Company: SweeGen

Website: www.sweegen.com

Ingredient Snapshot: As clean-label zero-calorie natural sweeteners continue to be attractive to consumers, SweeGen announced the expansion of its natural sweetener portfolio with the commercial production of Bestevia Reb I, a next generation high-purity stevia sweetener and flavor unique to SweeGen. 

Reb I expands SweeGen’s toolbox for tackling the challenges of reducing sugar and delivering sweet taste solutions to food and beverage manufacturers. This newest edition to SweeGen’s natural sweetener portfolio works well in product applications across the spectrum, ranging from dairy, beverages, nutritional bars, confectionery to savory.

“Reb I is yet another unique and diverse flavor that we can use in our creative building block approach to sugar reduction for creating consumer-preferred sugar-reduced food and beverage products, and delivering winning solutions to our clients,” said Chief of Global Flavor Application Technology, Shari Mahon.

Reb I imparts a clean taste profile and sugar-like sweetness and complements SweeGen’s application technology. It is a versatile sweetener which can be used at various levels of sugar reduction to drive unique taste profiles.

Reb I is produced by a patented bioconversion technology, starting with the stevia leaf. This process was developed by Conagen, a biotech innovator of sustainable ingredients. SweeGen’s entire proprietary portfolio of next generation, natural Bestevia stevia sweeteners are produced with Conagen’s bioconversion technology, and are classified as next generation non-GMO, high-purity, and clean tasting. The Bestevia portfolio includes Rebs B, D, E and M, and now Reb I. These Rebs translate to highly-relevant clean-label, sustainable, natural sweeteners that consumers seek.

More than 66 percent of consumers prefer to see natural sweeteners rather than artificial on labels. This trend drives brands to search for solutions in the natural sweetener and plant-based spaces which now includes Bestevia Reb I.

SweeGen has already received the FDA Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) no objection letter, and achieved The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA). Global regulatory approval is underway.

“Conagen is happy to support the successful commercialization of Reb I as the latest offering from our pipeline of non-caloric sweeteners.  We are looking forward to additional unique and novel stevia sweeteners for providing greater flexibility and options to food and beverage manufacturers,” said Conagen’s VP of Innovation, Dr. Casey Lippmeier.