Dabur India Cuts Added Sugar In Juices By 21%, Aims for Further 3% Reduction

Dabur India Ltd. has set a goal of cutting added sugars by an average of 3% across two-thirds of its beverage portfolio as part of the fourth phase of its sugar reduction initiative.

In 2019, the maker of Real fruit juices adopted a phased reformulation approach to reduce sugar contents in beverages, it said in its annual report.

In the first phase, the company lowered sugar content by an average of 5.4%, followed by an additional reduction of 7.5% during the second phase and another 6.7% in the third phase.

"Overall, our efforts have led to a significant 20.95% reduction in added sugar from the 2018 baseline, equating to approximately 1,300 metric tons of reduced sugar consumption annually," the company said. "We are now embarking on phase 4 of our sugar reduction initiative, aiming to achieve an average 3% reduction in added sugar across two-thirds of our beverage portfolio."

Dabur has also launched a range of variants of Real Activ juice with 'no added sugar', namely Real Activ Cranberry, Real Activ Pomegranate. It has modified serving sizes to 180ml from 200ml and 140ml from 160ml and launched 'Real' mini assortment in 110 ml aseptic packaging.

These changes, the company said, were made to ensure the product remains affordable and to encourage optimal consumption as part of its commitment to promoting healthier choices.

This drive is not confined to Dabur. Several packaged consumer goods makers, including Nestle India Ltd. and PepsiCo India bottler Varun Beverages Ltd., have been working to bring down the sugar, salt and fat content in their products with the rise in health consciousness among consumers.

"Approximately 46% of our consolidated sales volumes come from low sugar or no sugar products," Raj Gandhi, president and whole-time director of Varun Beverages Ltd., told investors during a post-earnings conference call. The company attributed the 385-basis-point gross-margin expansion in the March quarter to its focus on reducing sugar content, among other things.

"We are continuously developing more options," he said. "For instance, Gatorade, which PepsiCo has provided us with a formulation containing zero sugar, is a recent launch. Our efforts to reduce sugar content remain constant."

Nestle India, too, has reduced added sugar by 30% in the last two years and is now testing a zero-sugar variant for infant food, according to Chairperson Suresh Narayanan. The recipe for Maggi Tomato Ketchup has been renewed last year, now containing 22% less sugar.

India's food regulatory authority also swung into action to address these concerns after a Swiss investigation agency found that Nestle was adding excess sugar to its baby food brand — Cerelac.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has approved a proposal that will require manufacturers to display saturated fat, salt and sugar contents in "bold letters" and "large fonts" on labels of packaged food items. The proposal will be placed in the public domain for suggestions and objections. The regulator is also weighing a front-of-pack nutrition labelling system along with a star rating to indicate the nutritional value of an item.

The FSSAI has also been issuing advisories from time to time to prevent false and misleading claims. These include advisories sent to e-commerce websites for removal of the term 'Health Drink' as it is not defined or standardised anywhere under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. The regulator has also recently asked food business operators to remove any claim of '100% fruit juices' from the labels and advertisements of reconstituted fruit juices.