Image source @ Visual China
The article | Pole Commercial, the author | Cindy, editor| Yang Ming
In 1701, the portrait master Yascent Rigg painted a formal portrait of Louis XIV, the "Sun King", a 63-year-old king who looked mighty but had his lips closed.
This is because Louis XIV was addicted to sugar, having all his teeth corroded by sugar as early as the age of 40, and was "a ruler without teeth".
After Columbus experienced the second voyage to bring sugar into Europe, this sweetness was closely related to human politics, economy, and war, and was the finale of the tables of European royal families, celebrities, and dignitaries, and a symbol of power and status - in 1571, in paris, at the wedding feast for Charles IX and Queen Elizabeth from Austria, the luxurious French sugar carving (Sotelte) was born.
"A variety of strange sweets, which became a capital to show off, became a way for the nobility to entertain in social occasions, and sugar and sweets were used as an elevation and symbol of social hierarchy. Sweetness represents power. In the book "Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Recent History," Westminster, who has a lifelong love affair with sugar, writes: We humans are born with an obsession and love for sweetness.
With the development of the world economy, the sugar industry is becoming more and more prosperous, and some giants have found that the addition of sucrose in the formula can not only optimize the taste, but also a key role in making consumers addicted, carbonated drinks, snacks and candies have become a trend. Giants involved in coffee, desserts, cheese, beverages and other food fields have even created an industry term "bliss point" - through calculations and experiments to add sugar, so that consumers can't stop, every second to sell 19400 bottles of Coca-Cola, in the 18th century in the United States, Atlanta, Georgia was born.
Coca-Cola advertising in the 19th century
To this day, the power position represented by sugar is gradually disappearing, and people still have no resistance to the temptation of sweets, even like intuitive instincts deeply rooted in genes. In 2020, a study published in the journal Nature showed that sugar preference behavior is mainly related to vagus nerve cells in the intestine that feel sugar, and is not related to sweet receptors (tip of the tongue). That is, the preference for sugar, not the mouth, but the intestines.
With the increase in people's intake of sugar, the huge change in lifestyle, sugar, the source of happiness, has been recognized by scientists as one of the culprits of obesity, diabetes and other metabolic diseases, and even triggered a public health crisis, hindering the entire economic development. Singapore, for example, was once the most diabetic problem in Asia – one in seven of the more than 5.6 million people had excess blood sugar. The Singapore government was so worried about this that it publicly "declared war" on diabetes in 2017.
How can "delicious" and "healthy" not be a single choice question? People think of replacing sugar with sweeteners with very low calories and similar taste – sugar-free/low-sugar products have been highly sought after and hot in the market for the past few years. For example, the beverage industry is recognized as the largest dark horse Yuanqi Forest, which can successfully break through from the Red Sea market, and its core strategy is to replace sugar with erythritol and usher in explosive opportunities.
From the current situation, driven by the urgent need to reduce sugar for the younger generation, the sugar substitute track standing at the cusp of the wind in 2022 will continue to heat up and usher in a period of great explosion.
01, from the sugar tax to the sugar generation of sugar reduction war
A clear understanding of the dangers of sugar dates back more than 60 years.
In 1972, Dr. John Yudkin warned in his book Purity, Whiteness and Mortality that sugar may be the "real culprit" of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and other conditions. The following year, RESEARCHERS researchers also pointed out the dangers of excessive sugar intake. Regrettably, these warnings have been ignored in the struggle for interests involving all parties in the dairy, meat and sugar industries.
In the 21st century, high obesity rates and corresponding diseases have forced all parties to re-examine the sugar problem.
In 2009, Professor Robert Lustig delivered his famous speech "Sugar: The Cruel Truth", which was regarded as the first shot of the official "anti-sugar movement". Five years later, the Australian documentary "A Movie on Sugar" unveiled the obvious changes in obesity and fatty liver brought to the body after ingesting 40 teaspoons of sugar per day in the human body for 60 days.
Sugar is a "sweet poison" that has gradually become a consensus. According to the World Health Organization, sugar not only leads to obesity, but may also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It also promotes the fermentation of bacteria in the mouth, causing tooth decay.
In China, the results of the Chinese diabetes prevalence survey published in april 2020 by the British Medical Journal show that the prevalence of diabetes in people aged 18 to 29 has reached 2%, and the prevalence of diabetes in people aged 30 to 39 has reached 6.3%, and the health hazards caused by excessive sugar consumption cannot be ignored.
In 2014, the World Health Organization issued guidelines on sugar intake, recommending that adults' daily sugar intake should be controlled at 5% of total energy intake on that day, about 25 grams. In 2015, WHO recommended in the Guidelines for Sugar Intake in Adults and Children to reduce free sugar intake throughout the life course.
Today, in the dietary guidelines of various countries, "controlling sugar intake" is a major principle. In the development strategy of the mainland's "Healthy China Action (2019-2030)", it is specifically mentioned that there are concepts of sugar reduction, salt reduction and oil reduction in the "three reductions and three health".
A worldwide battle for "sweet poison" began. One of the most commonly used weapons is the tax on sugar, a depraved excise tax similar to tobacco and liquor taxes.
Incomplete statistics show that as of now, more than 40 countries around the world have launched sugar tax wars, and many countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Mexico, Hungary, South Africa and some cities in the United States have special "sugar taxes" to reduce national sugar intake.
In early March, South Africa's Ministry of Finance said it was considering a sugar tax on 100% pure fruit juice. As early as April 2018, South Africa imposed a tax on a range of soft drinks and sweetened fruit juices, but did not apply to 100% pure fruit juices. This means that South Africa's tax on sugar is now broader.
The levy of sugar taxes did have an effect. Sales of sugary drinks fell by 6% after Mexico's tax was imposed 1 year ago. Norway, which introduced a "sugar tax" in 1922, now has a tax of about 3.5 yuan per liter of sugary drinks, which has become one of the countries with low obesity rates in the world.
But the sugar tax has been controversial, not only economic but also political — Denmark eventually abolished it because domestic business revenues were damaged. More opponents argue that the sugar tax is a classic "punishment of the victim" injustice.
In the mainland, the applicability, feasibility and effectiveness of the sugar tax are also still under study, and no relevant policies have been introduced so far, but the National Health Commission clearly proposed in 2019: to promote the reduction of sucrose-containing beverages and food intake, it is recommended to choose natural sweeteners as alternatives to beverages and food sucrose additives.
In fact, for all food and beverage companies, when the "three subtractions" become the globally recognized diet correct, they have to re-examine their market strategies and look for a "sugar-free" product that is less harmful than sucrose but has a similar taste to meet the dual needs of consumers for "sweet taste" and healthy body.
Sugar substitutes, also known as sweeteners, are regarded at home and abroad as the best substitute for "sugar". According to Wang Xufeng, president of the Capital Health Nutrition and Gastronomy Society, sugar substitute products can bring sweetness to food, but they are almost not digested and absorbed by the body, and do not participate in human metabolism, so the calories are very low or do not produce calories, which is a good substitute for sucrose.
Sugar substitutes have been around for more than 140 years. In 1879, the first generation of sweetener "saccharin" was born, and it was put into commercial application five years later. Since then, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, new sweet and other artificial sugar substitutes have come out and have been put into the market.
At the consumer product level, in 1984, Wrigley launched the first sugar-free chewing gum in the United States, and ordinary consumers began to realize the existence of sugar substitutes; in 2005, Coca-Cola launched Zero Degree Coke; in 2018, Yuanqi Forest launched sugar-free sparkling water using erythritol, and sugar substitute drinks became a boom.
In line with this trend, more and more brands such as Yili, Jianlibao, Wahaha, Nestle, Nongfu Spring and other traditional beverage manufacturers are also running quickly to follow the sugar substitute track. According to the zhiyan consulting report, the size of the sugar substitute beverage market has increased from 1.66 billion yuan in 2014 to 11.78 billion yuan in 2020, with a compound growth rate of 38.7%, far exceeding the overall growth rate of the beverage industry. The sugar-free scale of yogurt, cereal, candy and other sub-categories is also growing significantly.
02. Century-old iteration of sugar generation, safety and risk controversy
At present, including synthetic and naturally derived sugar substitutes, there are dozens of sugar substitutes used around the world, which are widely used in bread, pastries, biscuits, beverages, condiments and many other daily foods.
In the mainland, there are more than 20 kinds of approved sugar substitutes, including synthetic sugar substitutes: sodium saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame, ali sweet, sucralose; and natural sugar substitutes: steviol glycosides, monk fruit glycosides, African arrowroot sweetenin, xylitol, erythritol and so on.
For beverage companies, the two mainstream sugar substitutes currently used are aspartame and erythritol - the former is used in Coca-Cola and PepsiCo's many sugar-free products, and the latter is known for Its yuanqi forest, Jianlibao sports drinks, and monster Monster.
It must be noted that in the rapid development of sugar substitutes, the controversy and doubts about its safety, taste, and the concept of sugar-free/low sugar have never been completely dispelled.
For more than a hundred years, in order to eliminate various doubts, sugar substitutes have undergone many iterations. In the early days, saccharin was suspected of insufficient safety, and was "blocked" by many countries, until the 1990s, when the safety of saccharin was gradually demonstrated. In 1991, the U.S. FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) revoked a proposal to ban saccharin. In 2010, the EPA removed saccharin from the list of harmful chemicals.
The same is true of Aspartame, which is used heavily by Coca-Cola in Degree Zero. As early as 1981, the FDA approved the use of aspartame in certain foods, and many authoritative medical institutions also consider it safe, but there has been much controversy about it for decades – and there are still reports from time to time today questioning its safety.
In late March, an article published in the journal PLOS Medicine said that some artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and acesulfame potassium were associated with an increased risk of cancer. Although the article highlights that the current study has several important limitations, such as respondents' dietary intake as self-reported and requires further research to confirm their risks, it has been widely disseminated.
Screenshot of the paper
Not only is synthetic sugar substitute questioned, but natural sugar substitute is also difficult to completely dispel the doubts of all consumers.
For example, steviol glycosides, Paraguay, Brazil residents have been eating steviol glycosides for hundreds of years, so far no poison has been found, China, Japan, South Korea and other countries and regions also use it as a sweetener, but the United States, the European Union and other countries and regions have been excluded from food additives, that its safety has not been fully confirmed.
And erythritol, which is currently widely used in domestic drinks, soy sauce, wine, and chewing gum , a natural active substance that is widely present in nature and has been containing erythritol in fruits, crops and other foods for thousands of years, and was first discovered in 1848 by scottish chemist John Stenhouse.
It is generally believed that erythritol is a filler food sweetener with good functional characteristics, including high thermal stability, low moisture absorption, sweetness coordination, zero calorific value, no caries-causing properties, no blood sugar rise and high tolerance.
Source @ Daily Economic News
From the production process, erythritol is the only microbial fermentation process of all sugar alcohols, the fermentation method is closer to the natural transformation and extraction, and the taste and texture are the best sweeteners in the sugar substitute. In September last year, Chen Junshi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at the forum that among the alternatives to sugar, erythritol is more high-grade and safer.
Over the decades, erythritol has developed rapidly in China and abroad. In the 1990s, Erythritol was widely used in candy, jellies, jams, chocolate, yogurt, and beverages. Since then, the US FDA, the World Committee of Experts on Food Additives (JECFA), Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, China, etc. have successively approved erythritol as an edible ingredient.
Driven by its own characteristics and policies, erythritol has become the hottest alternative to sucrose. Still, there are still doubts about whether erythritol is truly absolutely safe — studies have reported that excessive intake carries risks such as bowel sounds and diarrhea.
It is not surprising that there are such concerns, although experts such as Chen Junshi have repeatedly stressed that from aspartame to erythritol, these sweeteners have undergone strict safety verification before being approved, and can be used according to standards to fully protect consumer safety. However, if consumers overdos it, and consumers have a wide variety of physiques, it is inevitable that some risks will arise.
This, Ternary Biologics disclosed in its prospectus, the one-time consumption of erythritol dose is too large may lead to certain adverse physiological reactions. If a very small amount of erythritol ingested by the human body is not absorbed by the small intestine, it will enter the large intestine and become a low-energy carbon source for intestinal bacterial fermentation, and excessive consumption may produce flatulence; for example, the consumption of erythritol in high doses on an empty stomach may also cause diarrhea in some consumers.
03, under the trend, the potential business behind the sugar-free trend
"The question about the safety of sugar substitutes, whether it is harmful to human metabolism, is a very complex problem, and it may take several generations of consumers to track and experiment for a long time to know the results of exploration, but it cannot be wasted because of choking before." This is the current common view of the academic community and the industry.
"Sweeteners are not a negative term and have become an indispensable part of the modern food industry." At the end of his speech in September last year, Chen Junshi proposed that all beverage companies should keep up with the industry development trend of sweetener sugar.
Prior to this, Yuanqi Forest was a business case that all media and scholars could not escape. In the past few years, Yuanqi Forest, which has been established for less than 6 years, has seized the outlet of sugar-free consumption and become the largest dark horse in the food and beverage industry with many giants by specializing in the production of sparkling water such as "0 sugar, 0 fat, and 0 calories".
A trend that is difficult to change is that the trend of sugar control not only affects the choice of more and more consumers and food companies, but also promotes the prosperity of the upstream sugar generation industry.
From the perspective of the current sugar substitute market, as the main producer and exporter who accounts for about 70% of the global sugar substitute production, China's many subdivisions lead the global market share. For example, nearly 20% of the global output of xylitol in early sugar substitute products comes from Huakang Pharmaceutical in Quzhou, Zhejiang, and acesulfame and sucralose in sugar-free Cola, most of which are contracted by Anhui Chuzhou Jinhe Industry.
As a natural sweetener, the production of erythritol is mainly concentrated in China. 95% of the world's erythritol is supplied by 5 factories, of which 3 are located in Shandong: Binzhou Sanyuan Bio, Dezhou Bowling Treasure and Zhucheng Dongxiao. In 2020, the above three companies produced 62,800 tons of erythritol through corn, much higher than sucralose (11,500 tons) and aspartame (19,200 tons).
However, industry insiders pointed out that for consumers, if they want to be "sweet" and healthy sharing, the use of sugar substitutes in the ingredient list is only one aspect - some sugar generations still have problems such as post-bitterness, so that the overall improvement of beverage taste and flavor becomes a systematic process.
A typical case is that in 2014, Coca-Cola launched a green packaged Life series of green bottle Coke in many countries around the world (excluding China), focusing on the natural and environmentally friendly "steviol glycosides" (although the packaging will still write "sucrose & stevia"). In the end, due to taste problems, many markets such as the United Kingdom suffered major defeats.
To some extent, sugar substitute drinks that are more in line with Chinese tastes in the production process, such as strong bubbles and refreshing tastes, are the success secrets of Yuanqi Forest's breakthrough from the mature market of bottled beverages.
In order to ensure the taste, since July 2019, it has begun to bid farewell to the asset-light model of relying on OEM OEM, and has built its own factories in 5 places such as Chuzhou in Anhui, Zhaoqing in Guangdong, Xiqing in Tianjin, Xianning in Hubei and Dujiangyan in Sichuan at an average rate of 6 months.
The breakthrough of the Yuanqi Forest has also made all industries realize that sugar substitute has long become an important strategy to rewrite the inherent market competition pattern - which has accelerated the sugar-free treatment of various categories of food. Taking beverages as an example, incomplete statistics show that in March this year, there were more than a dozen new sugar-free drinks and tea drinks on the market.
In any case, people's innate need for sweetness will not change. When the concept of health becomes a lifestyle trend, it means that the application of sugar substitutes has become a key player in the battle to reduce sugar.
However, the sub-health problems brought about by obesity cannot be completely solved by a bottle of sugar substitute drinks. It also depends on the overall energy balance and the amount of sugar ingested under the condition that sugary foods are still mainstream consumption. "Sugar is a source of human energy, and sugary foods will not retire from the stage of history." Many people in the industry believe that the proportion of sugar substitutes is still very small, and it is still far away to achieve the final victory in the battle to reduce sugar.