢得一天并将威胁变成机会。
