Business integration lever: Whitworths
05 February 2026IGD’s framework for population diet change identifies seven levers that can be embed into a business to deliver healthier, more sustainable diets.
IGD’s framework for population diet change identifies seven levers that can be embed into a business to deliver healthier, more sustainable diets.
Health can often sis on the edge of the organisation, owned by one team, consulted intermittently, and only occasionally the foundation of commercial decision-making. Whitworths has taken a different route, embedding health as a core organising principle across the business.
In this video, Whitworths explains how it stopped treating health as a function and instead made it a shared purpose. Health became something every team could connect to: strategically, commercially and emotionally.
Critically, this purpose was integrated into the economic logic of the business. By reframing nuts, seeds and dried fruit around regular, everyday consumption, Whitworths aligned health outcomes with category growth. Health was no longer a trade-off, but a route to scale and long-term value.
This integration unlocked faster decision-making and greater confidence, including investment in a white paper to support strategy and build credibility with customers and external stakeholders. It also enabled the business to think beyond traditional snacking occasions.
One clear example is Whitworths’ ambition to get more nuts into evening meals, an occasion where diets typically need more plants and fibre, and less reliance on red meat and unhealthier foods. This insight led to the development of Nutty Kitchen, a meat-alternative mince range designed to fit seamlessly into familiar meals.
Whitworths shows that when health is fully integrated into the business, it can become a powerful driver of population diet change.