Eating Better are an alliance of over 70+ civil society organisations drawn from across the food system, united by their mission to create a fairer and more sustainable food system. Collectively, their work is guided by their ‘Better By Half’ roadmap, which outlines 25 actions across 5 key sectors.
Following the launch of their project, Changing the Narrative, Eating Better recognised the need to better coordinate and align the advocacy effort of its members. To support this, Bremner & Co were commissioned to map members’ policy activities; assessing how closely their efforts aligned with the roadmap, identify which stakeholder groups were influencing policy makers and how they were doing so. Through our work, we developed recommendations to help Eating Better shape a cohesive strategy, strengthening their collective voice and increasing their influence on UK policy.
Our Approach
Initial meetings with Eating Better representatives helped establish the project context and clarify the scope of work. These discussions also provided the opportunity to highlight areas of interest and inform the design of a survey. The survey was distributed to 117 contacts across the Eating Better and Bremner networks to maximise the response rate and capture insights from a broad cross-section of the food system. To ensure comprehensive coverage, desk-based research was conducted to fill the gaps for those organisations that did not respond. Bremner & Co worked with Eating Better to review and refine the findings ahead of the final report. This process allowed for the development of targeted recommendations that aligned with the coalition’s interests and strategic objectives.
Key Outcomes
The survey received a high response rate of 75%, which demonstrated the commitment of Eating Better members to collective action. This also made for a solid foundation to provide an external perspective on the work of the alliance.
These findings identified key areas in which there was strong alignment to the Better by Half Roadmap, particularly around the government-focused actions, as well as where there was potential for more coherence in their advocacy work, such as in the low engagement with financial institutions and investors.
Identifying these gaps presented potential areas where there could be greater coordination within the alliance to amplify its impact. By leveraging the strengths of members already active across multiple sectors, levels of government and roadmap actions, Eating Better were able to develop more cohesive strategies for the next phase of their alliance in order to push their advocacy forward.
Through this work we were also able to identify the organisations best suited to form an advocacy working group. This group could drive unified messaging and deeper collaboration, enhancing the alliance’s ability to effectively influence policy.
Testimonials
I was very impressed with the approach taken by Myles and Cressida. It was very clear when we could expect work to be delivered, what any potential problems could be and ideas to overcome them (i.e. not getting all members to fill out the form). The analysis was clear and gave us some very useful insights and angles we hadn’t considered before. A bonus was Cressida organising our policy contacts into a spreadsheet we have used afterwards.
Andrew Stark, Senior Research and Policy Manager, Eating Better
Eating Better sit at a really important cross-section of the food system, bringing together organisations that influence governments, retailers and manufacturers, the food service sector, producers, and financial institutions and investors. The level of commitment from members was clear from the high level of engagement with our research, and we wanted to make sure that energy translated into something useful. By mapping what each organisation was doing and where there were gaps, we helped build a clearer picture of the alliance’s strengths, as well as opportunities for stronger advocacy. This work gave Eating Better a solid starting point for thinking about how to focus that collective strength and push for greater impact.
Cressida Pidgeon, Senior Research and Projects Officer, Bremner & Co
Our Services
This project demonstrates our expertise in designing effective surveys, generating robust insights, and turning data into clear, actionable recommendations. The high survey response rate reflected the strength of Eating Better’s member network and the trust within it, something we built on by working closely with their team throughout the project.
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