Those Little Pink Packages

Cumberland Packaging, the parent company of Sweet 'N Low is started an agency review for its $6million account.

Cumberland is battling for second place in the sweetener market against Merisant, maker of Equal. Both trail industry leader and Splenda manufacturer McNeil Nutritionals, which garners the majority of the category's dollar share at retail (nearly 70%).

The RFI indicates that Cumberland may be looking to reposition its brands and take on some larger competitors with new product offerings or line extensions. The document asks for competing agencies to provide case studies illustrating their ability to "reposition an established brand to revitalize brand interest and increase sales and/or level of usage" and "successfully introduce a new product or line extension." It also asks for examples where the agency was able to "increase market share in an environment where a product is a challenger brand and is significantly outspent by its competitors."

Full article @ AdAge

Also, if you love family stories and the history of the sweetener check out Sweet and Low: A Family Story - I'd give it a "Cover is better than the story" rating.

There's How Much Sugar in This?

Wow, when you stack up sugar cubes like that, maybe I'll take a Diet Coke . . .

Check out Sugar Stacks.com

Sugar Is Back on Food Labels, This Time as a Selling Point

Kraft, Pepsi, ConAgra and others now touting the presence of real sugar in foods as a positive.

The turnaround comes after three decades during which high-fructose corn syrup had been gaining on sugar in the American diet. Consumption of the two finally drew even in 2003, according to the Department of Agriculture. Recently, though, the trend has reversed. Per capita, American adults ate about 44 pounds of sugar in 2007, compared with about 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup.

“Sugar was the old devil, and high-fructose corn syrup is the new devil,” said Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior analyst at Mintel International, a market-research company.

New York Times

I'm the person who clicks on banner ads

I'm not usually one for clicking on banner advertisements, but today while searching for the latest Reds signings I noticed a Cargill advertisement on the side.

I've really never thought about Cargill as a company, but I know on my various road trips Cargill is a name that I see on trucks, in fields, and gas stations. This past week I had the chance to try out some of Cargill's newest offering, Truvia, so I clicked. I was taken to a Cargill's case studies and navigated to Cargill's website and learned that, "Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. With 160,000 employees in 67countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed." I never realized how big and far reaching of a company they were - they have their hands in Agriculture & Animal Nutrition, Financial & Risk Management, Food, Health & Pharmaceutical, and Industrial
Definitely check them out.

Now, back to Truvia, which is a natural sweeter that I found to be better than Splenda, and became a big fan of Splenda. The interesting thing about Truvia is that they haven't locked up a color. If you dine out you know that Splenda = Yellow, Sweet & Low = Pink, Equal= Blue, Sugar in the Raw = Brown, but Truvia is white with green, so I wonder how it will work out in the long run for Truvia's equity - will it get too confused with sugar?

Here some quick things to know about Truvia (from their site)

• Truvia™ natural sweetener is refreshingly uncomplicated. Sprinkle it on your grapefruit. Spoon it in your coffee. It won't end up on your conscience or your thighs.

• One packet of Truvia™ natural sweetener provides the same sweetness as two teaspoons of sugar.

• Truvia™ natural sweetener is a great alternative for people with diabetes. It is also kosher certified.

By the way, Odwalla and Sprite will be making beverages with Truvia by the way.

FYI- Here's a recipe for some Truvia Pumpkin Pie