Oobli, Ingredion partner on sweeteners

The demand for sweet proteins has been accelerating.

Oobli, purveyor of sweet proteins, has announced its partnership with Ingredion, a global ingredient solutions provider. Together, Oobli and Ingredion will accelerate industry access to affordable and healthier sweetener systems by bringing natural sweetener solutions like stevia alongside Oobli proteins.

“Sweet proteins are a long-overdue addition to the toolkit of better-for-you sweeteners,” says Ali Wing, CEO at Oobli. “Working with Ingredion’s best-in-class teams to pair natural sweeteners with our novel sweet proteins will deliver game-changing solutions in this important, growing, and timely category.”

Sweet proteins are a healthier sweetener that can be a foundational part of any combination of sweetener ingredients in food and beverages, including sodas, baked goods, yogurts, candies, and more, Oobli says. Sweet proteins can also be used to cost effectively complement other natural sweeteners, helping food companies achieve ideal levels of sweetness, meet nutrition objectives, and manage costs.

“We've long been at the forefront of innovation in sugar reduction solutions, and our work with sweet proteins is an exciting new chapter in that journey,” says Nate Yates, VP and GM sugar reduction and fiber fortification, CEO Pure Circle at Ingredion. “Whether we're enhancing existing sweetener systems with sweet proteins or using our established sweeteners to unlock new possibilities, we see incredible synergies across these platforms.”

Oobli and Ingredion recently tested several co-developed products to better understand the opportunities for sweet proteins and stevia. Both companies shared enthusiasm about the consumer feedback collected, which ultimately led to the partnership. Next month, the two companies will unveil some of these novel sweet treats at Future Food Tech in San Francisco on March 13-14.

This partnership news follows recent announcements by Oobli that it had received FDA GRAS “no questions” letters for two sweet proteins (monellin and brazzein), confirming that these novel sweet proteins are safe to be used as a sweetener in food and beverage products.

In addition to their latest regulatory and partnership announcements, Oobli has also recently completed $18M in Series B1 funding, adding new strategic food and ag investors including Ingredion Ventures, Lever VC, and Sucden Ventures. These new investors join existing Oobli investors Khosla Ventures, Piva Capital, B37 Ventures, and other leading investors.

This round supports Oobli’s expansion across food and beverages with sweet proteins, both as a standalone solution, as well as in combination with other natural sweeteners, such as stevia, developed in partnership with Ingredion.