Low-Cal Foods, Beverages Boost Revenue

Sixteen food and beverage companies say reduced calorie products account for nearly $100 billion in annual sales.

June 14, 2013

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.

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