The soft drink and bottled water industry in Bulgaria, represented by the Bulgarian Soft Drinks Association, reports an additional reduction in calories and sugar in its products for the recent 5 years. As a result of the reformulation efforts invested, at the consumption levels for 2020, the added sugar in carbonated beverages has been reduced by a total of 3,497 tons or by 15.21%. This data is revealed by an independent expert research on the caloric content of soft drinks sold at the Bulgarian market for observation of the results of the voluntary commitment of producers for an additional 15% reduction of sugar, and respectively calories, in the portfolio of carbonated beverages until 2020. [1]
With this result, the soft drink industry becomes the only sector in the food industry that responded to the appeal made by the national authorities in 2018 and formally committed to the Scientific Expert Council of the Minister of Health to achieve the goal defined in the EU Annex for reduction of added sugars[2] by accelerating the ongoing during the past two decades reduction of sugar and calories in the beverage sector, offered to consumers.
As a result of the reformulation efforts, consumers in Bulgaria have consumed 8.803 million less kcal of carbonated beverages in 2020 compared to 2019, and 65.6% of carbonated beverages consumed in 2020 have formulas that do not contain sugar or their caloric content is formed by the fruits contained in them. The average sugar content in the products of the category is 3.44 grams per 100 milliliters.
80% of the products in the industry portfolio in our country are without added sugar for 2020[3], which means that only one out of five drinks from the developed product categories contains added sugar. This contributes to an additional 6% reduction of the share of sugar-sweetened soft drinks compared to 2015 levels, with which the industry builds on the previously realized reduction of 5.78% for the period 2011 - 2015. The expert study on the caloric content of soft drinks on our market reports both an increased supply of carbonated beverages that do not contain sugar and calories, and a decrease of the sugar amounts in formulas with added sugar by an average of 6.7% per 100 ml for the last 5 years.
"As part of the European soft drink industry UNESDA (Soft Drinks Europe), BSDA and our members - leading companies in the sector, we will continue to contribute to the implementation of both this and other commitments of the soft drinks and bottled water industry in Europe. The developed methodology for assessing the caloric content and sugars in the beverages offered on the Bulgarian market and the planned annual independent expert study will verify the progress of our efforts so that both the society and the institutions can monitor the progress of the sector, " said Jana Velichkova, Executive Director of the Association of the Bulgarian Soft Drinks Association.
The soft drinks sector at national and European level follows a comprehensive strategy to reduce sugar in known and loved drinks, introduces sugar-free alternatives, develops new low-calorie or calorie-free products and maintains and increases the availability of soft drinks in smaller packages in order to facilitate the control of intake of added sugars.
"Current topics in the beverage sector are extremely diverse, including those related to social responsibility and contribution to the goals of the national health strategy of Bulgaria. The commitment to reduce sugar and calories is one of the aspects we have been working on for years and deserves special attention. Soft drink manufacturers have once again succeeded in fulfilling a new reduction in the average calorie value per 100 ml of product, committing to offer a wide range of beverages with different nutritional profiles, which is an important and significant achievement. It emphasizes the collective proactivity and determination of our sector to contribute to a healthier and more balanced diet and we will continue to implement innovations and provide consumers with choice, fulfilling our promises.", said Dimitar Dalgachev, Chairperson of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Soft Drinks Association.
The European and the Bulgarian soft drink industry in particular made significant progress in improving the food environment in support of the changing consumer demand and public health expectations. In fulfilling its responsibilities, it encourages other sectors to join with a similar commitment and to accelerate the pace of progress towards a scale which will lead to even greater and more significant positive change.
[1] Taking 2015 as a baseline
[2] https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/default/files/nutrition_physical_activity/docs/added_sugars_en.pdf
[3] Includes soft drinks from the categories carbonated, energy, still and ice tea
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