Rebecca Wright07.29.08
A longtime player in artificial sweeteners, Chicago, IL-based NutraSweet Company has decided to enter the natural sweetener arena with a new tabletop product to be launched next year. Named Natural NutraSweet with Stevia, the new sweetener will be offered initially outside the U.S. NutraSweet Company CEO Craig Petray says its new sweetener will be available to the U.S. market once FDA has fully determined the regulatory status of stevia, which is currently awaiting food additive approval.
NutraSweet has launched several products over the years that take advantage of the best attributes a variety of sweeteners, natural and artificial, have to offer. In the case of stevia, which many have criticized for its bitter licorice notes, the NutraSweet Company plans to use other sweeteners to balance that effect, while still keeping it “natural.” Blending is crucial in this market, according to Mr. Petray, because it helps offset the negative characteristics of certain sweeteners. In fact, blending was critical to the launch of NutraSweet Pink, NutraSweet Blue and NutraSweet Gold. The latter combines pure cane sugar with acesulfame-K (ACE-K), aspartame and neotame. Mr. Petray notes that in an independent blind taste test, NutraSweet Gold was preferred over Splenda 61% to 39%. Similarly, NutraSweet Blue, which competes with Equal, combines aspartame and ACE-K. In an independent taste test vs. Equal, NutraSweet Blue was preferred 58% to 42%. NutraSweet Pink is sweetened with ACE-K and neotame. Mr. Petray says it tastes intensely sweet like Sweet‘N Low but does not contain the saccharin.
Back to natural sweeteners, Mr. Petray said the impetus behind the development of Natural NutraSweet with Stevia was to explore a range of sweeteners in an effort to broaden consumer choice. “We think the key to success in this market is taste, and consumers won’t sacrifice taste just because a sweetener is natural. Our goal is to offer consumers a choice that tastes better than what’s out there.”
NutraSweet has launched several products over the years that take advantage of the best attributes a variety of sweeteners, natural and artificial, have to offer. In the case of stevia, which many have criticized for its bitter licorice notes, the NutraSweet Company plans to use other sweeteners to balance that effect, while still keeping it “natural.” Blending is crucial in this market, according to Mr. Petray, because it helps offset the negative characteristics of certain sweeteners. In fact, blending was critical to the launch of NutraSweet Pink, NutraSweet Blue and NutraSweet Gold. The latter combines pure cane sugar with acesulfame-K (ACE-K), aspartame and neotame. Mr. Petray notes that in an independent blind taste test, NutraSweet Gold was preferred over Splenda 61% to 39%. Similarly, NutraSweet Blue, which competes with Equal, combines aspartame and ACE-K. In an independent taste test vs. Equal, NutraSweet Blue was preferred 58% to 42%. NutraSweet Pink is sweetened with ACE-K and neotame. Mr. Petray says it tastes intensely sweet like Sweet‘N Low but does not contain the saccharin.
Back to natural sweeteners, Mr. Petray said the impetus behind the development of Natural NutraSweet with Stevia was to explore a range of sweeteners in an effort to broaden consumer choice. “We think the key to success in this market is taste, and consumers won’t sacrifice taste just because a sweetener is natural. Our goal is to offer consumers a choice that tastes better than what’s out there.”