Original: Interview with Rhein Bio: What is the next "blockbuster" in the field of domestic sugar substitutes?

Text: Maggie

Sweetness is an indispensable flavoring agent in the daily diet of human beings, and in the twentieth century, sweetness has also ushered in a new change, that is, sugar

In recent years, with the society's understanding of sucrose becoming more and more comprehensive, in order to ensure that people's lives are healthier, countries have successively introduced sugar reduction policies, consumer demand for sugar control is also unprecedentedly high, and the sugar substitute market is constantly rising

In response, the downstream market for sugar substitutes is also booming

Broad market prospects, rapid growth rate of the application track, under the premise of occupying favorable conditions, in recent years, the domestic upstream sugar raw material market has only come up with a "erythritol", which is obviously far from enough

So, what other potential sugar substitutes are there? Which of them can really go to the domestic mainstream application market?

Perhaps we can find the answer

Iterative sugar substitute market

Human beings have a long history of edible sugar, the first generation of artificial sugar substitute "saccharin" was born in 1879, and in 1884 to the market, after which aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose and other artificial sweeteners have appeared, due to absolute cost advantages, occupying the mainstream sugar substitute market

However, with the deepening of research, artificial sweeteners have been found to have certain side effects, such as super dose intake can easily cause diarrhea, obesity and so on

The market has also changed

Consumer tendencies are more convincing

In the long run, whether from the perspective of raw material iteration, product development, consumer demand, market recognition, etc.

The ideal natural sweetener for consumers

Non-artificial sweeteners mainly include natural sweeteners, sugar alcohol sweeteners, etc.

The steviol glycosides and monk fruit glycosides are the main products of natural sweeteners at present, using natural plant extraction, compared with the sugar alcohol substitute sugar substitutes fermented by microorganisms, strictly speaking, the structure of the main components has not changed

Steviol glycosides are extracted from the leaves of stevia, the sweetness is 250-450 times that of sucrose, the calories are only 1/300 of sucrose, and are not absorbed by the human body after ingestion, known as the "world's third sugar source", is the perfect choice for diabetic and obese patients to eat, it can be said that it is the first choice for

(Source: Rhein Biotech)

The same is true of

Up to now, the application and research on steviol glycosides and monk fruit glycosides have not found any side effects

A more cost-competitive option for sugar substitutes

Steviol glycosides and monk fruit glycosides are both high-power sweeteners, the sweetness price is lower, compared to the low-power sweetener erythritol has more cost advantages, so for downstream manufacturers, the use of natural sweeteners will be more conducive to cost control
.

High healthy added value of sugar substitute raw materials

In addition to low calorie and cost-effective, steviol glycosides also have healthy functions
.
In June 2018, according to a study released by researchers at New Haven University in the United States, the ethanol extract of stevia acted on the biofilm of the pathogen Lyme disease, Pyrobacterium, which was able to effectively destroy the biofilm, reducing the quality of bacteria by 40%, and was considered a safer and more effective alternative to
antibiotics.
Previous studies have found that steviol glycosides help people who prefer sweets but are intolerant to blood sugar, while also benefiting weight management, blood pressure control, dental and skin care, and bone health, and are sugar substitutes with outstanding functional benefits and selling points
.

Luo Han Guo is a homologous substance of medicine and food in China, which has the advantages of clearing the lungs and suppressing cough and promoting intestinal function, and also has benefits in acute and chronic bronchitis, acute and chronic tonsillitis, acute gastritis, constipation, etc.
, and is a higher quality, higher grade natural sweetener
.
Not only that, monk fruit contains a variety of nutrients, such as vitamin C, glycosides, fructose, glucose and protein
.
Studies have shown that monk fruit supports weight management and cardiovascular health
.

And as a natural sweetener, luo han guo is very "able to beat" in the application, not only the taste is infinitely close to sucrose, 0 calories, but also has good solubility and stability, has a lightening effect on sour and salty taste, has a masking effect on astringency and bitterness, and has a certain synergistic effect on milk taste and spicy taste, so it is usually used
in combination with other sweeteners.
In addition, monk fruit can also be used in products with clean label claims, without restrictions on the amount of addition, and is a "strong player"
in the field of sugar substitute raw materials.

(Source: Rhein Biotech)

Overall, steviol glycosides and monk fruit glycosides are high-quality choices
among many sugar substitutes in terms of low calories, health, cost, and benefits to the human body.

Foreign natural sweetener application "one horse first"

Looking at the change of global sugar substitute products, in the difference in consumption habits and the degree of sweetness, the application of foreign sugar substitute market is more advanced than that of
China.
Therefore, to know what is the next domestic sugar substitute to go to the mainstream application, the performance of foreign markets will be a strong reference
.

In 2018, InnovaMarket Insights counted the new beverage data for the year before September 2018, of which low-sugar, zero-sugar products, steviol glycosides and monk fruit steviol are the main driving forces, and between 2016 and 2020, the number of products containing steviol glycosides launched worldwide increased at an annual rate of more than 16%, The global steviol glycosides market size is expected to reach $1,169.
4 million by 2026, the global monk fruit market size is $396.
34 million in 2019, and it is expected to reach $
532.
17 million by 2026.

In the main market in the United States, according to the data released by the market research agency SPINS, the main sweeteners, although still unpopular in the Chinese market of origin, in 2021, monk fruit glycosides achieved a market growth rate of 20%, the development speed is extremely fast, steviol glycosides have also achieved a growth rate of 15%, while the growth rate of sugar alcohols is 3%.

The application and selection of domestic sugar substitutes lag slightly behind

At present, there are many reasons
behind the failure of domestic natural sweeteners to fully blossom as in overseas markets.
Macro point of view, the domestic market began to apply natural sweeteners compared with overseas, overseas markets have taken the lead in forming a natural sweetener-based application trend, and in the product formula application development, consumer market cognition has been relatively mature
.

On the domestic side, the current consumer awareness of sugar generation is limited, mainly through the brand side of the sugar-free food and beverage products to understand the sugar substitute, and because the application of natural sweeteners has certain requirements for the formula capacity, the lack of domestic brand formula application capacity will also affect the popularity of natural sweeteners to a certain extent
.

Secondly, the two natural sweeteners of steviol glycosides and monk fruit also have certain restrictions in downstream applications, such as the bitter taste of steviol glycosides, and the fact that monk fruit cannot be widely promoted and planted, so the raw materials are limited
.
Taking luo han guo as an example, luo han guo has extremely harsh climatic requirements, so the planting base of luo han guo in China was mainly concentrated in the Guibei region of Guilin, Guangxi, and the single origin limits the application
of luo han guo in the global market to a certain extent.

Nowadays, these restrictions are being broken by domestic plant extraction "elder-level" enterprises, and natural sweeteners may also usher in the possibility
of "explosion" in China after they are popular in overseas markets.

After 20 years of grinding a sword, the "bright sword" moment has arrived

Natural sweetener is a major product promoted by Rhein Bio, as early as 1995, the company successfully extracted monk fruit extract, and in the past 20 years, it has continued to invest in research and development, talents and technology
to break through the cultivation of monk fruit and solve the problem of bitter taste after stevia.

(Source: Rhein Biotech)

Rhein Bio told Zhitiqiao that as early as 2000, the company launched the relevant research on the germplasm resources of monk fruit, and built a plant science innovation research center to carry out the research and development and cultivation of monk fruit seedlings to strengthen its virus resistance and improve the content of active ingredients, etc.
, laying a solid foundation for breaking through the large-scale planting research of monk fruit in different regions
.
Up to now, the company has reserved 12 species of monk fruit germplasm resources and 32 species of wild germplasm resources for large-scale agricultural planting, and selected and bred 292 high monk fruit glycoside strains
.
And has realized the construction of raw material planting bases for monk fruit and stevia in Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Xinjiang, Guangxi, Hunan and other places, through the planting research data of the base, it can more standardized and systematic guide its related raw materials to achieve large-scale planting in different regions, and lay a good foundation
for the natural sweetener market to provide sufficient raw material sources.

As for the post-bitterness problem of steviol glycosides, Rhein Bio has developed an enzyme-modified steviol glycoside product without post-bitterness, which improves the shortcomings of slow disappearance of steviol glycoside tail sweets, has a better taste effect, and brings more opportunities
for application.

In addition to solving industry problems, Rhein Bio has also done a lot of "homework" in the compounding of natural sweetener raw materials
.
It is compounded with steviol glycosides or other naturally extracted raw materials that can be used in food and beverages, further achieving the purpose of improving taste, flavor and balancing costs, and providing customers with more, better and even customized compound product portfolios
.

At present, the compound products developed by Rhein Bio-R&D Center cover compound sweet product series, taste improvement series, sweetness improvement series, flavor improvement series, etc.
, and the products can be widely used in
dairy, beverage, savoury products, health food and other product categories.

In the direction of terminal application, the company is also constantly deepening and trying, has set up the Luo Han Guo Engineering Research Institute, Guangxi Natural Sweetener Engineering Research Center, and also joined hands with domestic and foreign taste formula research professional institutions to successfully launch the application and formula of natural sweeteners in sports drinks, dairy products, sauces, alcohol, herbal tea, milk tea and other related categories, and has gradually possessed the ability to provide customers with one-stop service from raw materials to formula
applications.

At present, Rhein Biotech can provide the market with a rich range of stevia and monk fruit extraction products, including steviol glycosides and monk fruit stevia products that meet the 0 calorie and sugar-free demand, as well as natural and healthy food raw materials, such as monk fruit juices, fruit powders, and rare glycoside products
with low content and good taste in stevia.

Rhein Bio said: "The rich product line makes the company have a unique product advantage in terms of healthy sugar reduction, the degree of product collocation freedom is large, can provide customers with a variety of product choices and customized compounding services, to meet the customer's natural, sugar reduction, clean label, no / low calorie, cost optimization, wide application feasibility and other aspects of the demand
.
" ”

Blue Ocean Market, how do Rhine Bios ride the wind?

As a deeply rooted in the cultivation industry for more than 20 years, and aimed at the natural sweetener market in advance, Rhein Biotech has become the world's top three suppliers in terms of natural sweetener production capacity and annual sales, with products covering more than 60 countries and regions around the
world.
In 2021, rhein bio's total revenue exceeded 1 billion yuan for the first time, an increase of 34.
4% year-on-year, of which the natural sweetener business achieved revenue of 634 million yuan, an increase of 54.
86% year-on-year, accounting for more than 60% of the total revenue, becoming an important driving force for
the company's performance growth.

Relying on the global sales system built, Rhein Biotech has reached cooperation with many leading food and beverage companies, and has won the favor of Firmenich, the world's largest food flavor and fragrance company, and the two sides have signed a major strategic contract of 5 years and 400 million US dollars to jointly empower the broader prospects of
natural sweeteners.

In addition, Rhein Biotech is also preparing a non-public offering project to build a professional extraction plant with an annual output of 4,000 tons of stevia extract, in order to match the future rapid growth of natural sweeteners and lay out production capacity expansion
in advance.

(Source: Rhein Biotech)

The next "blockbuster" of domestic sugar substitutes will stand out

Based on the entire industry, sugar reduction as an important trend in the global consumer market, steviol glycosides and monk fruit glycosides as natural sweeteners are being selected
by more terminal brands at home and abroad 。 At present, such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Nestlé, Cargill's Truvia, Ingredion Incorporated PureCircle, etc.
, in addition to the final food and beverage products, the products launched in the market also include bagged sweeteners, liquid sweeteners, Spoonables, bread stevia, stevia tablets, organic stevia and other natural sweetener products for consumers to choose, which is evident in the popularity of the global market
.

Therefore, looking at such a huge domestic consumer market, a erythritol with fire in the Yuanqi Forest is far from enough, it is only a small outlet to open the sugar substitute market, and the market needs to attract more players to enter the sugar storm
together.

At present, the domestic Nestlé Youhuo, nongfu Spring's tea π, the unification group's Small Tea Classmates, Wang Laoji, Xi Tea, Nai Xue's Tea, Lele Tea.
.
.
And other brands have also successively launched more products that use natural sweeteners, and the choice of natural sweeteners can make them attach more natural and healthy concepts to 0 sugar products, avoid homogenization, and the differentiation of raw material formulas will also become a "weapon"
for terminal brands to break the game and innovate.

In the future, with the improvement of consumer awareness of raw materials, the desire for diversified 0-sugar/low-sugar products, the demand for product innovation by downstream terminal brands, and the strengthening of application formula capabilities, natural sweeteners are likely to go from overseas to the domestic mainstream application market, becoming the "explosive model" in the sugar substitute market, opening the upgrading and iteration of domestic sugar substitute raw materials, rhein bio will also usher in their peak moment
.

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