This summer, the concept of "0 sugar, 0 fat, and 0 calories" went viral

But in the realm of bottled water drinks, it has little to do with tea made in stores.

How far is the tea industry, which has been maligned as having "excessive sugar", from "0 sugar, 0 fat and 0 calories"?

"Why aren't there any good drinks that don't put on weight?"

Zhang Yuqi in the spirit of the forest advertising soul question, speak out the voice of a number of consumers, also let the spirit of the forest brand 3 years to get 4 billion valuation, but also with a fire a "0 sugar 0 fat 0 card" concept.

In the past two or three years, drink brands such as Coca Cola and other brands have also intensively launched products with the concept of sugar free, low fat and high nutrition.

The trend is also spreading in several areas:

Ten thousand years of constant Yangle to launch blue bottle low sugar products, according to the introduction of sugar content reduced by 70%;

The official research and development inspiration for bottled drinks on the shelves of Xi Xiao tea also comes from the concept of "0 sugar, 0 fat, 0 card;

　　

Philharmonic, which focuses on the production of zero-carat candy, focuses on the concept of "zero-carat life without sugar". It is understood that its products rank high in the sales volume of Tmall zero-carat candy brand.

　　

The flagship store of Philharmonic Sweet

"0 sugar, 0 fat, 0 calories," why is so lethal?

According to the China Commercial Industry Research Institute, 80 percent of Chinese consumers pay attention to the ingredients of food and drinks, especially the proportion of sugar in drinks, amid the trend of health.

According to the Curiosity Daily user survey, "What labels appeal to you when buying a drink?" 15.5 percent of participants said "sugar free" was more appealing to them, second only to the seasonal limit at 19.7 percent.

Health demands have forced consumers to consider reducing their direct intake of sugar.

At this point, "0 sugar, 0 fat, and 0 calories" is like telling consumers who want to eat sweet but also want to lean and healthy: "Eat me, not fat", to meet the need to eat and drink at the same time, to ease the concern about excessive sugar intake.

Who wouldn't want to try a way to lose weight lying down? It is always precise and accurate to tease consumers with the topic of "heat".

But also as a drink, the vitality of the success, tea shop owners can only envy.

The tea industry has been vilified by the "sugar overload"

"Zero sugar, zero fat, and zero calories" is not friendly to tea shops.

For a long time, tea shops had little say in the subject of sugar. Sugar added less, not standard, consumers feel that the product is difficult to drink, not buy; It's sweet enough to taste good, but the sugar content may be over the limit.

With "milk tea sugar" as the keyword search, the title of "a cup of milk tea contains surprising sugar" frequently appeared, and the news of "post-1995 boy/girl drinking milk tea, drinking diabetes, drinking ICU" was even more frightening.

Although "out of the dose to talk about toxicity are rogue", but most of the time, when there is a problem, "is not the fault of the consumer cup, tea drinking is not healthy pot".

Tea shops have also come up with countermeasures, such as seven sugar, five sugar, half sugar, less sugar options, consumers can choose the amount of sugar. Even many brands carefully put "no extra sugar" in the sugar-free section, trying to be as scientific and sweet as possible.

Try to be scientific and warm

But this does not fundamentally change consumers' perception of a cup of tea as "high in sugar".

The tea industry has been focusing on improving quality: replacing powdered tea with good leaves, substituting fresh fruit for fruity concoctions, and even milk with more options, moving towards healthier ideas. Only with sugar has there been no universally acceptable alternative.

Experienced practitioners in tea research and development know that sugar is not the soul of a cup of tea, but it plays a key role in the harmony of taste.

Is there no good solution when it comes to sugar?

Sugar reduction does not reduce happiness, milk tea girl's "savior" to come?

In fact, two years ago, brands like Hicha Naxue already used stevia in their products to help consumers reduce their sugar intake by using low-calorie and zero-calorie sugars with fewer calories. The option still exists in some stores, where customers can swap stevia for $1.

However, some tea practitioners told me that the researchers were not satisfied with the expression of the taste of compound syrups in tea drinks, and the problem of strange taste and bitter aftertaste appeared after drinking too much.

The tea industry needs to find more solutions to reduce sugar use. Feng Xianmin, research and development director of Philharmonic Sweet, offered three ideas:

1. Use splenda and reduce "added sugar"

Syrups used in tea shops are generally divided into two types:

High fructose corn syrup: it is more suitable for making cold drinks.

Sucrose syrup: Good sweetness fullness, mellow sweetness in the middle and back section, good material balance, strong versatility, and more used in stores.

After understanding the sugar needs of tea shops, the idea of replacing syrup with zero-calorie sugar products can still be used to reduce sugar intake, but the taste should be upgraded.

　　

Philharmonic sweet syrup (beverage pulp) simulates the sweetness curve of commonly used syrup through scientific matching, zero sugar, zero calories and zero burden, and meets the requirements of different sweetness characteristics of pre-sweet, mid-sweet and post-sweet. The taste is more harmonious and comfortable than that of single substitute sugar.

It is understood that, combined with the actual application needs of stores, Philharmonic Sweet can also customize the program through research, with zero calorie sugar syrup to make more flavors to meet the needs of stores.

2. Reduce sugar in other ingredients

For example, using milk products that are low in lactose, if used in tea, can help reduce the total sugar content.

3. Harmonize innovative flavor, balance sugar and sweetness

Product flavor innovation and mixing can also help balance the taste. For example, in products that combine salt and sweet, saltiness increases sweetness and reduces sugar use. Another example is the application of other innovative flavors, such as strong flavor, botanical flavor, etc.

In a word, through the scientific deployment of the way to reduce sugar does not reduce sweet, the "milk tea girl" happy to keep.

Splenda is still on the sidelines, but the trend is irreversible

With the popularity of "0 sugar, 0 fat, and 0 calories", questions about whether this concept is healthy also began to emerge: are sugar substitutes really as low calories and healthy as imagined?

From the professional medical platform doctor Lilac attitude: artificial sugar can indeed reduce calorie intake, conducive to blood sugar control, as a daily food adjustment is no problem, but don't let it indulge yourself into the habit of sweet.

That is to say, for zero calorie carbohydrate products, reasonable intake, don't worry.

It is understood that the Philharmonic sweet brand is also recognized by the lilac doctor. Clove doctor assessment: rational use of philharmonic sweet, help reduce unnecessary calorie intake in life.

　　

Philharmonic Sweet x Lilac Doctor sugar exchange activity site

From the perspective of development, the demand of consumers to pursue the healthy attributes of diet is irreversible, and the development trend of zero calorie sugar is difficult to change. But for consumers, it takes time to change their perception and accept new ideas, as well as the joint efforts of the industry and the government.

In Japan, Europe and the United States, sugar replacement, sugar free products have been popular.

According to Yang Le, chairman of Jinhe Industry, the parent company of the brand, around 2010, zero-calorie sugar products were very common in foreign friends' homes and supermarket convenience stores. Until now, in the domestic market, it is difficult to see zero-calorie sugar products in ordinary supermarket channels.

Foreign supermarket zero card sugar products have long been very common

In Japan, the market for healthy tea drinks is very active. Its beverage giant Itoen said in its 2017 earnings report that tea drinks accounted for more than 939 billion yen.

For domestic consumers, the threshold is too high to jump directly from sugar to sugar-free acceptance. Zero-calorie sugar will act as a buffer to gradually complete the transition period of acceptance.

The task for brands, just like what Philharmonic Sweet is doing, is to focus on technology development and provide healthy sweet solutions for the industry based on different application scenarios, tastes and concepts. On the one hand, consumer education is carried out to guide the popularization of healthy sweet taste.

"Now we are thinking about how to brand the sugar substitute concept, do deeper education and popularization, so that consumers know it is good when they see it, rather than being a health skeptic. Using the value of the brand to represent health and strengthen consumers' awareness of zero sugar and zero calories is what the brand needs to do at present." Yang Le said.