Trend of sugar reduction and sugar alternatives in the hospitality sector

HospiBuz Desk

One of the most striking international phenomenon in recent years is how consumer attitudes have changed towards sugar. In the food and drink industry, reducing sugar content, swapping out the white stuff for sweeteners and natural alternatives has become a top priority for food innovators and manufacturers the world over and across countless applications.

India is the second largest producer of sugar in the world and the largest consumer. Sweets are an integral part of Indian food culture.
India which is diabetes capital of the world with around 5 crore patients of type 2 diabetes is slowly but surely reducing its sugar consumption and becoming more health conscious.

The statistics from NFSFL shows that there has been drop of 2kg in sugar consumption per person per year.

In 2014-15 India’s sugar consumption was 20.5kg per person, but it has dropped to 18.5kg per person in the financial year 2017-18

In financial year 2017-18 India's total sugar production was 32 million tonnes and consumption was around 25 million tonnes.

Apart from the increased production of sugar in 2017-18, one of the major reason why substantial stock remained unsold is that, Indians are changing their eating habits, said sugar sector analyst.

Sugar production during the current 2018-19 SS is being reported to be lower than what was expected about 3-4 months back

Sweetening up using monk fruit

Swapping in natural ingredients to sweeten up a product fits in nicely with the booming clean label trend – and what better way to do this than using fruit.

Stevia may be a leader in the natural sweetening space, but it’s becoming increasingly common for food innovators to use monk fruit for instance.

According to Innova Market Insights data, new launches of products using monk fruit as a natural sweetener have risen 3 per cent from 2015 to 2016 in the juice and juice drinks category. Recent innovations with monk fruit include a wide range of Chobani yogurt products in the US, including Simply 100 Blended Non-Fat Greek Yogurt Raspberry Lemon, which contains both stevia and monk fruit. The products contain a “no artificial sweeteners” sweeteners claim and are noted to contain “75 per cent less sugar than regular yogurt.”

Recent research also shows that the British are turning to fresh fruit to curb their sugar cravings, while earlier this month a US study also revealed how half of Americans are trying to reduce the amount of sugar they eat.

According to a survey by Leatherhead Food Research, 48 percent of Americans said they are trying to cut down on sugar, while the findings showed that reducing sugar consumption was the leading dietary habit change.