Dive Brief:
- Nestlé has reduced sugar in Nesquik and devised a new advertising strategy without the dominating cartoon bunny. Both are part of a plan that it hopes will boost sales of the popular item with health-conscious parents and tech-savvy kids, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- In 2015, the company first experimented with a reduced sugar version in the U.S. A similar launch followed in France, which cut added sugar in a serving from 10.6 grams to five grams.
- Nestlé will launch the product in the U.K. this spring, followed by other European countries, cutting added sugar by an additional 30% to 3.4 grams a serving.
Dive Insight:
A look at Nestle's website shows the company’s ongoing commitment to make its popular sweets healthier, with a company mandate to ensure its food and beverage products are both tasty and healthy.
“When it comes to reformulating a product, we have to carefully optimize our recipes to preserve taste while reducing public health sensitive nutrients, such as sodium and added sugars, in accordance with the criteria set by the Nestlé Nutritional Profiling System,” the company said.
By the end of 2015, the company achieved its objective of having virtually all of its children’s products meet all the NNPS criteria.
Its current company objective is to “further reduce sugar content by 10% in products that do not meet the NNF criteria, to ensure continual improvement even in more challenging areas of its product portfolio.”
Since Nesquik is an indulgent treat for many, consumers may not care as much about the calories and sugar content. The Dessert Consumer Trend Report released a survey that showed that improving desserts’ perceptions of healthfulness could lead to more sales. In fact, 66% of those dining out said they would be more willing to add dessert to their meal if they were labeled as homemade with natural ingredients.
But Nestle claims to have found a scientific breakthrough that will allow for further sugar reduction without impacting taste. Late last year, the company's scientists announced they were in the process of patenting a hollow and faster-dissolving sugar that could allow a 40% reduction in products. Details were scarce, but the manufacturer told Food Detective they expected it to be used in Nestle's products by 2018. With innovations like this, many of Nestle's products could get a whole lot sweeter with less added sugar.