Cargill has commenced the official production of its EverSweet sweetener, which is claimed to offer a new choice for reduced and zero-calorie food and beverages.
The sweetener is produced via a fermentation process that extracts stevia compounds Reb M and Reb D.
The US agrifood company said that food and beverage companies can use its new sweetener to give healthier food choices for their consumers without compromising on taste.
EverSweet has been developed by Cargill in collaboration with Swiss food ingredients company Evolva.
The new zero-calorie sweetener is being produced by a fermentation facility located in Cargill’s campus in Blair, Nebraska.
Cargill global stevia business leader Andrew Ohmes said: “Cargill has set a new benchmark for sweetness without calories with our EverSweet sweetener.
"Our goal has always been to address our customers’ needs to make lower calorie products that taste great and are affordable to all.”
Cargill revealed that it had to go for the fermentation process to commercially produce large quantities of Reb M and Reb D compounds in a more sustainable fashion. This, it said was due to the low amounts of the two sweet compounds found in the stevia plant.
The company further said that its fermentation process provides the flexibility to expand quickly and cost-effectively to cope up with the future demand for the EverSweet sweetener.
Cargill has made a new agreement with Evolva for the EverSweet sweetener, which replaces the previously signed agreements, and adds certain additional high intensity sweeteners.
Evolva CEO Simon Waddington said: "We are delighted that Cargill has started commercial production of EverSweet. We look forward to the next chapter in the exciting space of sweeteners."
As per an agreement made in last April by the two companies, the Blair facility will be operated by Cargill and will also be used for the fermentation of other Evolva products.
Evolva, as per the previous deal will earn up to 30% of the EverSweet business, which will be determined as a function of the strain efficiencies achieved.
