Sugar and Sweeteners: Trends and Developments in Foods and Beverages

Report Highlights

• World production of sugar reached about 135.1 million tons in 2002.
• This production will grow at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 7%, to reach 145.1 million tons in 2007.
• U.S. consumption of sugar alcohol is nearly 79% of total sweetener production.
• By 2007, sugar alcohol and HIS consumption is slated to rise as much as 15%/year.
• Aspartame makes up almost half of the total U.S. production and consumption of HIS.

INTRODUCTION

Each year more than 120 million tons of sugar are produced from sugar cane and sugar beets, and the role of sugar, and subsequently sweeteners and substitutes, is inextricably intertwined with the economic well being of nations. Consumers are increasingly concerned with diabetes, weight gain, obesity-related disorders and dental caries. These are shaping a need for manufacturers and food/beverage processors to reconsider what additives they use in their products and what alterations, have to be made to meet consumer demand for something sweet that is low in calories, or is noncarbohydrate. As these markets change to reflect consumer preferences and concerns, a thorough understanding of the significance of this industry becomes vital to its financial success.

Because of this, BCC provides an in-depth, state-of-the-industry analysis of the different types of sweeteners, their derivations and caloric content, benefits and deficits, and prices. In doing so, it examines such influential factors as technological advances, bioethics and domestic and international conditions that promote or impede the development, distribution and promotion of current and anticipated sweeteners.

BCC’s review includes definitions, prices, production, consumption, sales and markets of the various sweeteners; their use in both processed foods and consumer-defined/created uses such as baking and cooking, and provides examples of the products that promote these functions. The report also reviews suppliers of sweeteners, and forecasts trends for the next five years.

BCC examines how the growth and development of sweeteners impacts the use of sugar in processed foods and beverages, the market share of each type of sweetener and the challenge manufacturers face in trying to develop products that meet the twin desires for healthy foods/beverages and sweetness. Lastly, BCC examines trends and developments currently underway that will affect the use of sugar and sweeteners in processed and “tabletop” (end use) foods and beverages over the next five-year period.

SCOPE OF STUDY

The report is divided into the following six sections:

• Overview of sugar and sweeteners
• Sugar and sweetener production and consumption
• Industry competitiveness
• The sugar market
• The sweetener market
• Forecasts, trends and future developments.

METHODOLOGIES

This report analyzes sales estimates and projections for each type of sugar and sweetener added to foods and beverages and discusses the specific types of applications to which they are added, and whether they are available as tabletop products or are sold in liquid, dry or crystalline form. Projections were developed from various government, consumer, academic, social, market, economic, regulatory, technical and technological factors exerting influences on consumers, processors and producers of sweeteners.

INFORMATION SOURCES

Sources included an extensive literature search of secondary source materials, both in hard copy and through the Internet. These materials included trade journals and magazines, trade and professional association publications and Web sites, government and industry sources, academic hard copy and online materials, environmental reports, opposition materials, current news articles, and company materials. Additional extensive Internet searches were conducted for relevant and current data that were not included in the print, microform and company literature searches.

These sources when exhausted were then followed up by over fifty one-on-one telephone and personal interviews with personnel in academic, technical, research and development fields; in quality control, marketing and sales departments of food and beverage processors; and with producers and distributors of sweeteners.