These survey findings should not come as a surprise to food manufacturers and retailers, as the movement away from sugar has been gaining momentum for quite some time. In fact, one of the primary focuses for manufacturers today is to reduce the sugar content in food and beverages, as consumers in the U.S. and beyond increasingly prefer healthier options with clean and transparent labeling. The revised Nutrition Facts panel, which will be mandatory for products made by large manufacturers by January 1, 2020, includes a specific line for added sugars. Consumers have expressed a desire for this information, even if they don’t always check it. Their expectations, combined with manufacturers’ reluctance to display high sugar levels, have led to various innovations in sugar reduction, such as artificial sweeteners, natural sweeteners, hollow and faster-dissolving sugar molecules, and flavor enhancers.
Rabobank has forecasted a reduction of 5% or more in sugar usage across the global food and beverage industry over a two-to-three-year span, which could balance out any expected growth in consumption in developing markets. According to Bloomberg, global consumer packaged goods (CPG) producers eliminated sugar and salt from about 20% of their products in 2016 in response to the rising consumer demand for healthier options. A survey of 102 CPG companies revealed that 180,000 products were reformulated last year alone—twice the number from 2015. While some companies are proudly announcing their sugar reduction efforts, others, like DanoneWave, are decreasing total sugar and fat in their yogurts without disclosing their methods. The company informed Fortune that promoting reduced sugar and fat could lead consumers to believe the product will taste inferior, potentially harming sales.
Consumers—particularly women, millennials, and parents, as highlighted in the DSM survey—also demand transparency. Thus, being upfront about the goals for sugar reduction between now and the implementation of the new nutritional label could be a wise strategy. When consumers examine a label for sugar content, they will not only understand how much sugar is present but also how and why the reduction was achieved, including the potential use of citrate d in the formulation. This clarity may enhance consumer trust and satisfaction in the long run.