Famous Soda Co expands into sugar-free, better-for-you confectionery

The reduced-sugar trend has been accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Credit: Africa Studio / Shutterstock.

Famous Soda Co, an Australian beverages company that specialises in better-for-you soda drinks, announced plans to expand its presence across the South East Asian region and diversify into the sugar-free confectionery segment by May 2021. With this brand extension, Famous Soda Co aims to shed its image as a soda maker and establish itself as a leading better-for-you food and beverages brand.

Within a short span of its inception, Famous Soda Co has established a considerable presence in the Australian beverage market with its fizzy drinks that replicate the appearance and flavour of regular soda-pops, but with 100% natural, zero-sugar and low-calorie formulation. The company achieves this through a proprietary mix of alternative sweeteners.

Famous Soda Co is currently in the process of getting approvals to expand distribution to Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam Hong Kong and other South East Asia markets where rising health awareness and sugar taxes are spurring demand for better-for-you drinks. This resonates with GlobalData’s 2020 market pulse survey which reveals that 86% of Asia-Pacific consumers are trying to moderate, minimize or stop their consumption of sugar altogether. Accordingly, 75% of APAC respondents in the same survey found ‘low sugar’ claims somewhat or very appealing in food and drinks, 68% said the same for ‘no added sugar’ products and 73% for ‘low calorie’ claims.

The company is also looking to replicate the success of its ‘better-for-you’ drinks with its new line of sugar-free candy and confectionery. This is in light of consumers seeking healthier sweet treats to alleviate hunger, stress or boredom without impacting their health amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Famous Soda faces competition from other APAC confectioners such as Zeugers, based in India and Sugarless Confectionery, based in Australia, who are already formulating products using sugar alternatives such as sucralose, maltitol and stevia. However, the caveat is that many of these sweeteners have a laxative effect when consumed in large quantities.

The reduced-sugar trend has been accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic, following alerts from health authorities that people with pre-existing diseases such as diabetes and obesity were more prone to complications if infected by the virus. Products that masquerade as ‘healthier choices’ on the back of a namesake reduction in sugar in their recipes are finding it difficult to convince the new generation of health-conscious and informed shoppers who are willing to go the extra mile to analyse the ingredients of products. This is poised to drive a consumer shift from ‘reduced sugar’ to ‘no-sugar’ products in the coming years. Health and price concerns aside, Asia-Pacific consumers are not willing to compromise on product taste, with 80% of survey respondents saying that taste was as important a factor as before, more important than before or their top priority owing to the Covid-19 pandemic when purchasing food and drinks. This ‘healthy eating’ trend is poised to favour guilt-free and flavorful beverage brands such as the likes of Famous Soda.

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