The Slovenian firm, who specialise in the supply of natural extracts for food applications, announced the launch of its new stevia line under the brand name Sweet’nVit. Extracted from leaf of Stevia rebaudiana bertoni, and then processed to enhance taste by removing certain compounds, the company said the ingredients line aims to provide maximum levels of sweetness, with little bitter aftertaste.
Speaking with FoodNavigator, Thierry Gay, vice president of natural food enhancement systems at Vitiva said that the industry reaction has been fast, adding that there has been a lot of interest from industry due to increasing sugar prices.
“Stevia is giving them the opportunity to reduce sugar, and explain to the consumer that this is a good thing – by reducing their sugar and calorie intake and replacing it with a natural sweetness,” said Gay.
Ohad Cohen, CEO of Vitiva added that the Sweet’nVit line “has an exceptional taste profile and can be used as a solo sweetener; in combination with bulk natural sweeteners such as erythritol or maltitol; or in combination with sucrose to offer optimal taste and mouthfeel,”
Stevia range
Gay explained that the company will offer a full range of stevia extracts, with products ranging from a 98% high purity reb A line suitable for sugar replacement, through to a 40% reb A line focused on savoury applications.
He added that in compliance with legislation in Europe and the USA, all lines in the range meet the minimum criteria of 95% steviol glycosides.
“We need to build a full range of solutions for our customers, and that means not offering just one solution for all applications, but to offer a full palate of products with different grades of reb A,” said Gay.
He explained that the basic extraction of steviol glycosides was supplemented by further refining of the extract to remove components that were known to produce metallic and bitter off tastes.
“What we are offering is a more neutral product in terms of taste,” said Gay, who added that in blind taste tests, 80% of people tested preferred the taste of Sweet’nVit’s 98% purity reb A – in comparison to other competitors.
High demand?
With stevia now approved in Europe, the company said that they expect “an explosion of new launches over the next few months.”
Cohen cited the increasing price of sugar, and an growing demand for natural products as a large enough stimulus for manufacturers to think about developing a “healthier product with little change in taste profile - and at a potentially decreased cost in final formulation.”
Cohen said that the company anticipated the demand for products with reduced or replaced sugar “to be reflected across all food applications, from soft drinks to dairy, as well as table-top sweeteners.”
“We also expect a move away from artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose,” he added.