Sugar Consumption – Looking Forward into 2010

Commentary by Andy Briscoe, President & CEO, The Sugar Association, Washington, DC:

Looking forward in 2010, there are several driving factors that can and will influence sugar consumption here in the U.S. and globally. These factors include: the economy, the continued movement away from high fructose corn syrup back to all natural sugar, strong end users’ demand, the trend to natural foods, and the consumer demand for simpler ingredients as well as ingredients consumers can recognize.

Andy Briscoe, Sugar Association

Historical deliveries show sugar is the sweetener “gold standard” in market share with 38 percent. High fructose corn syrup is at 31 percent. Artificial sweeteners account for about 18 percent of the market share. Based on what is being published in the papers and decisions by food and beverage manufacturers, continued movement to all natural sugar in 2010 looks strong. For example, Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback will help the first two months of 2010 with their second consumer “limited” test. Based on general comments from consumers, the hope is to continue the Throwback products in some way. Snapple has already made the move to “the Good Stuff” – all natural sugar. Gatorade announced it would be moving its products to sugar in 2010. Dr Pepper has rolled out Heritage Dr Pepper. Additionally, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the SF School District cafeterias are moving back to sucrose/sugar in their chocolate milk. So, just based on the beverage sector products that have made commitments to sugar, the trend for sugar usage seems be to positive.

This news reinforced a recent statement by the President of the National Confectioners Association Larry Graham saying, “We’ll see some increases in demand in 2010 as the economy picks up, people start going back to stores…everybody seems to be looking forward to a stronger 2010.” 90-95 percent of all candy products involve sugar. Larry Graham’s comments are good news for the sugar industry.

Yes – sugar will have more sweetener competition in the U.S. There are currently 27 other sweeteners including the chemical artificials and polyols – all man-made. Stevia-based products are gaining some attention by marketing their natural, no-calorie traits. But there are still concerns with stevia that were revealed in a UCLA study and were ignored during the FDA approval process. Taste and functionality of the product are still in question, too.

As I have said many times, sugar is the only sweetener that is all natural, only 15 calories per teaspoon, used safely for over 2,000 years, and oh by the way, a sweetener you can pronounce!

Bottom line, in 2008, the USDA Economic Research Service showed we delivered 10.5 M tons of sugar for domestic food use. In 2009, the estimated deliveries show basically the same – 10.4 M tons, which provides us with a good positive trend for sugar. How long it will continue cannot be determined. But with continued movement toward all natural sugar as indicated, 2010 should still be a solid year. Stay tuned.