Calories reductions from Mars

Consumer demand for healthier products isn’t showing any signs of relenting. This trend is so huge that Mars is embarking on a major calorie reduction programme to reduce the calorie content of all of the products in its chocolate range to 250 calories or less by the end of 2013.

Some of the company’s bars already fall below this benchmark, but Mars and Snickers bars are above this value, containing 260 and 296 calories respectively.

It is unclear how Mars is planning to achieve this calories reduction, but the company could look to reformulation, smaller products or a combination of the two.

This initiative is a good step for the industry to encourage chocolate consumption as part of a healthy lifestyle. When large players in the market, such as Mars, commit to such a programme it is likely that other companies will follow shortly.