FDBusiness.com

Swedish consumers are asking for more natural sweeteners in food and beverage products according to a new survey by the research institute Novus, commissioned by The Real Stevia Company. The general knowledge about the natural sweetener stevia has increased in 2015 compared to studies from a year ago.

“Swedish consumers are generally considered to have a high awareness, therefore we requested to see how stevia was perceived on the market. Several international food and beverages producers choose Sweden as a test market for their products. The Coca-Cola Company, being one of them, launched its stevia-sweetened product Coca-Cola Life here last year,” says Sophia Horn af Rantzien, Managing Director of The Real Stevia Company.

More than half (67 percent) state in the survey that they are aware of stevia, which is an increase of seven percentage points compared with 2014. The most knowledgeable consumers were aged around 30-49 years, which is an affluent consumer group, where almost eight out of ten claim to know the sweetener.

In the same survey, it also appears that almost every Swede has at one time bought a product containing stevia. One reason for the increased interest is that the most important consideration among consumers regarding sweeteners is that it should have a natural origin.

When answering the survey regarding what’s important in the selection of sweetener, 44 percent of Swedish consumers chose “of natural origin” as the first priority, followed closely by “taste” with 38 percent and “no side effects” in third place (34 percent).

“Knowledge of sweeteners has risen in pace with consumers becoming more conscious about what we eat and drink, how it affects the body and how it is produced. Stevia fits well into what consumers request and that is one reason why knowledge and interest in stevia increases,” adds Sophia Horn af Rantzien.