Ingredient Challenges: Formulation Challenge: Shaping Sweet Success for Reduced-sugar Foods
Information Resources Inc. (IRI, Chicago) data shows double-digit growth from 2003 to 2004 for diet soft drinks and bottled water, while orange juice and regular soft drinks were down 4%. IRI also reports many new items in the category, most notably frozen novelties and diet candy (with diet and sugar-free sales showing a greater than 90% increase in the past year). Worldwide, ACNielsen (New York) tracking shows sugar substitutes experienced the fastest growth within the “healthy alternatives” category--10% from 2003 to 2004.
Sugared-down products have risen in just about every category where sugar can possibly be altered. Major players have entries in all the leading brands: Tropicana's (Bradenton, Fla.) Essentials Light 'n Healthy and Minute Maid's (Coca-Cola, Atlanta) Premium Light orange juice beverages claim half the sugar of regular orange juice; their respective parent companies debuted “mid-calorie” soft drinks with the same sugar reduction--Pepsi's (Purchase, N.Y.) Edge and Coca-Cola's C2--in the carbonated category. Kellogg's (Battle Creek, Mich.) introduced one-third less sugar Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops, while General Mills (Minneapolis) rolled out varieties of Trix, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cocoa Puffs with 75% less sugar.