Cott’s sugar-free cola hits Spar stores

Classic Cola Zero Sugar in 500ml and 2l formats will join the Spar brand range from February.

Cath McIlwham, Spar UK head of brand, said: “These two new lines are giving Spar shoppers more choice in great-tasting soft drinks, with zero sugar – and all at excellent value prices.​

“The launches give us at Spar the chance to lead the symbol group market in a category that is core to convenience retailers – all while keeping pace with the ever-changing market.”​

Sugar levy​

The launch of the drink is ahead of the government’s sugar levy, which comes into effect in April this year.

It follows a group-wide reformulation of the retailer’s soft drinks range, which saw Spar remove 168t of sugar from its lines since 2016.

McIlwham added: “We know that consumers are demanding healthy ingredients with less sugar. We’ve worked alongside our supplier, Cott, to maintain our great-tasting products while reducing the sugar levels.”​

The past year has seen a raft of products reformulated by manufacturers to reduce their sugar content in light of government guidelines and the sugar tax.

Cutting sugar​

In September, Irn Bru maker AG Barr planned to ramp up investment in cutting sugar in its products. In June, Lucozade Ribena Suntory announced its commitment to reformulating all of its UK soft drinks brands to ensure they would not be hit by the sugar tax.

Nestlé plans to cut sugar in its breakfast cereals by a further 10% by the end of 2018, while Kellogg aims to cut the sugar content of three of its top-selling children’s breakfast cereals by up to 40%.

Meanwhile, children’s snack consumption should be limited to two 100-calorie products a day,​ Public Health England has urged parents, as it launched a new campaign to promote healthier eating.