US retail sales of stevia sweeteners rose 11.9% in the past year as sales of artificial sweeteners continue to slide

“This shift within the category represents how consumers are eating today,” ​said Brian Nau, global brand leader at the Cargill-owned Truvia brand, the leading player in the natural zero- and reduced calorie sweeteners market with a 33% share.

In grocery retail, the space devoted to sugar substitutes has remained pretty constant in recent years, although space within the category has been re-allocated to reflect the growth of products with a more ‘natural’ positioning using a variety of sweeteners including stevia, monk fruit, xylitol and erythritol.

A key part of the strategy at Truvia has been developing products with broader appeal, notably blended sweeteners (combinations of sugar and stevia) that offer meaningful sugar reductions but are not positioned as ‘diet’ products, a word that has fallen out of favor in food marketing.

Truvia Nectar - a blend of honey, sugar, stevia leaf extract and citric acid with half the calories of sugar – also reflects this growing trend to appeal to a broader audience beyond diabetics in the category, said Cargill.