Taste……the real thing

After the big craze for “light” versions of popular foods, in the early 1990s the French began to display a certain disenchantment with products of this type. Mostly because they were not much help in the struggle to lose weight and they were expensive.

Consumers made more informed choices as they managed their diet and attempted to achieve the right balance, both physically, in terms of health and fitness and psychologically, in terms of fulfilment and wellbeing. Curbing their desire for novelty and turning back to more established values, people showed greater interest in traditional and regional foods, and the virtues of authenticity and simplicity.

The Sugar Collective capitalised on these new trends when in 1990 it introduced a new concept. It was one that allowed sugar to be positioned in a territory beyond the reach of artificial sweeteners. With the launch of "La Semaine du Goût" (Taste Week) the sugar industry was to play a crucial role in educating the public to develop a taste for real food - especially sweet specialities - and to value the nation’s culinary heritage.

Taking place each year during the third week of October, the event has become something of an institution, with activities all over France reaching an audience of more than 11 million.

To reinforce the message and associate sugar with the ideas of pleasure, authenticity and flavour, in 1993 the Sugar Collective started a new campaign starring a little bee called Goudien (after his creator) and a sugar expert called Candi. Until 1996 they would be features of all festive events and sugar tastings under the slogan “Sugar, savouring those special moments”.

It the same time, consumers constantly demanded more - more vitamins, more trace elements, and more information. They were looking for food that would have a beneficial effect on their health. It was the age of neutraceuticals.

Increased consumer demands for health-giving foods coincided with the BSE crisis and fears about genetic engineering.
The public called for greater traceability, safety and quality, more use of natural products and more information.
The Sugar Collective took all these concerns on board in its 1997 campaigns.

The first “post-mad cow” campaign used “disruption” (a technique overturning the traditions of advertising) and “morphing” (transforming one computer image into another).
The films Rapide asperge (Quick Asparagus) and Fast huître (Fast Oyster) eloquently made their point.
They used absurd situations to demonstrate the risks we run when we tamper with food.

They also helped to reinstate sugar as a natural and authentic product, an ingredient with a unique look and taste. Sugar was presented as the yardstick against which all other sweeteners must be measured and which none can replace.
"Sugar is the real thing!”