The Food and Beverage Story is changing

By Mr. Navneet Singh, Vice President, Asia Pacific Region at PureCircle Limited
Sweetness is an integral part of almost all packaged foods across the globe, if one looks closely one would realise that till about a decade ago almost every packaged item would contain empty calories in one or the other form. Yes, in many cases even the savory recipes have sugar present in them. Consuming sweetness is not harmful, it is the excess consumption that has become a concern for consumers. Increased consumer awareness – around the effects of excess consumption of empty calories, has affected consumption decisions. Especially when this consumption is being related to the increase of NCDs such as obesity and type two diabetes. This wave has motivated food and beverage brands to rethink and recreate their products.
We are a sweet loving nation with the highest sugar consumption in the world and our kids are increasingly becoming sugar dependent.  Consumption of added sugar is associated with excess weight gain, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, fatty liver disease and diabetes. WHO guideline recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams (6 teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits. Children should not consume more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar per day, according to new recommendations from the American Heart Association (AHA).
Empty calories cut-down or sugar reduction has become the need of hour for responsible food and beverage companies in India and across the globe to stay in line with the changing preferences and future demand expectations.
There are many factors which are driving this change in the story of food and beverage brands across the globe and especially in Asia. These environmental elements are expected to become more prevalent in the near future making this trend more sustainable over a period of time.   

–  Environmental interventions – A lot of voices have become active, which are affecting the consumer decision making environment. Awareness campaigns by regulatory bodies, health advocates and NGOs, active information sharing by influencers on healthy eating, increased access and circulation of information about the growing health concerns and most importantly increased awareness and availability of better alternatives; all these factors together have and are constantly modifying the physical and mental environment in which the consumers are making decisions. These environmental changes have shuffled the priority positing of various decision making criteria. For instance, a decade ago ‘healthy’, though a priority in home kitchens, was very low on priority in respect to packaged food and beverage choices. Now healthy is a buzz word actively affecting choices. Interestingly, changed environment has also put terms right at the top of the priority chart that did not exist until a few years ago, such as ‘natural and organic’. These changing trends motivate food and beverage companies to develop new and rethink popular recipes with more natural sweetening alternatives such as Stevia which can work in synergy with sugar to enable healthier solutions or can be used to give amazing sweet taste results in zero sugar recipes. Natural and Zero calorie Stevia is being accepted and adopted globally and is revolutionising the food and beverage landscape.             

– Policy statements and guidelines – A relatively new wave in the food and beverage industry environment is the active participation of decision makers in influencing and encouraging healthier food choices. Nutritional standards by governments and regulatory bodies, tax being levied on products with high sugar content, campaigns and drives encouraging people to opt for a healthier lifestyle and eating habits are some of the measures being taken. According to recent news, Singapore will ban advertisements of certain drinks which have high sugar content. Also, in the recent past Sri Lanka placed higher tax rate on beverages with higher quantity of sugar. Closer home there are ‘Eat Right India’ by FSSAI and ‘Fit India’ by honorable Prime Minister of India. Steps such as these are encouraging and motivating beverage and food brands to responsibly look for natural alternatives with no side harmful effects on human well-being still give excellent taste that consumers can enjoy.

– Clean labels – Growing emphasis on knowing what you eat and how it will affect you has encouraged brands to have cleaner labels on packaged food and beverages. Bringing in transparency in the industry and strengthening the bond of trust between brands and consumers.  
Dropping of empty calories has now become an intrinsic part of the food and beverage strategy of the future. The changing story of food and beverage industry has certainly taken a positive turn and we anticipate more promising innovations to take it to newer heights.