Sugar reduction in China: Stevia firm eyes nationwide boom on back of government’s ‘Healthy China 2030’ goal
Stevia firm SweeGen told us in September that it had set its sights on China as a major new market due to the local government’s Healthy China 2030 public health goal, which looks to significantly reduce sugar consumption in the country.
According to formal documentation on the Healthy China 2030 movement, the government aims to cut local sugar consumption by at least 17% compared to 2012 numbers – so the goal would be for Chinese consumers to be consuming not more than 25g of sugar per person by 2030, as compared to 30g previously.
“At present, China consumes approximately 15 million tons of sugar annually, [but] sugar intake is expected to decrease because of China’s ‘Healthy China 2030’ initiative,” SweeGen Vice President of Sales Luca Giannone told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“[As a result of this initiative as well as evolving consumer trends], achieving good health, wellness and weight management are on the minds of most consumers in China when choosing their snacks and beverages.
“[So] with this ongoing consumption upgrade happening among the majority of consumers in China, [we believe] more and more local CPG brands will join the global trend of sugar reduction, [calling for the need for alternatives such as stevia].
“SweeGen aims to reduce sugar and artificial sweetener [consumption], which is a major goal in the ‘Healthy China 2030’ objective - [our stevia sweeteners] can replace up to 100% of sugar, fructose or artificial sweeteners in many food and beverage applications.”
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