Excessive sugar consumption has long been linked to many health issues, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity. As a category, carbonated drinks are the single largest source of calories and added sugar in the Western diet. On average, a 600ml bottle of soft drink has more than 16 teaspoons of added sugar, almost double the daily sugar intake recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Dido Lo, founder of Lo Bros, aims to provide consumers with natural, low-sugar alternatives to the traditional soft drink.
“Lo Bros is answering the call for natural low-sugar beverages that give you the fun, kick and fizz of conventional carbonated drinks, but without the junk and bad stuff,” said Lo.
In recent years, there has been an increase in demand for better alternatives to soft drinks as consumers have increasingly become more aware of the health risks surrounding high sugar intake. However, almost all zero-sugar alternatives include artificial sweeteners, often aspartame, a chemical sweetener recently found to be potentially carcinogenic by WHO.
Lo utilises old-school brewing and fermentation techniques to create refreshingly fizzy drinks that are naturally low in sugar and contain no artificial sweeteners. The process has been adapted to expand the Lo Bros range, which now includes kombucha, soft drinks and energy drinks.
The newest addition to the Lo Bros range is the Not Soda, a range of soft drinks that leave a lasting impact. Created as a way for Lo Bros to address the plastic waste that plagues the beverage industry, for every Lo Bros Not Soda can be sold, the equivalent of two PET bottles of plastic is removed from the ocean through a partnership with Seven Clean Seas. Over the past year, Lo Bros have removed more than 1.6 million bottles from the ocean. On top of the Not Soda initiative, Lo Bros has committed to never again using plastic bottles, instead turning to aluminium cans and glass bottles.
Lo Bros has carved out a unique place for themselves in the market, with alternative soft drink options and an unwavering drive to impact the environment through their work positively. In a market dominated by multinational companies, having a presence is not something Lo takes for granted. Lo believes the key to success is understanding the underlying consumer driver behind trends and applying it to products in a way that is true to the brand's ethos.
