H/Advisors Cicero has been the retained public affairs agency for the Health Food Manufacturers’ Association (HFMA) since 2014. Since that time, we have undertaken various public affairs requests including supporting UK and EU campaigns, developed PA strategy, provided up to date monitoring and analysis for key internal stakeholders, all with the objective of creating a favourable legislative landscape for the health food industry.

Strategy & Execution

At a strategic level, we worked with the leadership of the HFMA to help drive understanding and awareness amongst EU policymakers of the important role health food products play in the broader public health debate. We also advocated for changes to the Food Supplements Directive to ensure the EU-wide levels set for the specific list of vitamins and minerals was equal to and not below the standard already in place in the UK.

H/Advisors Cicero engaged with EU stakeholders to build HFMA’s presence among the EU institutions. An initial priority was to build allies for HFMA in all three institutions. On the campaign, we directly engaged with the European Commission DG for Health and Food, and scientific committee on health (sub group of EC), and EU Food Safety Authority (FSA). We drafted position papers, amendments, statements, clarifications, in addition to making technical issues digestible to EU wide politicians ENVI committee in the European Parliament.

We also provide ongoing day-to-day support for HFMA across their public affairs monitoring, key legislative and regulatory analysis and provide senior counsel sessions throughout the year to hone in on particularly pertinent activities or events.

Having worked for HFMA for several years, day-to-day operations of the account are seamless. Our greatest shared achievements have resulted from intelligently designed and executed campaigns. Leveraging HFMAs deep sectoral knowledge alongside H/Advisors Cicero’s far reaching networks and campaign toolkit to achieve meaningful change for a vibrant and positive industry.

Simon Fitzpatrick, Head of Public Affairs

Results

We continue to provide HFMA’s public affairs team with a full service public affairs toolkit. A standout moment in our engagement was designing and executing a campaign that advocated for changes to the Food Supplements Directive to ensure the EU levels set for vitamins and minerals was equal to the standard already in place in the UK. This, in turn, increased the benchmark requirement across the EU. which increased the benchmark requirement across all member states. The win commercially meant HFMA members were able to sell more products across the EU.

If you wish to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article, please contact Simon in H/Advisors Cicero’s Public Affairs team on simon.fitzpatrick@h-advisors.global