Company: Malt Products Corporation (MPC)

Website: maltproducts.com

Ingredient Snapshot: International Molasses (IM), a supplier of molasses and natural sweeteners, has introduced CaneRite Panela, an all-natural, free-flowing powder sweetener made from the freshly squeezed juice of the entire sugar cane plant. Unlike conventional “raw sugar” products, CaneRite Panela is unrefined and non-centrifuged, so that it authentically and comprehensively retains all the cane plant’s original flavor and nutritional benefits.

Characterized by mellow notes of toffee and caramel, CaneRite Panela’s flavor profile delivers a satisfying, “sweet but not too sweet” taste. Its nutritional profile is equally impressive: by keeping all nutrients inherent to the whole cane plant—including magnesium phosphorus, potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, and zinc—CaneRite Panela has five times the vitamins and minerals of raw sugar. CaneRite Panela also is rich in antioxidants.

Panela is a traditional staple in Latin America and many other parts of the world. Its ability to harness the wholesomeness of cane juice has been generally ignored by food manufacturers in the United States; with CaneRite Panela, International Molasses is making the core ingredient available to North American food manufacturers in a form that is easy to use in a wide array of formulations.

CaneRite Panela is an attractive sweetener option for a variety of food applications, including spices, BBQ and other sauces, cookies, bakery items, bars and confectionary items. For solids, CaneRite Panela offers excellent binding properties and a natural brown coloring with caramel notes. For all applications, it aligns with non-GMO and clean label ingredient claims increasingly popular with modern consumers.

“CaneRite Panela combines the flavor and nutrition benefits of a sweetener widely used in other markets with an ease of formulation attractive to North American food manufacturers.,” said Amy Targan, president of International Molasses and its sister company, Malt Products Corp. “It also amounts to a sort of ‘nature-made’ brown sugar, eliminating the multi-step process often utilized to produce brown sugars by combining white sugar with molasses products.”

CaneRite Panela is sourced from sustainable farms in Ecuador that have been recognized for their development of innovative methods of organic farming. Officially known as the ReBird-Avez Project, the initiative fosters protection and propagation of native birds and insects—and utilizes these species to control pests, thereby allowing farmers to eliminate pesticide use.