THIS WEEK, THE government announced plans for a long-mooted sugar tax.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said there will be a tax of 30c per litre on sweetened drinks with over eight grams of sugar per 100 millilitres.
That means that many drinks including Coke, 7UP, Pepsi, Monster and Red Bull will go up by the full 30 cent per litre.
A can of Coke will go up ten cent.
But drinks companies are already planning for the tax and for increased scrutiny of sugar intake around the world.
Lucozade, a product known for more or less being nothing but sugars and sweeteners, has recently removed 50% of its sugar.
Its manufacturers say it and Ribena are changing.
“All existing and new added sugar drinks will be reformulated to contain no more than than 4.5g of total sugar per 100ml
“All Ribena Flavours are now No Added Sugar (Strawberry, Pineapple and Pasion fruit & Mango and lime). They all contain 15 cal per 250ml serve on front of bottle. Blackcurrant flavour (500ml & 250ml) will change to new formulation in August.
“We wanted to reduce the sugar due to changes in consumer preference but before we made the decision to do this we tested the new formulas against the old formulas with heavy consumers of our products.”
In the US, industry giant Coca Cola has responded to dipping sales with a revamped Coke Zero.
The launch comes at a time when more cities around the US have enacted, or are weighing, soda taxes.
Coca-Cola announced the plan as it reported a 60% drop in second-quarter profits to $1.4 billion and a 16% decline in revenues to $9.7 billion. Both were hit by the company’s move to offload bottling assets in North America as it leans away from its traditional soda offerings.
Stuart Kronauge, senior vice president of marketing, said the soda giant plans marketing across social media, television, radio and retail around the US launch.
“We’re changing the name to Coca-Cola Zero Sugar to be as clear and descriptive as possible about the product and the promise that it delivers great Coca-Cola taste without sugar,” Kronauge said in a blog post.
The drink uses aspartame and acesulfame potassium — otherwise knows as “ace-K” — as low-calorie sugar substitutes, according to the company website.
Kevin Donnelly, Managing Director Britvic Ireland, which makes Club, Mi Wadi and TK, said that his company’s products are mostly low or no sugar. He added that indigenous drinks makes shouldn’t be disadvantaged by the tax.
“It is essential that the Department of Finance and Revenue engages with the industry to ensure that Republic of Ireland manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, publicans and foodservice operators are not disadvantaged versus imported product, especially in an environment of weakening Sterling.
“Given the implementation timeline is less than half that afforded to the industry in the UK, early engagement on this matter is crucial.”
Youth Work Ireland, however, called the decision “overdue”.
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