Gary Brenner, who heads up the Israel-based company, Brenner Pharma/Food, has a long established alliance with Chinese stevia producer Chengdu Wagott and he said that in recent years the partnership has had its eye firmly fixed on Europe, anticipating massive potential for stevia in the market once regulatory approval for the sweetener was granted.
European Commission backing for stevia entry into the EU is now expected early December.
Speaking to FoodNavigator.com today, Brenner said that the alliance has been engaged with retailers and brand owners on stevia formulation using Wagott’s natural stevia extracts line, ViaSweet, since January 2010, with tabletop sweeteners, oral hygiene, functional and carbonate drinks, snacks and confectionery the industry sectors it is targeting.
“Wagott supplies the sweetener while we provide expertise in developing product profiles, taking products to the market and dealing with any regulatory challenges,” explained Brenner, who added that beverage, biscuit and chocolate NPD projects using the Wagott sweetener have really gone into full flight this year in anticipation of the Commission’s move.
“Prior, to that, brand owners were really hesitant about any stevia-based innovation, believing that regulatory approval of stevia in the EU was still some time off,” he added.
Brenner is confident the first products using the Reb A-based ViaSweet will be rolling off the production line in the first three months of next year.
Bakery trials
He revealed that the Wagott/Brenner partnership is currently conducting trials with bakery players. “With the traditional bread sector highly commoditised, the use of stevia in bakery tends to be in the more premium end such as fortified, health orientated breads.”
And the consultant commented that stevia tends to be used in NPD rather than in existing brands, citing challenges involved in reformulating well known food and drink products.
According to Brenner, Wagott’s ViaSweet has a very clean flavour profile and high purity, which eases formulation challenges on the brand owner side, adding that there are a number of reasons why its Reb A based sweetener has more of a selling point than other Reb A producers’ offering.
Production standards
Wagott manufactures the Reb A upon the Phamarcentical GMP standard and has organic certifications, he explained. It also grows its own stevia so have full control over the raw material and the company has been granted the patent by USPTO for its solvent-free extraction methods.
Reb A (Rebaudioside A) is the sweet good tasting glycoside extracted from stevia plants that is preferred in commercial applications for the food and beverage industry.
June this year saw Wagott increase its extraction capacities beyond 500 metric tonnes and Brenner claims the supplier has the ability to meet the current demand for stevia in the US and Europe.
In May, the Chinese company was voted in as a member of the International Stevia Council.