The nutrition company’s proprietary Outside Voice research, which includes insights from nearly 14,000 people in 15 countries across four regions about their purchase behavior, reveals on average 83% of consumers are cutting back on sugar in their diets – placing pressure on food and beverage manufacturers to strategically reformulate products.
To help companies determine where sugar reduction reformulation efforts will have the most impact and how to balance changes with other consumer expectations and demands, ADM recently unveiled an interactive Sweet Insights Tool. In this episode of FoodNavigator-USA’s Soup-To-Nuts podcast, ADM Senior Marketing Director of Global Sweetening & Texturizing Solutions Sarah Diedrich shares how to use the insights tool as well as key findings from the company’s Outside Voice research. She also offers concrete next steps, including how ADM can support reformulation efforts.
‘When it comes to consumers in sugar reduction … there is no one size fits all’
When it comes to sugar reduction, Diedrich says there is no one size fits all – which, she explains is a double-edged sword for the food and beverage industry. On one side, reformulation can be a powerful growth driver if undertaken in the categories and products where consumers are cutting back. On the other side, reformulating in categories where consumers want to indulge or are less worried about sugar could backfire or, at a minimum, go unnoticed.
Diedrich explains this is why ADM undertook the research that underpins its Sweet Insights Tool.
“The same consumer that one day, one meal, wants a full sugar beverage, could be the same consumer that is then shopping for something that has all natural, quality ingredients that adhere to … a school lunch program for their kids, and could also be the same consumer that is then shopping for a sugar-free beverage for a different time of the day or week for themselves,” she said.
“It is really important to keep in mind this idea of optionality when it comes to consumers and sugar reduction and not to pigeonhole or label [consumers], because we are all super dynamic in our choices,” she added.
ADM also chose to dive deeper into sugar reduction trends to account for the impact on consumer behavior of innovation and regulation around sweeteners as well as legislative efforts to encourage sugar reduction, such as taxes and warnings on sugar-sweetened items.
Because regulations and legislation vary globally, ADM expanded its research, which began in the US, to include Europe, Latin America and other regions to better capture the impact of sugar reduction trends on food and beverage brands that played in multiple regions.
Sugar reduction answers could be one click away
To help industry navigate the expansive and rich research, ADM created an interactive tool that allows manufacturers and others to easily dig into the findings.
“We wanted to create a tool that did not feel surface level,” but which also did not go into the weeds so much that people would become lost, Diedrich said.
“You can click into different countries to find some of the findings we have in our top line analysis of standout trends from one country or one region to another,” she added.
Sugar preferences revealed by region
Using the interactive tool, those interested in how consumers think about sugar reduction can click on a region on a map and then drill down by clicking on insight categories, such as “going beyond sugars,” “product priorities,” “top reasons for limiting sugars,” “behaviors per category” and others.
Diedrich explains that under “going beyond sugars,” stakeholders can see how sugar reduction stacks up to other values – like calories and clean label.
In the “product priorities” section, sugar reduction is compared to taste, health benefit and quality.
The “behaviors per category” tabs show the extent to which consumers are interested in sugar reduction by food or beverage type. According to ADM, in North America, 66% of consumers are interested in sugar reduction in non-alcoholic beverages, 61% in sauces & dressings, 60% in bars and snacks, 56% in baked goods, 54% in dairy and only 44% in candies and chocolate.
This is dramatically different from consumers in Latin America, 88% of which said they are interested in sugar reduction in non-alcoholic beverages, while 86% said the same about dairy and 84% said it for baked goods.
Next steps
Knowing what consumers want is just the first step in reducing sugar successfully without sacrificing taste, texture or the overall experience. Diedrich explains that because sugar delivers other functional benefits beyond sweetness, ADM works closely with brands to “replace, rebalance and rebuild” their products once sugar is reduced or removed.
Diedrich also encourages companies considering sugar reduction to answer three questions before making changes.
These include what are a brand’s parameters, how many calories does the company want to reduce and how connected does a company want to be to the reformulation process.
Those who are interested in exploring ADM’s Sweet Insights Tool can find it at https://go.adm.com/GlobalSugarReduction_InteractiveTool. There they also can learn more about the company’s sweetener solutions and approach to sugar reduction. The data on which the tool is based also continues to evolve as ADM continues to survey consumers about their attitudes – including another study on consumers actively wearing blood glucose monitors and additional research into the impact of GLP-1 medications on dietary choices.