According to Joyce Tan, Nestle’s head of marketing confectionery, Australian consumers are increasingly concerned about sugar intake.
Speaking to FoodNavigator-Asia, she said: “We see consumers trying to strike a balance between looking after their health by purchasing reduced sugar products and still enjoying their favourite foods.”
However, while there are more people open to healthier choices, they do not want to compromise on taste.
“We know that taste is key within lollies, even for a health conscious consumer,” she added.
Two new products
The move to reformulate will apply across two lolly products, Grubs and Strawbs.
The new products do not contain artificial sweeteners, and total sugar has been reduced and substituted with a soluble dietary fibre, namely corn fibre.
Grubs come in a fruity mix of five flavours: raspberry, pineapple, apricot, blackberry and lemon, while Strawbs is a berry flavour.
Looking through the ingredient list of the products, FoodNavigator-Asia found the colourings were naturally obtained through turmeric, and paprika oleoresin and the like.
Tan said the entire R&D process took around seven months from initial concept to shelf-date. She added that it took more than 200 days, and more than 100 taste tests before the launch of these two products.
The lollies currently retail at AUD2.95 (US$2) at Coles, Big W and independent supermarkets nationwide.
Nestle Australia
Apart from the health trend, Tan observed there were other developments in convenience products such as goods that are kind to the planet, as well as extreme flavours or interesting twists on originals.
Asides from Allen’s, Nestle Australia had been working on other sugar reduction activities.
In May this year, it launched a new version of Milo without cane sugar, which took two years to develop.
“With parents increasingly concerned about added sugar in their children’s diets, we created an option that is true to the Milo heritage and encourages people to drink milk, but delivers less added sugar,” Tan said.
The firm also recently launched its Gourmet Incredible Burger in Australia, which is a plant-based burger made with soy and wheat protein.
Tan said there would be new Allen’s products announced early next year.
She added that Allen would continue to help consumers make smarter food choices: “Our Portion Guidance Device at the back of every pack aims to give people the knowledge they need to make smart choices and control their consumption by identifying portion size in a quick and easy way.”