During the initial months following the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, demand for packaged food recorded relevant increases as meals became fully concentrated within the home with Brazilian consumers remaining isolated and foodservice establishments closed for long periods. Under this positive scenario for retail, many better for you categories followed similar trends, benefiting mainly from the larger monthly volumes that home-confined consumers purchased to stock up pantries.
The overall negative performance of better for you packaged food in 2020 resulted mostly from a drop in consumption for reduced sugar categories, which are largely concentrated in sugar confectionery. The extensive periods of restricted mobility represented a relevant drawback for categories largely reliant on impulse purchases as has been the case for sugar-free gum (non-FF) and other reduced sugar confectionery types, apart from chocolate variants.
As weekly meals were cooked at home during the quarantine periods, local consumers adapted their routines by alternating between home-prepared, frozen options and food delivery, as many had limited time and experience for cooking. One of the major concerns relating to packaged ready meals and sauces, dressings and condiments is their traditionally high levels of salt, a key part of the formulation for flavour enhancing.
Driven by a long-term industry discussion on potential changes for packaged food labelling, a new regulation was approved in 2020 by ANVISA, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency, determining that consumers be made aware of high content of added sugar, saturated fat, and sodium. The dark icons displaying relevant information must be highly visible on the front of the packaging.
During the last decade, the traditional “light” versions that gained space in Brazilian packaged food had by the early 2000s begun to lose their appeal amongst a broader consumer audience. This decreasing trend can be mainly attributed to the successive diets that entered the mainstream over the years, many of which went beyond claims based on reduced sugar, fat, and salt claims.
Among the outlier behaviour of Brazilian consumers, overall high sugar intake can be considered a current habit regardless of social class or age, not only through the direct consumption of refined table sugar but also its inclusion in processed packaged food. As largely reported by food manufacturers, there is a considerably higher resistance regarding the reduction of sugar content in classic brand recipes compared to other markets.
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Better For You Packaged Food
Products where the amount of a substance considered to be less healthy (eg fat, sugar, salt, carbohydrates) has been actively reduced during production. To qualify for inclusion in this category, the “less healthy” element of the foodstuff needs to have been actively removed or substituted during the processing. This should also form a key part of the positioning/marketing of the product. Products which are naturally fat/sugar/carbohydrate -free are not included as nothing out of the ordinary has been done during their production to make them “better for you”. “No added sugar” claims are excluded too. Products most likely to be included here will be those which are low-fat/low-sugar versions of standard products (eg reduced fat mayonnaise, reduced fat cheese, reduced fat milk, reduced sugar confectionery, etc). For product category definitions please refer to the definitions section (can be found under the "Help" section on Passport) for the respective system: Packaged Food, Hot Drinks, Soft Drinks.
See All of Our DefinitionsThis report originates from Passport, our Better For You Packaged Food research and analysis database.
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