Cargill has introduced Craftiva, a reduced-sugar brand of flavored syrups and sweetener packets for consumers who want to cut back on sugar without giving up taste, marking a consumer-brand play from the Wayzata, Minnesota-based ingredient supplier.
‘Emerging middle ground’
The launch targets what Cargill sees as an emerging middle ground: in the International Food Information Council’s 2025 Food & Health Survey, 61 percent of Americans said they are trying to limit sugars while only 14 percent are trying to avoid them entirely, and Cargill’s own 2026 Future of Sweeteners research found Gen Z and millennial consumers prefer reduced sugar over zero sugar, 25 percent to 17 percent.
“We believe reduced sugar is becoming an addressable market of its own,” said Asheesh Choudhary, SVP and managing director of salt and consumer brands at Cargill. “The Craftiva portfolio is built around the idea that consumers shouldn’t have to choose between great flavor and reducing sugar.”
Sugar, stevia and sea salt
Craftiva’s syrups come in Vanilla, Caramel, Brown Sugar & Cinnamon and Toasted Marshmallow, each serving carrying 7 grams of sugar versus approximately 20 grams in the leading national-brand full-sugar syrup. Made with cane sugar, stevia sweetener and sea salt, they come in 12.7-ounce and 25.4-ounce sizes, positioned for the morning latte, afternoon cold brew and weekend mocktail. The two-ingredient sweetener packets, cane sugar and stevia, carry 5 calories each with sweetness comparable to two teaspoons of sugar, in count sizes for home and foodservice.
“Consumers increasingly want to reduce sugar, but they don’t want to give up the drinks and flavors they love,” said Brian Tockman, senior director of consumer brands at Cargill. “Our goal is simple: deliver premium, great-tasting sweetness and flavor with meaningfully less sugar.”
Craftiva is available now on Amazon, with TikTok Shop, U.S. retail stores and foodservice distributors coming in the weeks ahead.
Cargill, a 160-year-old family company with more than 155,000 employees, provides food, ingredients and agricultural solutions worldwide.
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