WASHINGTON – Lower-calorie
products are driving a disproportionate share of the sales growth for many of the
U.S.’s largest food and beverage companies, according to the recent Hudson
Institute study “Lower-Calorie Foods and Beverages Drive Healthy Weight
Commitment Foundation Companies’ Sales Growth.”
Commissioned by the
Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF), the study analyzed the 2006-2011
U.S. product and sales data of 16 member companies (including Coca-Cola,
General Mills, Kellogg, Kraft Foods, Nestle and PepsiCo). Hudson
researchers found that lower-calorie products (classified using two different
established nutrition standards) accounted for 82% of combined sales growth.
In all, sales of
lower-calorie food and beverages at these companies increased more than $1.25
billion — more than four times the growth of higher-calorie fare. These
companies had combined U.S. annual sales of $97 billion at grocery stores, drug
stores and mass merchandisers.
“The Hudson study shows
that food and beverage companies are making progress in meeting burgeoning
consumer demand for lower-calorie products,” said Hank Cardello, director of
Hudson Institute’s Obesity Solutions Initiative, in a press release. Cardello
led the study. “There is now a fundamental business reason to do so. The food
companies that get this are acting in their shareholders’ best interests — not
just in consumers’ best interests. A crucial way to accelerate a decline in the
national obesity rate is to show food companies where the growth is.”
Chain
restaurants also found that low-calorie options drove sales growth.