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Why the soft drinks industry is committing to reduce added sugars by a further 10 percent

New pledge aims to triple pace of soft drinks sugar reduction.

The soft drinks industry has been on an added sugars reduction journey since the 1970s when the first no- and low-calorie drinks were introduced. It has already reduced calories by 12 percent since 2000. So why is it stepping up its efforts even further now?

Well, there are a number of reasons. Firstly, reducing added sugars in our products seeks to address changing consumer preferences. Our customers are more conscious than ever about their sugar and calorie intake. We support the views of the world’s leading health authorities that people should control their added sugars intake — and that includes sugar from soft drinks. In soft drinks, reducing added sugars leads directly to reduced calories and our sector is committed to playing its part in reducing overall calorie consumption in order to address overweight and obesity. Reducing added sugars by a further 10 percent on average across Europe represents an effective tripling of the sugar reduction pace in the soft drinks portfolio as compared to the 12 percent reduction already achieved between 2000 and 2015.

Added sugars reduction also responds to the recent EU call for reformulation and sugar reduction across the food industry. We support coordinated EU policies on reformulation and sugar reduction. UNESDA endorses the EU Roadmap for Action on Food Product Improvement and we are proud to be the first sector to respond to the EU Added Sugar Annex and its 10 percent sugar reduction target. The European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis, has responded positively to our initiative and has voiced the ambition that all sectors must play their part. We hope that others will follow suit in order to generate critical mass and impact more than 500 million consumers.

via UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe

The EU’s partnership-based policy approach to reformulation and sugar reduction involves all stakeholders in driving a successful strategy and is most welcome. It allows sufficient flexibility to reflect local situations and optimize the wide variety of tools in achieving the reduction goal. This enables our industry to deliver speed and scale in reducing added sugars across the soft drinks portfolio.

We will achieve the ambitious target by engaging our wide industry network across Europe. Our industry is already working with governments and stakeholders in many countries around Europe, signing local sugar- or calorie-reduction pledges. We will leverage a combination of four key actions:

• Firstly reformulating existing products to reduce their sugar content. This is an ongoing process and some of the brands that are on sale today contain 40 percent less sugar than they did a few years ago.
• The second approach is through innovation — to introduce new products with no or reduced sugar. Today, no- and reduced-sugar products represent 66 percent of new product innovations.
• Our third tool to reduce added sugars is by increasing the availability and range of smaller pack sizes. This allows portion control and encourages moderation in consumption. The availability of pack sizes smaller than 330ml has increased 150 percent since 2006, and there are now more than 30 different small packs to choose from, including cans, bottles, PET and pouches.
• The fourth element in our armory is promotion. Our industry will increase investment behind the promotion of no- and reduced-sugar drinks in order to educate consumers and actively encourage choice towards those products with less sugar. Already advertising spend behind no- and low-calorie drinks has doubled in many markets in recent years and this has borne fruit: No- and low-calorie drinks now represent more than 40 percent of total soft drinks sales, in a number of European markets.

Importantly, the soft drinks industry will ensure that it is accountable and will monitor its progress in added sugars reduction using independent, external researchers. We will share this data with stakeholders as soon as it is available.

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This is not the first time we have made commitments to the EU. Way back in 2006, UNESDA made a series of far-reaching commitments to the then newly formed EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. We promised to not advertise any of our products to children under 12 right across the EU28 — and we don’t. Not on TV, in print, on the internet or on social media. At the same time, UNESDA members also committed to not sell their products in primary schools right across the EU28 — and we don’t. The latest third party audit found UNESDA to be more than 95 percent compliant with both of these commitments — and we are working hard to deliver perfect compliance.

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