Every Friday we share local innovation insights sourced from tw:in, our global trend community. Here’s this week’s Spot of the Week!

Supermarket chain REWE empowered shoppers to choose the sugar content of its own-brand chocolate pudding. During the campaign, REWE distributed puddings that had 20%, 30%, and 40% less sugar alongside its original formula; the favorite formula (30% was the winner!) will be permanently available for sale at the supermarket. 

Some insight from Mariam Madany, a tw:in member based in Germany: “This campaign represents a shift in the supermarket’s long-term strategy. Germany’s grocery industry has been traditionally centered on price wars. But now, REWE is engaging shoppers in different ways: by focusing on their health and involving them in product development. For example, REWE’s weekly prospekts (German for “coupon catalog”) now helps customers reduce their sugar intake and achieve other positive health outcomes - one recent recipe was for an ‘anti-flu’ smoothie.”

Here’s what we’d add: consumer trust is at all-time lows. In such a climate, it will take bold moves to win over those that are skeptical that you have their best interests at heart (and rightly so after Volkswagen’s, ahem, ‘clean’ diesel, and Danone’s misleading labels). But what better way to tackle this credibility gap than by acknowledging the trade-offs, and let customers themselves make the choice between ‘good’ and ‘less good’? REWE’s customers were given a choice between between taste and health. Which intractable industry challenges could you turn over to customers to decide for you?

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