Watch on demand: Innovating low- and no-sugar beverages that meet function & flavor

According to the International Food Information Council’s most recent food and health survey, 76% of consumers want to limit or avoid sugars, which is up from 72% the year before. This includes 66% who say that they are limiting sugar and 11% who say that they are trying to avoid sugar entirely.

During FoodNavigator-USA’s recent webinar, Low and no-sugar beverages: from soda 2.0 to flavored water​​, which is available now on demand, a panel of experts explore in detail what consumers want when it comes to beverages, including how they perceive sugar and sweeteners, how their expectations may vary by category, usage occasion, and functional benefits, and how beverage brands across categories are rising to meet those evolving demands.

How consumers perceive sugar & sweeteners varies across beverage categories, usage occasions ​

During the free, one-hour webinar, Melissa Abbott, VP of syndicated studies at The Hartman Group explores what motivates consumers’ beverage purchases, including 30% who aspire to drink options with less sugar. She also shines a light on challenges that may hold consumers back from breaking old beverage habits.

This dichotomy creates an opportunity for innovative beverage brands to market better-for-you options with no- and low-sugar, but which still tick consumers’ expectations and meet diverse usage occasions, she explains.

For example, within juice, a category that has been demonized for high sugar content, consumers are willing to tolerate naturally occurring sugar when paired with sufficient functional benefits, but less willing to consume added sugar in beverages without benefits beyond nostalgia and indulgence.

In recent years, Uncle Matt’s Organic has educated consumers on the natural health attributes of select juices – such as orange – and upped the functional benefits with added vitamins, minerals and ingredients that support inflammation or digestion, company CEO Matt McLean explained during the webinar.

In more indulgent juice categories, such as lemonade and punch, the company has opted for non-nutritive sweeteners to create the flavor and sweetness profile consumers expect with stevia but without the added calories that sugar contributes. The company also offers teas and even children’s juice boxes sweetened with stevia, honey and other options to deliver taste while cutting the negative health attributes of sugar, McLean said.

Throne Sport Coffee opts for natural cane sugar amid consumer confusion around alternative sweeteners​

Within the ready-to-drink coffee category, which has historically leaned on indulgent flavors and double-digit grams of sugar, newcomer Throne Sport Coffee is responding to consumer demand for less sugar and more benefits.

Four months into the market, the functional, low-calorie and low sugar RTD coffee brand uses premium Arabic beans combined with electrolytes, B vitamins and branched-chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine) and natural flavors and cane sugar for taste.

“From a better-for-you product, there are not very many options [in the RTD coffee category],” industry veteran, Co-founder and CEO Michael Fedele said during the webinar. He joked that most RTD coffees are like “milkshakes,” but said Throne Sport Coffee has four SKUs with 50 calories and just 8 grams of natural cane sugar or less. “No monk fruit, no allulose, no stevia, no erythritol.”

He explained the company opted for natural sugar, because most artificial and natural sweeteners are trying to replicate the profile of sugar – and the brand would rather use real sugar – albeit less – to deliver that profile.

He also noted some consumers have concerns or are confused about the safety profile of some sweeteners and which are natural.

Crunchy Hydration skips sweeteners in favor of complementary flavors​

While Throne Sport Coffee significantly reduced the sugar content in its beverages compared to the broader competitive set, startup Crunchy Hydration skipped sweeteners all together.

To offset off notes from some of its functional ingredients, including CBD, which can taste grassy or earthy, the company combines flavors that work well together without the addition of sugar, Heather Herring, chief operating officer at Crunchy Hydration, said.

For example, the company’s Elevate Lime combines holy basil and lime to complement the grassy notes of the CBD, rather than use sweeteners as masking agents.

From marketing to cost management: Other factors to consider when selecting sweeteners​

During the webinar, the panel also explores:

• To what extent marketing focuses on their sweeteners of choice (or absence of sweeteners) and what claims best resonate with consumers,
• The potential for sweet proteins as a low-calorie option,
• Innovations in technology that can convert sugar to fiber or reduce calories,
• Trends in low- and no-sugar beverages in food service,
• How to balance costs management and consumers’ price sensitivity with ingredient selection,
• Whether reducing sugar is enough, or if consumers want beverages with added benefits, and more.

Watch the full 1-hour, free webinar on demand​ by registering HERE​.