U.S. candymakers band together to reduce calories (updated)

Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Spruengli AG

11/05/2017 23:58

(Adds details about Hershey in final 2 paragraphs) 
    By Marcy Nicholson 
    NEW YORK, May 11 (Reuters) - Five major chocolate and candy 
companies announced a joint commitment on Thursday to reduce 
calories in many sweets sold on the U.S. market, a rare example 
of cooperation in a competitive industry and testament to a 
rising consumer distaste for sugar. 
    The United States is the world's largest consumer of 
sweeteners and obesity, diabetes and heart disease rank among 
leading health concerns in the country. 
    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration overhauled packaged 
foods labeling last year and required all manufacturers to list 
added sugars on labels by 2018.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N18H3UT  
    Companies including Mars Chocolate North America LLC, Nestle 
USA  NESN.S , WM Wrigley Jr Co and Lindt & Spruengli  LISN.S , 
said they had committed to ensuring that half of their 
individually wrapped products sold in the United States contain 
no more than 200 calories within the next five years.  
    "There's going to be less sugar and less calories in the 
food that consumers are going to be eating," said Larry Soler, 
president and chief executive for Partnership for a Healthier 
America (PHA). 
    The commitment by the group of companies, which includes 
clearly stating the calorie count on 90 percent of their 
best-selling products, will be monitored for five years by PHA 
and the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank. 
    "They want to make sure that they meet the consumers where 
the consumers want to be met," said John Downs, National 
Confectioners Association president and chief executive. 
    The companies, which include the makers of M&M's and Jaw 
Busters, could cut calories by reducing package sizing or 
reformulating recipes, as well as launching new products. 
    Confectionery pricing was not part of the commitment, Soler 
said. 
    Nestle, the maker of Butterfinger and Crunch, said in 
December it had devised a new technology that has the potential 
to reduce sugar in some of its confectionery products by up to 
40 percent without affecting the taste.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1DW1D3 
    Mars Chocolate North America has launched its Snickers 
Crisper, a package of two 100-calorie pieces that feature 
crisped rice. 
    At present, over 60 percent of the companies' individually 
wrapped products contain less than 250 calories each. 
    Soda companies, such as Coca-Cola  KO.N  and PepsiCo Inc 
 PEP.N , have also targeted consumers who want lower calorie 
drinks by offering products in smaller cans. The firms make 
larger margins on those sales than for sodas sold in 
traditional-sized cans.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1HY3VO 
     
    CUTTING DOWN 
    Consumers have already cut down on candy. The volume of U.S. 
retail sales of packaged confectionery declined 1.9 percent to 
2.47 million tonnes in 2016 from 2011, while sales of savory 
snacks rose 9.5 percent to 4.26 million tonnes, Euromonitor 
International data shows. 
    Euromonitor forecasts that confectionery sales will rise to 
2.5 million tonnes by 2021, however. 
    Retailers are adapting to changing consumer preferences. CVS 
Pharmacy  CVS.N , for instance, announced a new store design 
last month to drive growth in sales of what it described as 
"healthier choices" in candy, snacks and other foods. 
    Hershey Co  HSY.N  was not part of Thursday's commitment by 
candymakers to cut calories, but it did make a similar 
announcement of its own in April. 
    At the time, Hershey said that by 2022, it would make 50 
percent of its individually wrapped standard and king sized 
confectionary products with 200 calories or less. It also 
committed to state the number of calories on the front of its 
packaging for these products. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Simon Webb, 
Tom Brown and David Gregorio) 
 ((Marcy.Nicholson@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6043; Reuters 
Messaging: marcy.nicholson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SUGAR CANDY/USA