Coca-Cola cuts sugar in Capri-Sun by 50%

The children’s fruit drink has reduced the sugar content of its original range by 50% to 4.9g per 100ml by using stevia, the natural sweetener. Stevia is extracted from the leaf of the stevia plant and contains no calories.

This sugar reduction follows news from Nestlé UK and Ireland this week, which unveiled the first chocolate bar, Milkybar Wowsomes, to use its “groundbreaking”​ innovative sugar reduction technique.

Sugar reduction​

CCEP has already conducted a sugar reduction programme with Capri-Sun, with the launch of ‘no added sugar’ variants in 2015 and Fruity Water in 2016.

The new Capri-Sun recipe applies to all flavours in the original range sold in Great Britain and will be rolled out to Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands in the coming months, the company said.

CCEP also added that it had not compromised on taste by using stevia, and its own Capri-Sun research from April 2017 – of 480 parents and children – saw positive feedback to the new recipe.

“At CCEP, we have been on a sugar reduction journey for many years, listening to consumers and customers and making small decreases in the amount of sugar used across our full portfolio of brands. ​

Stevia​

“The introduction of stevia has enabled us to reduce the sugar content in Capri-Sun without compromising on the famous taste of the much-loved juice drink,” ​said Simon Harrison, customer marketing director, CCEP in GB. 

“We have always been clear that we would never change the recipe of any one of our brands unless the taste was equalled or made better. We have done just that with Capri-Sun, thanks to the inclusion of stevia, a sweetener from a natural source.”​

The new recipe is available from this month (March) and is being supported by a programme of communications, including advertising and PR.