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War on Sugar – Companies, retailers reinvent strategies
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Wednesday, 01 March, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Consumers’ growing sugar intake is now indisputably one of the prime causes of obesity. Contributing very little to no health benefits, and relatively high amounts of energy to our diet, sugar has become an easy nutrient to blame for the problem. One of the consequences for those who have a high sugar consumption can be diabetes and heart diseases. The global purchase of sugar is currently 140 million tonne per year, and with a CAGR of 2.1%, it is expected to rise up to 156 million tonne over the 2015-2020 forecast period.
In 2015, the top 10 sugar consumers in the world bought 11.7 million tonne of sugar from carbonates and sugar and sweeteners alone. If current formulations remain, this figure will rise by another 77,000 tonne by 2020.
Healthy alternatives
With malnutrition, and diet-related diseases still on the rise, the world has been busy with public health appeals, calls for action and changes in nutrition regulations. Euromonitor expects the sugar tax to negatively impact the sales of soft drinks in the UK, even before its implementation in 2018, due to the stigma linked to sugar. Brands are now looking into new ways to appeal to consumers with still tasty, but healthy snack alternatives.
Euromonitor’s packaged food data shows growth of healthy snacks spiralled upwards by 7 per cent in 2014-2015, compared to ‘conventional’ snacks, which only increased by 5 per cent. The growth in healthy snacks was driven by Western Europe and North America, which combined, increased by US$10.8 billion from 2011 to 2016, an emerging trend that could transform the food industry.
The ‘war on sugar’ has dented the potential demand for sweet snacks as consumers have greater awareness of ingredients used in food production and are more cautious on their consumption. According to a recent Euromonitor survey, 47 per cent of global respondents look for foods with limited or no added sugar. The demonisation of sugar inevitably created a change in the type of ingredients used in snacks. In 2015, global sweeteners’ use in conventional snacks amounted to 15.5 million tonne, while in comparison, new snacks included less than a fifth of this at 3 million tonne.
This health trend does not only foster ingredients shift but also new pack sizing strategies. There is an increasing polarisation of pack sizes in conventional snacks, as larger formats are marketed for a shared consumption, and smaller sizes, more commonly launched as ‘calorie packs’. The aim of these new formats is to convey greater portion control and lower the guilt of buying a treat while still boosting impulse purchase.
Consumers are also increasingly aware of the importance of healthy weight in prevention of diabetes and other diseases, so minimising sugar and calorie intake is high on consumers’ agenda. New products are predicted to take a larger slice of the snacking market, resulting in further acquisitions.
(The article is contributed by Euromonitor International. For details, contact info@euromonitor.com)
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