SPAR Austria’s ‘zucker-raus-initiative’, an industry-wide sugar reduction alliance, has grown to 52 members. Since its launch in April 2019, the initiative, founded by SPAR Austria together with manufacturers of food and beverages, the Austrian Medical Council, doctors, and medical associations, has drawn attention to society's increased sugar consumption. SPAR Austria has already removed over 2,500 tonnes of sugar from its own brand products.

In addition to reducing the amount of sugar in food products, the partners of the zucker-raus-initiative aim to provide targeted information about the risks and health consequences of excessive sugar consumption.

“As a food retailer, we are responsible for supporting consumers with healthy nutrition. We innovate in product development and provide information about the dangers of excessive sugar consumption. These steps are taken in close cooperation with experts”, said Markus Kaser, SPAR Austria Board Director and spokesperson for the sugar reduction initiative.

“I am very pleased about the steady growth of the alliance and that all partners continue to be committed to a healthier food offer which is lower in sugar”, he added.”

Recent members include 3Bears, an innovative porridge maker, and MEIN LEBEN magazine, which works on improving information provision and education for people with diabetes.

Source: SPAR Austria

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About SPAR Austria

The origins of SPAR in Austria date back to 1954, but the current SPAR AG was created in 1970 when the original founding families joined other regional wholesalers to form SPAR Austria AG – a 100% privately owned Austrian company.

With licences granted by SPAR International, ASPIAG (Austria SPAR International AG) has developed the brand in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, and Northern Italy. With sales of €8.3 billion and impressive growth of 16%, SPAR Austria became the market leader in the Austrian grocery trade in 2020, after being a market growth leader for over a decade. It maintained this leadership position in 2021.