Spar Austria Accelerates Private-Label Sugar Reduction

Spar Austria has announced that it has reduced sugar in more than 50 of its private-label products.

The retailer said that it has analysed the recipes of its own brands, such as soft drinks, cereals, ice cream, fruit preserves, fruit bars and yoghurts, and is working on reducing sugar in an additional 300 products.

Over the next few years, the Spar partner said that it aims to remove at least 1,000 tonnes of sugar from its private-label range.

A year ago, the Austrian retailer announced its intention to reduce the sugar content in its private labels. It set out to achieve this goal through sugar reduction and the promotion of sugar-free products and sugar alternatives.

WHO Recommendations

Spar Austria said that it has tried to keep its product sugar levels in line with the WHO’s dietary recommendations. For example, its Spar Natur Pur yoghurt contains 12g of sugar per 100g, while Spar Vital wholegrain cereals contain 0.8g sugar per 100g.

The WHO recommends that a healthy diet for adults contains less than 10% of total energy intake from free sugars (ideally, less than 5%), which equates to 50g for a person of healthy body weight.

“Sugar reduction and sugar-free products are our priority,” said Spar Austria CEO, Gerhard Drexel. “We kept our promise, given back in February 2017, and not even a year after the launch of the sugar reduction campaign, we can proudly offer 50 additional own-brand products containing less sugar or no sugar.”

The retailer added that its goal in 2018 is to consistently reduce sugar in its own-brand products and provide customers with more healthy food options instead.

“It is important to us that our shoppers’ understanding of sugar is sharpened, and that they have the possibility to choose healthier products,” said Drexel.

“For this reason, we have chosen to reduce sugar instead of replacing it with sugar substitutes because the best way for a healthier diet is the general reduction of sugar,” he added.