Building relationships: Is this the answer to effective nutrition policy formulation?

Policymakers are still struggling to deliver effective nutrition policies, as nutrition policy development can be lost among other competing demands from what is a complex, interconnected food system. Therefore, we explored the relevance of including a wider (relational) marketing perspective to enable effective nutrition policy formulation through in-depth interviews with food system stakeholders and focus groups with citizens. A relational approach would release the potential to build trust and collaboration, necessary for policy implementation, by focusing on the shared goal of citizen wellbeing. A power shift is needed from large corporations to governments and end-users (consumers/citizens). For this to happen, governments need to address power sources to orchestrate policy development, rather than merely monitoring the actor set. Acknowledged interdependence that re-balances power and includes citizens' input in nutrition policy development is vital.