A new plant-based sweetener from Israeli food-tech startup cuts sugar loads in popular treats like hazelnut and chocolate spreads, B.T. Sweet announced this week as it introduced its CAMBYA product.

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According to B.T. Sweet, its proprietary formula, based on soluble fibers, monk fruit, and select botanicals, is a 1:1 equivalent to sugar both in function and flavor, and also provides fiber.

The company says CAMBYA delivers optimal sweetening capacity, without the need for masking agents, and can be used to lower sugar levels in confectionary, cereals and ice cream.

Sweet spreads typically contain up to 50% sucrose. B.T. Sweet's food technology team and chief confectioner have tested their product in several spread recipes, aiming to mimic the flavor, color, and texture of a traditional category leading sweet spread, without any change to the feel or texture of the product. The company tested the result with parents and children.

"For many, a breakfast or school sandwich is incomplete without chocolate hazelnut spread," noted Yoav Gaon, CEO of B.T. Sweet.

"Parents struggle with their kids' demands for it and have a hard time resisting it themselves. We succeeded in developing a tasty solution that kids of all ages love simply by switching white sugar with CAMBYA," Gaon added.

"Children are the primary market for chocolate spreads, birthday cakes, cookies filled with cream and similar products," explained Dagi Pekatch, founder and chairman of B.T Sweet.

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Rehovot-based foodtech start-up Better Juice, which has made it a mission to reduce the sugar content of natural fruit juice while preserving flavor and nutritional content, has sealed a deal to bring its reduced-sugar juices to supermarket aisles.

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Better Juice has inked an agreement with a major US fruit juice manufacturer for commercial installment of its sugar-reduction technology – the first official commercial venture in the company's collaboration with Germany's GEA Group.

Better Juice's patented enzymatic technology uses all-natural ingredients to convert fructose, glucose, and sucrose sugars into prebiotic and other non-digestible fibers. The juice passes through a continuous flow bio-reactor housing non-GMO microorganism that transform the unwanted sugars into beneficial, non-digestible molecules.

The company says its system can reduce sugar loads by up to 80%, while preserving the fruits' vitamins and nutrients.

Is the taste affected? According to Better Juice, the process mitigates sweetness while boosting the fruit flavor.

Better Juice has been granted a patent for its sugar-reduction enzymatic process in Europe. Armed with recent self-affirmed GRAS status from the US Food and Drug Administration, the company is out to market its system.

"These achievements, together with GEA's knowhow and cutting-edge technology, will open doors to work more closely with food and beverage companies," explains Eran Blachinsky, PhD, co-founder and co-CEO of Better Juice.

Under the terms of the collaboration with GEA, the German group will design, manufacture, and install the bioreactor that reduces sugars and offer follow-up technical support. Better Juice will produce the microorganisms for the enzymatic process. The US commercial order stipulates that Better Juice will produce natural juices with a minimum sugar reduction of 30%, and the product is expected to arrive in US supermarkets by the spring of 2022.

"This new agreement marks an exciting milestone in our mission to get our sugar-reduction technology off the ground, to penetrate the US market, and to expand our global footprint," enthuses Blachinsky. "We've officially launched our drive to help consumers enjoy reduce sugar in their favorite fruit juice."

"Scaling up is always a challenge," confesses Gali Yarom, co-founder and co-CEO of Better Juice. "But when your partner is GEA, with its vast industrial food processing capabilities and global presence, the acceleration of the Better Juice commercialization is much faster and brings added value to the supply chain. Imagine – in just a few months, affordable, reduced-sugar fruit juice will be a ready option for American consumers."

"Better Juice has incredible potential to transform the global juice industry," notes Colm O'Gorman, Head of Sales Management for GEA's Global Technology Center for Non-Alcoholic Beverages. "As consumer demand for lowered-sugar beverages continues to surge, we are eager to join Better Juice on this momentous journey. We look forward to delivering products that address one of the top consumer needs of reducing their sugar intake, especially in daily beverages."

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Incredo Sugar, an innovative sweetener from Israeli foodtech startup DouxMatok, will be featured in the opening episode of Season 3 of Vox's "Explained" on Netflix, due to air on Friday, July 16, the company announced this week.

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The third season of "Explained" debuts on a sweet note – with researchers delving into sugar, one of the most common raw ingredients in the world.

DouxMatok has developed a patented method of reducing the sugar content of natural cane sugar, rather than inventing sugar substitutes, that funnels more sweetness to the consumer's taste buds, allowing a reduction of 30%-50% in the amount of sugar needed to produce the same level of sweetness.

Eran Baniel, founding partner of DouxMatok, explains: "More than ever, overconsumption of sugar is a huge problem, in Israel and the world. Adults and children consume too many sugar-rich products for one simple reason – they're tasty and comforting.

"To reduce sugar consumption, we need to offer consumers the comfort they get from products that are tasty but not healthy, and wrap the sweetness in improved nutrition," Baniel said.

"Only if we base the reduction of sugar on sugar can we preserve this beloved flavor. That is what makes our Incredo Sugar unique. We aren't a drug and don't represent austerity. We want people to be happy, and at the same time replace the sugar we have reduced with dietary fiber and plant-based proteins," Baniel continued.

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Israeli food-tech company DouxMatok, the developer of the Incredo Sugar solution, a cane sugar-based sweetener that reduces sugar content by some 50%, has released two limited-edition sweet spreads in the US market.

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The company's "Incredo Spreads" are now available for purchase on shop.incredosugar.com. The spreads come in two-jar bundles – one jar of the Hazelnut Cocoa flavor and one jar of Dark Cocoa Salted Caramel.

In addition to containing less sugar, two tablespoons of Incredo Spreads offer 30% of the daily recommended fiber intake. The spreads are made using organic hazelnuts, are non-GMO, gluten free, and use sunflower oil to replace palm oil, as well as containing no artificial flavors, colors and preservatives.

"We have been hard at work perfecting the commercialization of our Incredo Sugar, and are excited to showcase these delicious spreads with a superior nutritional profile. We invite consumers to taste and experience Incredo Spreads," said Eran Baniel, co-founder and CEO of DouxMatok.

"We believe the only way to meet the challenge of sugar reduction is by maintaining the joys of sugar, and we encourage the food industry to join us on this important mission," Baniel continued.

"As brands continue to provide consumers with better-for-you alternatives, we're inviting US CPGs, foodservice, and emerging brands to work with us to formulate products with Incredo Sugar that will allow consumers to continue enjoying the happy moments that are provided by sweet treats," said Lorraine Niba, vice president of sales in North America for DouxMatok.

Customers are also invited to join the Spread The Happiness campaign, which features a consumer sweepstakes and a charitable donation to Common Threads, a nonprofit that provides children and families with cooking and nutrition education to encourage healthy habits. DouxMatok will donate 10% of each sale of Incredo Spreads and will match the amount, with the money going to support children and adults with healthy snacks and meals, plus fund programs to develop nutrition and cooking skills.

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Even all-natural fruit juice contains a hefty dose of sugar, a problem that Israeli foodtech startup Better Juice hopes to tackle through a new partnership with the German food processing company GEA TDS.

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Better Juice has developed an enzymatic technology that uses all-natural ingredients to convert fructose, glucose, and sucrose in orange juice into prebiotic dietary fibers and other non-digestible molecules. The company says its process can reduce the sugar content of orange juice by up to 80%, targeting the sugar composition of orange juice to create a low-calorie product with a delicate natural sweetness, with no need for any other sweeteners or additives.

Better Juice and GEA have agreed to collaboratively construct and install Better Juice's sugar reduction solution, which reduces all types of sugars in orange juice, and market the system globally.

Under this strategic partnership, GEA will engineer, design, manufacture, and install the bioreactor that reduces sugars via Better Juice's proprietary enzymatic process. Better Juice will produce the immobilized microorganisms for the enzymatic process.

The agreement contributes to Better Juice's goals of broadening its outreach and support to the global juice industry. The company's breakthrough technology effectively solves the sugar-reduction conundrum without negatively impacting the natural nutritional values and prebiotic benefits of fresh orange juice, one of the major hurdles.

"This exciting collaboration marks a major milestone in Better Juice's scale-up plans and advances the commercialization of our technology," explained Dr. Eran Blachinsky, founder and CEO of Better Juice.

"GEA possesses a sterling reputation in the field of process technology and will be a strong engineering partner. This collaboration will allow for smooth integration of our enzymatic technology into juice production companies seeking to meet the sugar-reduction trend. It will undoubtedly open doors for us and accelerate sales growth internationally," Blachinsky added.

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Colm O'Gorman, head of sales management for GEA's Global Technology Center for Non-Alcoholic Beverages, said that GEA was constantly on the lookout for companies developing innovative solutions and technologies that benefit consumers' nutrition and lifestyles.

"Better Juice is an excellent fit, and we are eager to help them develop the market for sugar-reduced juices," O'Gorman said.

As part of the joint venture, GEA will design three instruments with small, medium, large production capacities within several months to address various requirements of juice companies. The 200-liter device will launch within a few months. Each device will be customized to the manufacturer's needs and limitations, with Better Juice & GEA providing full-service support.

"This means that Better Juice can become a global player in the sugar-reduction market, with local support and service teams in each country," explained Better Juice co-founder and COO Gali Yarom.

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Israeli food tech company DouxMatok has partnered with sugar manufacturer Lantic Inc. to make a natural sweetener based on cane sugar, but with lower actual sugar content, available to North American food manufacturers in 2021.

DouxMatok's solution is based on real cane sugar and, therefore, has the same sensorial profile, taste and other functionalities as sugar. The company's technology maximizes the efficiency of sugar delivery to sweet taste receptors, enhancing consumers' perception of sweetness.

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This provides the same sweet taste at a considerably reduced sugar content.

"This exciting collaboration with Lantic represents an important step towards commercialization of our solution," said DouxMatok CEO Eran Baniel.

"In working with Lantic and its passionate entrepreneurial team, we are confident we have the right partner to take on the largest sugar market in the world. We are particularly excited about our part in helping make the food we love healthier, especially amid growing concerns around rising obesity," Baniel added.

"We are extremely pleased to have secured an exclusive cane sugar manufacturing agreement with DouxMatok for this innovative technology that adds an important and much desired customer solution to our natural sweetener portfolio," said Lantic President and CEO John Holliday.

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SupraPulp packaging from W-Cycle is plastic-free, fully compostable, safe, and durable enough to be used for greasy, wet, or hot food. Moreover, food packaged in SupraPulp can be frozen and re-heated – even in a microwave.

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The green packaging solution, manufactured from bagasse, the dry, pulpy fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice, is also oil and water resistant, which helps to avoid absorption or leakage.

Once used, SupraPulp can be disposed as organic waste.

According to W-Cycle co-founder and CEO Lior Itai, the sugarcase-based wrapping can be thrown away exactly the way people toss away plastic wrappers.

"This food-grade, compostable packaging is a one-to-one replacement for its plastic counterpart. There are other compostable solutions on the market, but SupraPulp has game-changing functionality consumers need when they want to heat, freeze, or microwave convenience food products. Plus, SupraPulp trays have a luxury look and feel compared to plastic, aluminum, or bioplastic containers," Itai explained.

W-Cycle CTO Joseph Siani said that the COVID pandemic was drawing attention to how we treat the planet and the future of the environment. Siani said there is now greater demand on brands to offer environmentally responsible products.

"Together, we can put an end to plastic pollution," Siani declared.

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