India Food Sweetener Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2023-2028)

India's food sweetener market is forecasted to register a CAGR of 3.2 % during the forecast period.

Key Highlights

• Food and beverage players have been launching low/no sweeteners to cater to the demand for low-sugar products as health and immune system concerns increased. With the growing presence of various sweetener-infused products on retail shelves in India, many players are entering the country.
• For instance, the Malaysia-based business, PureCircle, a stevia supplier, has collaborated with top food and beverage companies to introduce stevia-based variants of well-known food and beverages, including PepsiCo's 7Up and Tropicana, Coca-Cola's Maaza Gold, and Danone's Yakult. The company aims to grow its Starleaf variety in India and treble farm revenues by India's Prime Minister's vision for 2022.
• The company is now working with Dabur, Frooti, and Haldiram to help create stevia-based variants of their famous food and beverage products. The company also supplies stevia used in the production of Zydus's stevia-based sweetener, Sugar-Free Green. Stevia has also found its way into new products by emerging companies. For example, in 2021, Beyond Water launched its product line of water enhancers (electrolyte mixers, cocktail mixers, and vitamin mixers) sweetened with natural sweeteners.
• Furthermore, there has been an increase in demand for bulk sweeteners like fructose across the country. Fructose, commonly known as fruit sugar, has multiple functions in food and beverage applications, including sweetness, humectant, color, flavor enhancement or development, freezing point depression, and osmotic stability.
• Critical applications of fructose include flavored or enhanced water, low-calorie products, dry beverage mixes, carbonated beverages, breakfast cereals, baked goods, yogurt, fruit packs, confectionery, and other food applications.
• Cyclamate is another type of natural sweetener widely utilized in confections, baking, soft drinks, desserts, salad dressings, and preserves in India due to its benefits, such as being 30 times sweeter than sugar and being a calorie-free sweetener. The product is mixed with water before consumption, helps to increase hydration, and acts as an enrichment of nutrients lost during water processing. Such innovations have been driving the Indian food sweetener market.

India Food Sweetener Market Trends

Surge in Diabetic Population

• The growing preference for low-sugar or no-calorie diets due to the increasing prevalence of obesity and diabetes drives the demand for natural sweeteners globally. According to the International Diabtes Federation (IDF) Diabetes Atlas, 10th Edition, approximately 537 million adults aged between 20 and 79 had diabetes in 2021; diabetes also caused 6.7 million deaths that year.
• The total number of people with diabetes is projected to rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045. According to the International Diabetes Federation, the nations having the highest proportion of adults with diabetic patients aged 20 to 79 in China, India, and Pakistan in 2021. The diabetic population statistic is expected to remain stable up to 2045.
• In addition, the demand for low-calorie sweeteners from food and beverages has increased over the last few years, owing to the rising concern over obesity and diabetes worldwide. Many key players in the food and beverages industry are introducing products with natural low-calorie sweeteners, especially with added stevia.
• Apart from sugar reduction, consumers are looking for clean-label products. Incredibly, across developed economies, this awareness among consumers has encouraged food companies to replace high-calorie polyols with natural sweeteners.

Fastest Growing Sweetener Segment: Stevia

• Stevia is a 100% natural and zero-calorie sweetener. The growing awareness about the health benefits of Stevia over sugar has increased its demand. Other factors influencing the stevia market are lifestyle changes, government initiatives to reduce sugar intake, and the need to combat health problems like obesity and diabetes.
• Jaggery is one of the Indian markets because it is perceived as a healthier alternative to sugar. Stevia is used in convenience foods, baked foods, sugar confectionery, and beverages. Beverages account for the majority share of the market. Thus, Stevia is estimated to be the fastest-growing sweetener segment over the forecast period.
• Furthermore, Indian farmers opt out of growing stevia plants due to higher input costs and the absence of standard crop cultivation practices. Additionally, there needs to be traditional know-how for stevia plantations in the country. To help these farmers, the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) announced a 30% subsidy on the cost of production as of 2021. This initiative is expected to increase the amount of Stevia available for use, thereby driving the growth of the Indian stevia market in the coming years.

India Food Sweetener Market Competitor Analysis

The market is highly fragmented, with many Indian players trying to gain a competitive advantage by using various corporate strategies, like innovation, expansions, and other strategies. International players, such as International Flavors & Fragrances Inc., Cargill Incorporated, Kerry Group plc., the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, and Tate & Lyle, dominate the sugar substitute market. Due to the experience and expertise of these leading companies in the Indian food sweetener market, these top players focus on developing new products. Further, economies of scale and high brand loyalty among the clients give these companies an upper edge. Further expansion of product portfolio within all categories of sweeteners has been helping the players in the market to enhance their positions.

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• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
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