Rising demand for sugar reduction: Opportunities and obstacles for the industry

A recent Innova study found that North American consumers are “increasingly conscious of their sugar intake, seeking out products that offer a balance of indulgence and well-being.” According to the Now & Next in Sugar Reduction in US & Canada report, 55 per cent of the surveyed in Canada are conscious of limiting sugar in their diet. Additionally, one in three of the surveyed consumers in North America said that indulgent foods should have more natural ingredients. Plus, one in three respondents felt foods could be healthier if they had fewer negatives or artificial ingredients.

Sugar is one of the ingredients viewed unfavourably by consumers. A FMCG Gurus’ market research indicated that 76 per cent of global consumers believed sugar is a cause of obesity, which has been validated by medical professionals and public health agencies. Further, 64 per cent of global consumers would like to see sugar-free claims.

“Sugar reduction in general is a unique trend in that it’s completely global. Many trends we see have nuances, geography by geography, and they tend to look slightly different. But obesity and diabetes are challenges across all geographies and economies. So from that perspective, it’s one of the few strong macro trends that’s truly global. It offers a huge opportunity. We continue to see growth in that space,” said Nate Yates, CEO of PureCircle by Ingredion, during a short chat the sugar reduction trend. Ingredion offers several sugar reduction solutions including stevia.

This growth in sugar reduction solutions is largely driven by an increasing recognition of the economic cost of obesity and diabetes. Governments are taking measures to limit sugar consumption. One such is the front of package labelling. Come January 1, 2026, packaged foods high in saturated fat, sugars and/or sodium will display a new symbol to inform consumers and help them choose products that are low in sodium, sugar and/or saturated fats. Some governments have also slapped a tax on products high in sugar. For instance, Newfoundland and Labrador imposed a tax of nearly 20 cents on some sugar-sweetened beverages in 2022. Though controversial, the government hoped the tax will motivate consumers to “choose healthier beverages without added sugar.”

Nate Yates.

Given the health concerns associated with sugar, it’s not surprising that sugar-related claims are seeing modest growth in North America. Per Innova, “The two most common sugar-related claims, ‘sugar-free’ and ‘no added sugar,’ each appear on two in five launches with a sugar-related claim. Sugar-free claims show the strongest growth, followed by ‘low sugar’ and then ‘no added sugar’.

The Innova study also found, “Bulk, artificial, and natural sweeteners have been steadily increasing in popularity over the past five years, and now are present in over half of products launched with sugar-related claims.”

Despite the popularity, the sugar reduction industry has found it challenging to mimic sugar’s many functional properties, such as texture, flavour, colour, freezing point depression, preservation and multiple physical forms, in products without using a long ingredient list. As mentioned earlier, consumers want a clean ingredient deck with recognizable products. Yates acknowledged that in some zero sugar products, “there’s a huge compromise in the eating quality that many consumers aren’t interested in” them.

“Sometimes we forget just how economical sugar is. It’s really a relatively inexpensive ingredient considering all of the functional attributes it brings to formulations whether it’s bulking or freeze point depression. So when you remove sugar, you have to build back a lot of the things that it was doing besides just sweetness. We’re talking often about multiple ingredients, and cost starts to become an enormous factor in the discussion,” explained Yates. “When you look at some of our newer products from stevia, I think taste is no longer the real challenge. I won’t say it’s perfect, but I will say we’ve made significant strides. And so now we’re really trying to tackle cost.”

One of the suggestions that’s finding traction in the industry is the concept of reducing sugar—by 30, 40, or 50 per cent—instead of fully eliminating it to provide consumers with the same mouthfeel as sugar while keeping product formulation costs low.

“We’ve shifted our portfolio around that concept. So we really have created very specific stevia glycoside mixtures. So you have almost a matrix depending on whatever your subcategory might be. If it’s an alternative dairy, for example, we have a different mixture for a 30 per cent reduction or 50 per cent or a full reduction because there is a difference. We really tried to lean into that trend of just the reduction of sugar as opposed to eliminating it completely out of the product,” explained Yates.