April 21, 2025
THE country’s consumption of sugar alternatives will surge by 47 percent this marketing year, or half of the projected 2.2 million metric tons (MMT) raw sugar consumption, an international agency said.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila (USDA-FAS Manila) forecasts that consumption of alternative sweeteners converted into raw sugar equivalent will reach 1.14 MMT this MY 2025.
This expected figure is higher than the 774,000 metric tons (MT) consumption recorded in the previous year. Such alternative sweeteners are aspartame, acesulfame, sucralose, saccharin, and stevia.
“Some bakeries and beverages manufacturers have shifted to alternative sweeteners due to high sugar prices,” the international agency said in its latest report.
“Demand will continue to increase among health-conscious consumers moving towards sugar alternatives,” it added.
The USDA-FAS Manila said the consumption of sugar alternatives has been increasing over the past years, with the double-digit growth recorded in MY 2024 “causing an alarm among sugar producers.”
Earlier, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) issued Sugar Order (SO) 6, which imposes a clearance fee of P60 per MT on imported goods under Harmonized System (HS) codes 1701, 1702, and 1704.
Some of these items include sucrose, lactose, maltose, glucose, maple syrup, honey, caramel, and sugar confectionery items, such as chewing gum and white chocolate not containing cocoa.
Importers of items under these tariff codes should first secure a clearance before their shipments are released by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Meanwhile, the USDA-FAS Manila projects that the Philippines will import 300,000 MT of refined sugar in MY 2026, which will start in September.
The international agency projects these figures due to the priority given to SO 2 participants to avail themselves of the future import program. SO 2 is the voluntary purchase of farmers’ sugar, along with the 1:2.5 ratio stipulated under SO 5 for exporters who took part in the US sugar quota allocation.
In SO 5, the ratio denotes that for every kilo of sugar exported to the US, eligible participants can import 2.5 kilos of sugar.
The Philippines will export 66,000 MT of raw sugar to fulfill the allocation it received from the United States under the tariff rate quota (TRQ) scheme. This is higher than the 24,179 MT exported by Philippine producers to the US in 2024.
“Sugar imports will continue to stabilize supply and prices in the domestic market,” the USDA-FAS Manila said.