This story was updated June 12 at 09:43
Cargill’s newly approved sweetener takes on sugar alternatives
Cargill is promoting the Canadian launch of Truvia, a natural sweetener made from the stevia plant, with a national marketing campaign.
Truvia was introduced in the U.S. in 2008 after the FDA approved stevia as a general-purpose sweetener. Cargill developed the no-calorie sugar substitute in partnership with Coca-Cola, which uses Truvia in a number of products, including Vitaminwater Zero.
The product finally made its way to Canada after Health Canada approved stevia for mainstream use last November. The plant extract had been allowed in health products, but was approved as a tabletop sweetener and food additive after it was deemed safe for use.
“It’s been a long journey for us to get onto shelf and we’ve been delighted by the retailer acceptance of the products,” said Mark Brooks, global consumer products director for the Truvia brand at Cargill in Wayzata, Minn.
Truvia, which competes with sugar substitutes like Splenda and Sweet’n Low, is now available at major Canadian retailers including Loblaw, Metro, Sobeys and Safeway.
In-store activations developed by Mars Advertising include signage, coupons and sampling at 500 retail locations. “What we’ve learned in every other market is that in-store demo is one of the most powerful ways to engage with the consumer for education,” said Brooks. “This is a product where touching, feeling and tasting is the most important thing.”
Television spots in English and French launched nationally on June 10. The commercial, called “Celebrity,” shows the stevia plant in nature and explains its “surprising secret.” The spot then shows Truvia being added to a cup of coffee and ends with the tagline “From nature. For sweetness.”
“It really is an education piece,” said Brooks. “We wanted to shine a light on the stevia plant and end with a use occasion – coffee – which is ubiquitously the entry point to using Truvia.”
The television spots were developed by Seattle-based Creature and are part of a global advertising campaign. “They weren’t really made as U.S. ads. We filmed them in New Zealand for a global audience,” said Brooks. “We conducted focus groups in Canada to make sure we understood whether of not the ads would resonate.”
The spots are airing on a variety of specialty networks, including Food Network, HGTV, Slice, Showcase and W Network. Universal McCann handled the media buy.
