Simply Blending Potassium Chloride & Sea Salt Significantly Boosts Positive Consumer Perceptions
What happens when you pair potassium chloride with sea salt on an ingredient label? A significant spike in positive consumer perceptions.
Any food manufacturer who has sought to lower sodium levels in their products likely has a basic understanding of one of the most commonly used and well established solutions in the sodium reduction space—potassium chloride.1 Manufacturers quickly learn that they generally cannot replace all of the sodium in foods with potassium. Instead, it’s important to find the right balance between the salt and the potassium chloride, which will vary depending on the specific application—otherwise, the flavor profile of the product may change.
In fact, according to Nielsen, 99.5% of all grocery products on the market contain both potassium chloride and salt.2 This is because straight potassium chloride will generally produce a more metallic, though salty, flavor.
So, on food labels where potassium chloride is listed, salt will almost always be listed in tandem. We asked ourselves, what do consumers think of potassium chloride when it’s listed alongside salt?
The result—consumers are much more accepting of potassium chloride when it’s paired with sea salt. It could be because the association between the ingredients clicks when consumers see them listed side-by-side, or perhaps because the sea salt “halo affect” is strong enough to improve potassium chloride’s image. Whatever the reason may be, respondents perceive the ingredient combination in a much better light than either salt or potassium chloride as a stand-alone ingredient.
Ingredient Health Perceptions:
When consumers (n=1825-1896) were asked to “Please indicate how good or bad for you each of these ingredients is, in your own opinion. Select the number on the scale that best corresponds to your opinion,” the findings indicate the following, where
Health Perceptions (NET Scores) = Good For You (Top-2-Box) – Bad For You (Bottom-2-Box) as noted in the graph:
- Potassium Chloride & Sea Salt – Scored in the positive range in terms of health perceptions by survey respondents.
- Potassium Chloride – Seen as 18% less healthy than “potassium chloride & sea salt,” but still 3% healthier than salt.
- Salt – Viewed as “worse-for-you” than potassium chloride, but 15% better for you than sodium.
- Sodium – Perceived as the unhealthiest option, scoring 15 percentage points below salt.
To learn more about out potassium chloride blends or review our complete sodium reduction portfolio, visit our website or call 1-888-385-SALT. For a simple, dependable, and flexible ordering process, become a member of CargillSaltStore.com!
Sources:
- http://www.nxtbook.com/sosland/sw/2019_02_01/index.php#/38
- Nielsen
- Cargill IngredienTracker™, Wave 5