People don't miss the sugar Fonterra's stopped adding to drinks and yoghurts

Friday, 8 November 2019

Fonterra has reduced the amount of sugar it adds to the other ingredients that goes to make CalciYum.

Consumers haven't noticed some of the added sugar has been removed from Fonterra's Primo, CalciYum and Fresh & Fruity yoghurts.

In fact, testing at Colmar Brunton's 'sensory facility' indicated people found them equally tasty, or tastier, than higher sugar yoghurts.

The removal of some of the added sugar from the recipes for Fonterra's big-name consumer products is part of a strategy to reposition Fonterra as a sustainable enterprise.

The move, which will mean around 600 tonnes of added sugar is removed from the collective Kiwi diet a year, is also a recognition that sugar was becoming a major concern for families.

Primo, Fonterra's slightly more upmarket milkshake, has also been relaunched with a less added sugar.

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'Over the last year or so we have significantly reduced sugar in our Primo flavoured milk, and Anchor CalciYum by 30-40 per cent,' said Brett Henshaw, managing director of Fonterra Brands.

Added sugar, which referred to sugar that was not naturally present in other ingredients in a product, was becoming more and more a consumer concern, Henshaw said.

'For families with children, it's becoming quite a major component of decision-making, not for all households, but certainly for a growing number of households.'

Miles Hurrell is the new chief executive for New Zealand dairy company Fonterra.

That concern was driven by New Zealand's obesity epidemic, which had jumped the age gap from adults to children.

At the end of 2018, just 31.8 per cent of New Zealand adults were a 'healthy weight', according to the Ministry of Health. In all 34.6 per cent of adults were overweight, and 32.2 per cent were obese.

All around the world food and drink companies have been working to reduce the sugar content of their products, often under pressure as a result of sugar taxes introduced by law-makers.

Since 2015, according to UK fund manager Schroders, 28 new sugar taxes had been introduced across the world, taking the global total to 42 sugar taxes.

Fonterra has targets to reduce its carbon emissions.

The fund manager rated a growing backlash against sugar as a major threat to the share prices of food and beverage companies, predicting 'huge' rewards for those which managed to transition to a lower-sugar future.

And like Tesco in the UK, which reduced the sugar in its store-branded soft drinks, and Nestle, which reduced the sugar content of some of its chocolates by using more cocoa and milk solids, Fonterra appeared to have shown sugar could be reduced without the public losing its liking for products.

'We have a group of nutritionists and developmental people in our innovation centre and their whole goal in life is to attain these goals but also still make these products taste acceptably to consumers,' Henshaw said.

While Fonterra's new leadership team, established to turn around disastrous financial results, had put in place a strategy to be more socially responsible, the yoghurt, Primo and CalciYum de-sugaring projects pre-dated it.

Fonterra produced around 35 million individual yoghurt pottles a year, mostly consumed in New Zealand.

The sugar target Fonterra has set for its retail products was one of many short, medium, and long term targets it has announced to become a more sustainable organisation.

TARGETS FOR BETTER

**By 2020 …

*** 75 per cent of Fonterra's product portfolio would meet nutrition guidelines endorsed by the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation

* All Fonterra-supplying farms with waterways would have documented riparian management plans (currently 4 per cent)

* 85 per cent of farms would have water meters on significant water intake (currently 51 per cent)

* Fonterra would reduce water use across 26 New Zealand manufacturing sites by 20 per cent

By 2025 …

* 100 per cent of Fonterra's products would meet with nutritional guidelines

* All Fonterra-supplying farms would have a environment plan

* All Fonterra product packaging would be recyclable, compostable or renewable.

By 2030 …

* Fonterra would have reduced carbon emissions by 30 per cent across all its manufacturing operations

By 2050 …

* Fonterra would have reduced emissions to net zero across all its manufacturing operations