Popsicles join red-hot 'zero' trend among health-conscious consumers

Industry

Published: 01 Jul. 2024, 18:32 Updated: 02 Jul. 2024, 16:01

Popsicles join red-hot 'zero' trend among health-conscious consumers

Lotte Wellfood's Jaws Bar 0 Kcal, Screw Bar 0 Kcal and Subak Bar 0 Kcal popsicles [LOTTE WELLFOOD]

Popsicles are the latest snacks to hop on the low-calorie train with "zero" branding.

Lotte Wellfood launched the Subak Bar 0 Kcal on Monday after its low-calorie versions of the Jaws Bar and Screw Bar saw good receptions upon release, with combined sales of over 7.2 million units in just a month after hitting the market.

Sales have now swelled to almost 20 million units to date.

The watermelon-inspired Subak Bar popsicle removed the existing chocolate-coated nuts that looked like watermelon seeds and used allulose instead of sugar.

Foods that have fewer than 4 calories per 100 milliliter can be labeled as “zero calories,” as per the Food Sanitation Act.

Pre-orders for Subak Bar 0 kcal kicked off Monday on Lotte Wellfood’s official online store Sweet Mall. Offline sales will begin next week.

Binggrae, another Korean snack and popsicle manufacturer, will release a low-calorie version of its tangerine-flavored TangO TangO popsicle and a zero-sugar version of its Summer Crush popsicles on Tuesday.

Haitai Ice Cream, a subsidiary of Binggrae, also released a zero-sugar version of Pollapo Coffee popsicles and Ice Guy ZeroZero Sports frozen treats, which has both low sugar and calorie counts.

There are 199 food products labeled as zero-calorie or zero-sugar available to purchase in CU convenience stores as of Monday, ranging from low-calorie fizzy drinks like Pepsi Zero Zero and low-calorie Zero Cruch Chocolate Balls.

The "zero-sugar" trend also caught on in the soju market with Chum-Churum Saero — often just called Saero — Daesun Distilling, Good Day Soju, Jinro, and ZERO2 gaining popularity amongst health-conscious consumers.

It was revealed, however, that the sugar count was virtually the same as regular soju, like Chamisul soju and Chum-Churum soju, which had low enough sugar counts to also be classified as "sugar-free."

Calories were barely different as well, with sugar-free soju only 2.8 to 14 percent lower than regular soju.