The economics of healthy living, in debate

Sleep well, eat well, engage in physical activity, avoid dependence on technology and spend more time with yourself and family, are some tips we usually receive live healthier. However, behind the individual’s likelihood of incorporating better habits into daily life, there is an environment that is changing, especially rapidly after a pandemic.

Cities are willing to promote new forms of active mobility, (such as the use of bicycles); Medicine has adapted its resources to the needs of patients who are more focused on their Health and Consumer companies are restructuring their strategies to adapt to new consumer needs. Words like “vegan”, “flexitarian”, plant based and “well being or wellness” have become part of everyday jargon and the industry aims to meet that need.

These topics, among others, are part of “The economics of healthy living”, the new conversation organized by Clarion, in the “The World that Comes” cycle, in which COMPANY executives and experts participated. The debate was moderated by the editors of Clarion Daniel Fernández Canedo and Diana Baccaro and participated here: Manuela López Menéndez, Secretary of Transportation and Public Labor of the City Government of Buenos Aires (GCBA); Mariano Allende Iriarte, medical deputy manager of OSDE emergency; Guillermo Oliveto, expert in Consumption and Social Humor and founder of Consultora W; Diego Buranello, director of Public Affairs of Danone Argentina and Nicolás Iribarne, director of Marketing Burger King Argentina.

At the beginning of the conversation, López Menendez shared the experience of the city of Buenos Aires Regarding the theme of the conference: “we are applying a policy to encourage the use of bicycles and other forms of active mobility such as skateboarding or walking more. And people are tremendously turning to that. And notice- attention that now, in the Buenos Aires area, about 10% of the trips made each day, are done by bicycle. Approximately 500 to 600 thousand people the officer.

“We had a free public bicycle system and during the pandemic, our big challenge was to make bike lanes two roads: Corrientes and Córdoba, where usage increased by more than 200%, especially among women,” he said. he explained. `Now, Libertador’s shared street is a huge challenge, we will have a bike lane from Retiro to General Paz, to connect with Vicente Lopez. The idea is to give identification to the bicycle and also to pedestrians and public transport, so that people can use it again, “he said. According to the official, the use of buses has reached 100%, while subways and trains are at 70% compared to the pre-pandemic situation.

In the case of OSDE, pandemic is included developed special methods of care, such as Online medical consultation and the virtual family doctor, “These are the changes here to stay,” according to Allende Iriarte. “But from now on, facade and digital care must be combined in a rational and responsible way,” he added.

The manager also commented on what the company’s focus to optimize service: “In accordance with the Superintendence of Health, we are working on five main axes, the prevention of cervical cancer, breast cancer, maternal and child health, reproductive health and dentistry,” she commented. “Furthermore, we campaign on issues such as anti-smoking, diabetes, sexually transmitted diseases and healthy living, among others.”

Not a small point is longevity of peopleDirected by Allende Iriarte. “And because there is a shortage of caregivers for the elderly, the Health leadership has organized the training“ The art of caring. ”We already have 3,000 trained people working,” he said. According to the professional, also Maintenance It occupies an important area on the company’s agenda, such as recycling plastics and chinstraps, which must be placed in a pressure-sealed plastic container to be recycled later.

Regarding how companies are positioning themselves in the face of these changes, according to analyst Guillermo Oliveto, the need for a healthy life is driving the corporate segment more than ever. “It’s already happening but the pandemic has caused an amazing disruption to the record that people have what can be good or bad,” he said in the conversation.

“The pandemic is for us like the war that the Europeans or the Asians have: at the exit, after so much discomfort, for the people, well -being is priceless.” Therefore, “now the key is healing, not only physically but also spiritually. That’s what explains the growth of tourism: not just travel but escaping the environment, political noise, and so on. as having become extremely oppressive. So people leave, retire for two or three days to recover. There is an opportunity in business to make people feel good ”, warned the specialist in Social Consumption and Humor.

Meanwhile, Diego Buranello recalls that “before the concept of Health it had to do with physical exercise or diets. Now, instead, people have a broader vision: from how to deliver healthier to whether how to eat better. ” According to the Danone executive, the client he was no longer satisfied with the purchase of the product offered to him. He was looking for exactly what he wanted and if it didn’t satisfy him, he let it go, he described. Therefore, companies are going through a transition in this matter.

A move involving, for example, reduce critical ingredients in productssuch as sugars or fats. “But we need in this transition not to lose the pleasure of eating food. We’ve been working on it for years and we have a B certification. The consumer reads the label more every time. That’s why the information is is important to reach the consumer in a clear way ”, he pointed out. Around the world, Danone has a program called Food Revolution, with global goals to improve the healthy quality of food it does.

In the same line, Nicolás Iribarne, director of marketing at Burger King, pointed out that the company has been considering for about seven years, “what the markets will be in the future, which is now a reality,” he said. “In that sense we are set to be leaders in food quality. And for that we work with two axes: remove colorants, preservatives and flavorings in all our products. Currently, 90% of products are made and it sells without these elements and the goal for this year is to reach 100%, he explains.

The other axis is stimulate the plant -based category, (vegetable proteins that mimic animal origin). For that, the fast food chain launched the vegetable Whopper and the vegetable chicken burger. “Our commitment is to create a category: to give the flexitarian consumer (who eats meat only occasionally), a range of offers and to make them feel included in our portfolio.”

In areas where plant-based burgers have been launched, this category has already reached 10% of turnover. To decide to move forward in this segment, Burger looked at studies like Taste Tomorrow, indicating that the preference for plant -based foods will grow in Argentina by 51% in 2021. This percentage is made visible not only by a tendency towards veganism but also by a marked tendency to choose to reduce the consumption of animal products.

The debate was sponsored by Clarion also asked if eating healthy is more expensive and therefore almost inaccessible for low -income consumers.

“The situation is very heterogeneous. We believe you can eat healthy at an affordable price, “replied the Burger King manager.” Then there’s the top of the line for the customer who can buy it. Our architectural offer is vast because it’s not just plant-based consumer who come to our place, but also their friends ”, who certainly have different needs.

At Danone, meanwhile, “a commercial approach is being implemented where we guarantee access to products for the middle class without sacrificing quality. This is achieved through communication, by linking the brand to “Access to healthy products is related to prices. Therefore, it is pending that they are also economical and in line with social changes”, Buranello assured.

Meanwhile, Oliveto believes that “unfortunately, healthy consumption is closely linked to purchasing power.” “When you study the social pyramid, life is less healthy because it’s more expensive.” However, “walking more, for example, does not imply greater spending. But when we cross the data, we see that healthy consumption reaches the middle and upper classes, which are half the population in Argentina.”