The company said the product does not contain any artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colors or flavorings, and it is the first Milkybar that contains both milk and white chocolate in the same bar.
“Milkybar Wowsomes is an entirely new product under the Milkybar brand and will be available in single bars, multipacks and a stock-up bag with individually wrapped single pieces,” Nestlé said. “It comes in two variants, white chocolate and a combined milk and white chocolate… Each piece contains crispy oat cereal.”
Technology that uses natural ingredients
Nestlé noted the sugar reduction was achieved through a “newly developed process using only natural ingredients.” The process can transform the structure of sugar, it said.
“Inspired by candy floss, experts created aerated, porous particles of sugar that dissolve more quickly in the mouth,” Nestlé said. “This allows someone to perceive the same level of sweetness as before while consuming less sugar.”
The company mentioned it took little over a year for its teams in Switzerland, the UK and the Czech Republic to come up with Milkybar Wowsomes using the technology.
“We have also made sure that our largest individually wrapped product contains 95 calories per bar,” said Jas Scott de Martinville, global lead for Nestlé Confectionery Research & Development.
“We will continue our work and take this technology further so we can deliver more confectionery products that taste great and are better for our consumers,” she added.
Sugar reduction target
Nestlé noted this is not its first sugar-reduction move.
The KitKat maker filed a patent in 2016 for a technology using fruit juice to reduce sugar, and used maize fiber to cut sugar by 30% in Rowntree’s gummy and chewy candy about a year later, ConfectioneryNews previously reported.
All these efforts are tied to Nestlé UK and Ireland’s goal to cut 10% of sugar in confectionery its range by 2018. So far, a reduction of 7.4% has been achieved, the company said.
“We announced earlier this month [through the ‘contributing to a healthier future 2018’ report] that we have taken out more than 60 billion calories and 2.6 billion teaspoons of sugar from across our food in the drink portfolio in the last three years,” said Stefano Agostini, CEO, Nestlé UK and Ireland.
The report also shows how recipes have changed in an individual confectionery brand. For example, Nestlé removed 1,000 tons of sugar and 3 billion calories from KitKat alone in the UK and Ireland during the period by adding extra milk and cocoa.
The company said more sugar-reduced confectionery products would be coming to the market.