To contribute to creating better-for-you, reduced sugar products, Sweegen is commercialising its high-intensity sweetener, the Ultratia™ brazzein. Brazzein is 500 to 2,000 times sweeter than traditional sugar. This ingredient does not have any calories, making it a great alternative to artificial sweeteners and older generation variants like stevia.

Sourced from the fruit of Oubli, a West African climbing plant’s fruit, which is found sparingly in nature. Sweegen utilises a proprietary precision fermentation process to extract brazzein. The protein sweetener has no bitter aftertaste and reduces the lingering sweet aftertaste, answering taste challenges that have been an issue in the natural sweetener space.

“In 2021, Sweegen launched our Taste Blazer concept, which is a promise to the food and beverage industry that we will help forge a new path for creating truly better-for-you foods,” said Sweegen’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, Sally Aaron. “Sweegen’s Ultratia™ brazzein is a key tool to help brands explore entirely new ways to improve the health profile of existing and new products.”

“With Sweegen’s growing and proprietary portfolio of Signature Sweetness Solutions, product developers have more creative possibilities for developing mainstream reduced sugar foods and beverages, as well as innovations for popular diets such as Keto and low-to-no carbohydrate lifestyles,” said Aaron. “With Sweegen’s Ultratia™ brazzein, coupled with our portfolio of advanced stevia sweeteners, and our Flavors for Taste Modulation, featuring bitter blocking technology, brands now have modern tools for creating great-tasting products with consumer appeal,” said Aaron.

“We’re charting new territory in sugar reduction solutions by bringing Sweegen’s Ultratia™ brazzein to market,” adds Chief Executive Officer Steven Chen. “The launch of Sweegen’s Ultratia™ brazzein demonstrates our prioritized commitment to opening access to groundbreaking sugar reduction solutions for the global food and beverage industry,” said Chen. “We envision a better world through the lens of better foods for health and wellness.”

There have been worldwide calls to encourage sugar reduction in the food and beverage industry. Global organisations like the World Health Organization (WHO) are placing increased pressure for companies to roll out products that have healthier sugar and calorie profiles. In the European region, the Sugar and Calorie Reduction Network was created to promote healthy diets and help reduce overweight and obesity levels.