Confectionery business Perfetti Van Melle has launched a range of sugar free and reduced sugar products under its Fruittella brand.

The sugar-free Fruittella Fruit Foams and Fruit Gums are a first of their kind, according to Perfetti Van Melle. They also respond to Kantar data that shows 92% of consumers are actively trying to reduce the amount of sugar they buy, and pressure mounting within other categories to reduce sugar content.

Naturally sweetened with the extract of stevia leaves, a South American plant renowned for its natural zero-calorie sweetness, each foam and gum is said to be full of flavours with no sugar and no artificial sweeteners.

Specifically designed for the adult on-the-go snacking market, Fruittella’s pink packaging has been replaced with blue, a colour associated with sugar free products in the FMCG market.

Both variants are available in pouch formats across the grocery, convenience and wholesale channels.

Perfetti Van Melle has also introduced a reduced sugar version of the traditional Fruittella chewy sweet. Containing 30% less sugar, Fruittella 30% Less Sugar is available in two different flavour variants, strawberry and summer fruits. There are no artificial flavours, colourings or sweeteners, instead the new recipe replaces a proportion of sugar with real fruit juice.

Designed to be shared, the resealable pouches are ideal for on-the-go snacking and are designed to tap into the growing bagged candy market, which is currently worth £611 million and growing at +2.3%.

The launch of Fruittella 30% Less Sugar will be supported by £1.5 million marketing spend, and over a million samples will be trialled in the UK over the coming months.