Fruit flavour in Cultura drinks comes out tops

A pure, unmistakable fruit flavour is more important than low sugar content for consumers who buy Cultura. This has been revealed by a survey carried out among 149 of Arla Foods’ contacts in the food and drink industry.

56 dieticians, health visitors and teachers surveyed preferred a new Cultura drink with 12% less added sugar to other varieties with up to 50% less added sugar.

The variety with 50% less sugar received 6 votes against 25 votes in favour of a variety with 30% less sugar. 46 of the respondents preferred Cultura with 19% less sugar.

"The survey illustrates the challenges in lowering the added sugar in our current products,” said Brand Manager Lisa Nielsen, Arla Foods.

"We can either lower the sugar content or we can substitute sweetener for sugar. Based on the survey and a major consumer test in September, we have opted for both solutions. Early in the New Year, we’ll be launching a new Cultura drink with 12% less sugar and a couple of varieties that are sweetened with sweetener only”, she said.

Besides the reduction in Cultura’s sugar content, the fat content will also be reduced - from 1.3% to 0.4%. In early September, Cultura attracted some media attention due to the product’s added sugar content.
At the time, Arla had worked on lowering the sugar content for a number of products, including Cultura, for 12 months and was preparing a consumer test. In view of the interest in Arla’s product range, a number of the group’s contacts in the nutritional sector were also invited to take part in taste panels and in selecting future products.
In addition, over the past months, Arla Foods has maintained a dialogue regarding sugar issues with public authorities and has kept these informed about Arla’s new initiatives in the sugar area.