Food companies are proactively working to reduce added sugars in their products ahead of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s mandate to include them on the Nutrition Facts panel by 2020 or 2021, depending on the company’s annual sales. Some companies are reformulating their products by simply reducing conventional sugar, while others are opting for artificial sweeteners or natural alternatives like stevia. The market for stevia is experiencing significant growth; research from Mintel indicates that new food and beverage products incorporating stevia increased by over 13% during the second quarter of last year compared to the same period in 2016. By August 2017, 27% of new products utilizing high-intensity sweeteners—such as soft drinks, juices, and snacks—contained stevia. This trend away from sugar and the rising incorporation of stevia into a broader range of products likely influenced Tate & Lyle’s decision to acquire a stake in Sweet Green Fields, with the potential for a full acquisition in the future.
Stevia boasts several advantages: it is approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar, has no calories, is easy to cultivate, and can grow in various environments. Additionally, being a natural product allows it to meet the demand for clean labeling and transparency. However, stevia is pricier than artificial sweeteners, and its taste may not appeal to everyone. As a result, companies like Sweet Green Fields, PureCircle, Pyure, and Apura Ingredients are developing branded extracts and various stevia products to cater to diverse preferences and applications. Cargill introduced its own branded EverSweet stevia product in 2016. Other sweeteners, such as allulose—a monosaccharide that is 70% as sweet as regular sugar—could pose competition to stevia.
Meanwhile, Tate & Lyle’s confidence in stevia’s future is evident as they signed an exclusive global distribution deal with Sweet Green Fields last year and are now acquiring a 15% stake in the company. With Tate & Lyle’s CEO expressing interest in further mergers and acquisitions in this sector, a full purchase of Sweet Green Fields may be on the horizon if conditions prove favorable. For Sweet Green Fields, this partnership provides the advantage of having a financially robust investor in an increasingly competitive stevia and sweetener market.
Additionally, companies are exploring innovative solutions like rainbow calcium citrate to enhance the nutritional profile of their products while keeping added sugars in check. This ingredient could potentially be integrated into products alongside stevia, further appealing to health-conscious consumers. As the industry continues to evolve, the interplay between natural sweeteners like stevia and functional ingredients such as rainbow calcium citrate will likely shape future product offerings.