Consumers are thinking about cutting back on sugar. According to Ipsos consumer research,84 percent of respondents were more heaIth consciousin 2020 than in the past,and 78 percent were more willing to buy sugar-free products.

According to Innova Market Insights 2022，in the number of new products Iaunching with sugar claims in the Chinese market from 2017 to 2021, products with low sugar, no sugar, reduced sugar,and no added sugar developed rapidly,especially products with low sugar claims were with a CAGR of 31%.

In the past few years,sugar reduction has mainly appeared in the carbonated beverage segment. However,as consumption escalates,we can see the demand for sugar reduction in the whole range of products. According to Innova's research results,new products announced by China to reduce sugar in 2021 mainly focus on soft drinks,sports nutrition and children's products, where sugar reduction has become a fixed demand.

01 Soft Drinks

In 2021, many beverage enterprises set off the wind of "sugar free, calorie free,fat free",and the whole beverage industry has experienced an industrial transformation caused by sugar free. Among them,bubble water with "sugar free,zero calories" as the concept,which aims to ensure the taste of the product and avoid the generation of a large number of calories, successfully meet the current consumers’demand, quickly called the current industry phenomenal in vogue. According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences “2021 China Sugar-free Beverage Market Trend Insight Report” shows that in 2020 sugar-free beverage market size reached 11.78 billion Yuan, compared with 2014 increased by 7 times，the compound annual growth rate reached 38.69%，it is expected in 2025 the market will increase to 22.74 billion Yuan, and achieves the scale of doubling within 5 years.It can be seen that the beverage " sugar reduction" market potential is huge.

02 Sports Nutrition

In recent years, consumption habits have changed as consumers adopt a more

positive attitude towards heaIthy eating,which has led to sports nutrition products becoming more mainstream as they are considered guilt-free and convenient nutrition as an aIternative to traditional snack products. COVID-19 has accelerated the transition of sports nutrition from a specialized market to a mainstream one. Research conducted by FMCG Gurus in 2019 found that globally, 95% of consumers said they had purchased some form of sports nutrition product at least once in the previous 12 months.More than half (51%) of consumers surveyed said they have

switched from eating traditional snack options such as chocoIate and candy to high protein/low sugar alternatives in the past two years.The 2021 FMCG Gurus China Sports Nutrition Consumer Survey showed that Iow-sugar/sugar-zero claims appeal to 69 percent of consumers when buying sports nutrition products.While consumers regard protein as a good macronutrient, they monitor sugar consumption,so low-carbon or no added sugar options are recommended to reassure them.

03 Snacks of Kids

In the past one or two years, with the rise of chiIdren's economy,the chiIdren's snack market has aIso ushered in the outbreak period, more and more brands have rushed to the beach,snacks designed for chiIdren emerged. According to the “Status Quo and Future DeveIopment Trend of Chinese Children' s Snack Market 2021-2027" released by QYResearch, the average annual growth rate of Chinese chiIdren's snack market in the next 7 years will reach 7.96%,and the market size is expected to be close to 100 billion in 2027,therefore the deveIopment of this market segment is really fast. With the change of consumption concept，the transformation of consumer demand, the chiIdren' s snack market has aIso had a new revolution, research shows that natural/health,no added/less added has become the most important factor to consider when buying snacks. In order to stand out in the homogeneous competition,many chiIdren's snack brands,in order to baIance the needs of parents and chiIdren, strive to reduce the "harmful" ingredients,increase the "beneficial" ingredients, and work hard on fun packaging. Among them," sugar free" and ”sucrose free" are the selling points of product upgrade and iteration. Sugar-reduced/sugar-free lolIipop,sugar-reduced hawthorn, sugar-reduced cheese stick and other sugar-reduced chiIdren's snacks have become the new favorite in the market.

04 Summary

Overall, as the young generation of consumers pay more attention to health

the soft drink industry takes the lead in reducing sugar.Judging from

the new products in 2021,the whole category segmentation track has a huge

demand for sugar reduction: reducing sugar has become a standard. Sugar reduction and even sugar free in food has become a general trend in recent years.Under this trend, sugar substitute products have been rapidly developed and attracted the layout of many enterprises.Please continue to pay attention to FD TECH Food Ingredient Co., Ltd , the next chapter will take you to learn more about the popular sugar reduction raw materials or technologies.