Wipro Consumer enters low calorie sweetener segment

Marking its foray into the Rs 75-crore tablet form low calorie sweetener segment, Wipro Consumer Care, the FMCG arm of Wipro Limited, on Friday launched a low calorie sugar substitute, Sweet 'n' Healthy, in Hyderabad. With this, the company joins the list of firms that chose Hyderabad to test waters.

"Andhra Pradesh has been the largest market for us in terms of revenues, and our toilet soap brand 'Santoor' enjoys a leadership position in the state. Our other product categories, including energy drink Glucovita, too have been maintaining significant growth, and hence we chose Hyderabad for the national launch of Sweet 'n' Healthy'," Nagender Arya, general manager (business development), Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting, told the media on Friday.

The company is currently test-marketing the product in Hyderabad and intends to launch it on a pan-India basis in a phased manner. Other major players in this segment include SugarFree, Equal, Zero and Sweetex.

"A recent study indicates that over 3 crore diagnosed cases and another 7 crore undiagnosed cases of diabetes have so far been registered. Besides, the study shows that almost 75 per cent of Indian women and 58 per cent men suffer from abdominal obesity. With health consciousness on the rise and consumers seeking products that help them lead a healthier life, be it organically-grown food products, cholesterol-free products or low calorie food additives, we felt this was the right time to enter the low calorie sugar substitute category," he said.

Developed using the latest technology to give a preservative-free product, Sweet 'n' Healthy is made from Aspartame, a molecule that has been approved by WHO, USFDA and other regulatory authorities across the world.

The product is available in two sizes -- a pack of 300 tablets at Rs 150 and a regular pack of 100 tablets at Rs 60.

The company has launched the product with a consumer offer, in which the 300-tablet pack comes with a refill pack of 300 tablets free and the 100-tablet pack comes with a refill pack of 100 tablets free.