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Global Obesity Business Forum

Helping the Food Industry Fight Obesity

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A premier forum bringing together food industry partners and world class experts and researchers to provide novel insights and solutions to the obesity crisis.

Forum Goals

  • To help arrest and ultimately reverse the global obesity epidemic.
  • To provide exclusive access to preeminent obesity experts and researchers.
  • To arm our Forum Partners and Members with new strategies and practical solutions to profitably build their businesses while addressing obesity concerns.

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  • Rates of obesity and diabetes are soaring and have reached epidemic proportions. Over 1.6 billion people in the world are overweight.
  • The food and agribusiness industries are major players in shaping the dietary issues that affect obesity.

  • The obesity crisis is challenging the way the food & beverage sector operates in all phases of its business (production, marketing, distribution, restaurants & supermarkets).
  • Staying at the vanguard of obesity issues is imperative to the health and future growth of the food industry.

The Forum's Origin

Under the direction of Dr. Barry Popkin, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was awarded a 5 year NIH grant to start an Interdisciplinary Obesity Center (IDOC) in 2004.  The IDOC is a research center with 80 faculty from 23 departments on the Carolina campus, Duke University and RTI International in Research Triangle Park.  Dr. Popkin started several other programs as a result of the success of IDOC, including The Global Obesity Business Forum. This forum allows industry executives and academics the opportunity to talk candidly about emerging trends and how the two groups might collaborate to help solve this major public health dilemma while improving profitability.

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The Global Obesity Business Forum has institutionalized the interchange and dialogue between industry and academia. Representatives from corporations in the foods & beverage, restaurant, grocery and agribusiness sectors can become members of the Global Obesity Business Forum.

  • Forum directors will secure leading edge global obesity experts to present the latest groundbreaking obesity-related research affecting the food industry.
  • Forum Partners will be actively engaged in determining the content of the Annual Summit.
  • Obesity researchers and food industry representatives will be given a mechanism through which they can establish a common ongoing research agenda.

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Forum speakers and researchers will be chosen among eminent scholars and industry experts from around the globe appropriate to each topic. Leading obesity experts enlisted as speakers for conferences have included: George Bray, Michael Jacobson, Rick Mattes, Barry Popkin, and Walt Willett.

Topics

These will be jointly identified by Forum Partners and Forum Leadership. Examples include:

  • What's the next landmine after trans fats (e.g., HFCS, others)?
  • What is the long-term impact of added caloric and diet sweeteners on our diet and health?
  • How do we effectively globalize the new labeling initiatives started in the US and Europe (e.g. Keystone and Choices)?
  • Are there regulations that global food companies should support that wil enhance public health and benefit the overall food industry?
  • Effective ways to tackle childhood obesity.
  • What are the new findings regarding the obesity crisis that (a) affect my company overall, (b) impact existing products, and (c) provide opportunity for profitable new products?
  • Can I glean insights on how to be more successful in developing and marketing products that are convenient, tasty, profitable and healthier?
  • What are other countries doing to respond to this issue? Has any country been successful in dealing with obesity? How? What policies and changes have been employed?
  • Emerging trends (e.g., increasing metabolism rates; nanotechnology for foods).

Forum Leadership

  • Dr. Barry Popkin - an economist, nutrition epidemiologist and global authority on dietary and obesity trends and related interactions. Nutrition Professor and Director of the University of North Carolina's Interdisciplinary Obesity Center (IDOC).
  • Henry J. Cardello - former executive with Coca-Cola, RJR Nabisco, and General Mills. Mr. Cardello  serves as the Forum's Industry Executive Partner.

If your company wishes to explore becoming a Partner or Member in the Global Obesity Business Forum, please contact Barry Popkin at popkin@unc.edu (telephone: 919-966-1732) or Hank Cardello at hjcardello@aol.com (telephone: 919-929-0102). For more information on IDOC, please visit our website at http://www.uncidoc.org.