Sugar and the dangers attached to consuming too much of this ingredient became the major food issue of 2014. The increase in media coverage was noticed by over two fifths of consumers. Highlighting a direct link between this and consumer behaviour, over six in 10 people who were aware of the “sugar scare” in the media upped their efforts to monitor/reduce their sugar intake in the last 12 months compared to 46% of the population as a whole.

While this issue has implications for the entire food industry, it is also evident in the performance of the table-top sugar market. Volume and value sales tumbled by 9% and 12% year on year respectively in 2014.

People remain wary of artificial sweeteners, with half of the population expressing concern about these ingredients. Meanwhile, with “naturalness” commonly eliciting trust from consumers, naturally sourced sweeteners such as stevia are met with far less resistance. A sizeable one in three (35%) adults would welcome more food products which use naturally sourced sweeteners. This suggests opportunities are ripe for NPD (New Product Development) involving these ingredients, within the technical and regulatory boundaries for this.

This report focuses on sugar and sweeteners in all types of food and non-alcoholic drink that consumers buy, in terms of consumer attitudes and NPD.

The market size refers to the retail sales of “table-top” sugar and sweeteners market, which are bought as sweetening ingredients, for example in baking or adding to food/drink.

The global market size data for sweeteners is provided in Mintel’s Intense Sweeteners – International, December 2013 report.

Sweeteners are defined by the EU as ‘substances used to impart a sweet taste to foods or in table-top sweeteners’.

Sweeteners can broadly be split into two types: artificial sweeteners and naturally derived sweeteners.

Artificial sweeteners are sugar substitutes which are made from chemically manufactured molecules, ie those which do not exist in nature. Examples include acesulfame K, aspartame, neotame, saccharin and sucralose.

Naturally derived sweeteners include any sweeteners which come from natural sources. Examples of zero-calorie naturally derived sweeteners include stevia (made from leaves of the stevia rebaudiana plant) and xylitol (made from birch).

Note: While stevia is derived from a natural source, the ‘natural’ status of stevia is debatable owing to the production method used to produce steviol glycosides. FoodDrinkEurope, an industry body that represents the European food and drink manufacturers, has issued guidelines to its members to ensure they do not use misleading claims on products containing stevia. Stevia can be labelled to imply natural origins, but may not make a ‘natural’ claim.

The EU states the following definitions related to sugar content:

Low sugars – A claim that a food is low in sugars, and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, may only be made where the product contains no more than 5g of sugars per 100g for solids or 2.5g of sugars per 100ml for liquids.

Sugar-free – A claim that a food is sugar-free, and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, may only be made where the product contains no more than 0.5g of sugars per 100g or 100ml.

With no added sugars – A claim stating that sugars have not been added to a food, and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, may only be made where the product does not contain any added mono- or disaccharides or any other food used for its sweetening properties. If sugars are naturally present in the food, the following indication should also appear on the label: ‘Contains Naturally Occurring Sugars’.

Value figures throughout this report are at retail selling prices (rsp) unless stated otherwise. Market sizes at constant 2014 prices are devised using Mintel’s food deflator.

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