Nestlé Health Science is reducing the added sugar in its ready-to-drink and powdered Carnation Breakfast Essentials brand by 25%. The drink product also now comes in Tetra Pak cartons, said to be made with responsibly sourced paper, and the packaging has been overhauled with a new look.
The updated Carnation Breakfast Essentials is the latest product overhaul by Nestlé and other food makers to reduce ingredients like sugar and salt while shifting the packaging to a more modern, consumer-friendly look and material.
Despite being on the market for more than half a century, Nestlé is making sure its Carnation Breakfast Essentials line doesn’t show its age. By cutting the amount of added sugar, incorporating a modern packaging design and improving its sustainability profile, Nestlé is hitting on a trifecta of issues that are important for shoppers when they decide what to buy—many of whom grew up with the drink and now are feeding it to their own kids and teens.
Carnation Breakfast Essentials has long touted its powder and drinks loaded with protein, vitamins C and D, and calcium, among other nutrients needed for growing young consumers. The reformulation and new packaging by the Switzerland-based company takes that a step further to increase the brand’s recognition among consumers overwhelmed with choice on supermarket shelves.
For example, Nestlé is moving at least some of its Carnation Breakfast Essentials offerings from plastic bottles to Tetra Pak cartons made with paper it claims is responsibly sourced. The company has announced a goal of making 100% of its packaging fully recyclable or reusable by 2025.