Dive Brief:
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High Brew Coffee will cut stevia from its ready-to-drink cold-brew coffee and replace it with sugar to improve flavor, according to Food Business News.
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The Austin-based company said about one in three consumers did not like the taste of stevia in their drinks.
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The new, full-sugar recipes for its Mexican Vanilla, Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Mocha coffee drinks contain about 90 calories per 8-oz can, when they previously contained about 60.
Dive Insight:
High Brew isn’t the first company to go back to sugar from stevia after a lukewarm response from consumers. In one of the most high-profile stevia flops, Coca-Cola switched back to sugar in Vitaminwater after customers took to social media to complain about its new sugar-stevia blend. Sierra Mist also sparked consumer angst when it switched to a stevia-containing recipe. Coke Life has seen sales fizzle in the UK despite initial enthusiasm.
While some may be tempted to see these cases as foreshadowing the decline of stevia, sales of the plant-derived sweetener remain on the rise. According to data from Innova Market Insights, 6% of new soda launches last year used stevia as an ingredient. And with market leaders continuing to invest in stevia-sweetened products worldwide, it is clear there are ways to use the sweetener that still resonate with consumers.
International success stories include Coca-Cola’s reformulation of regular Sprite in France, the UK and Ireland with a sugar-stevia blend that led to a 30% calorie reduction – and a 3% sales boost in its first year in the UK. Similar sweetener blends have cut calories in the Nestea brand in France and Glaceau Vitamin Water brand in France and the UK.
Meanwhile, the big beverage companies have found American consumers harder to convince. Coke Life and Pepsi True have had lackluster sales in the U.S. High Brew Coffee’s move from stevia to sugar is the latest to underline the taste problems that manufacturers face when formulating with stevia.
Still, U.S. stevia sales continue to rise led by beverages and broader diversification into other food categories. As food manufacturers become more knowledgeable about working with the sweetener and understand how consumers demanding more low sugar products will respond, growth is expected to continue in the U.S. despite its recent challenges.