Avansya, the Cargill-DSM joint venture tapping into the low-calorie diet market, has reached a manufacturing milestone as production at the first US-based commercial-scale fermentation facility for EverSweet has started.
The facility, a US$50 million manufacturing site, is located in Blair, Nebraska, and is operated by Cargill.
EverSweet, a non-artificial, zero-calorie stevia sweetener is produced based on sought-after, sweet-tasting molecules, such as Reb M and Reb D.
For Avansya, the stevia formulation of EverSweet gives food and beverage manufacturers an even more scalable, sustainable and low cost-in-use solution than if these molecules were extracted from the stevia leaf.
Market potential
Consumers continue to watch their calorie intake and strive to live a healthier lifestyle. In this context, food and beverage manufacturers are in need of great-tasting, zero-calorie sweeteners to help them achieve these goals.
“Building this stevia sweetener fermentation facility on the existing Cargill Blair campus reaffirms our pledge to helping food and beverage manufacturers meet the sharply rising consumer demand for great-tasting, zero-calorie products to meet their dietary needs and goals,” said Mike Wagner, speaking at the opening.
EverSweet has been designed with a clean taste profile so that it’s well-suited for use in products such as yoghurt, chocolate milk, soft drinks, ice cream, cereal, bars and confectionary.
Avansya has commercial volumes available and is already supplying EverSweet to various customers
“With today’s opening, we are showing that, as an industry, we can do more, and faster, to innovate and provide consumers around the world with reduced- and zero-calorie food and beverage products, with no compromise on taste, and so help support good health and well-being in our societies,” said Patrick Niels, President of DSM Food Specialties and Avansya Board Member.
Avansya said it has commercial volumes available and is already supplying EverSweet to various customers.
The company revealed more consumer products will launch in the coming months across multiple market segments, and that more than 300 customer trials and product development projects are currently in progress.
Regulatory approvals
EverSweet is GRAS and FEMA GRAS approved for use in food and beverage products in the US and Mexico, and additional regulatory approvals for use in other countries are underway.
The 10,000 square-foot, stevia sweetener fermentation facility at the Blair Campus took approximately 225,000 hours to build and features six miles of new piping and 2,000 new instruments, in addition to the fermenters and evaporators that have been installed.
