Stevia sugar disrupts traditional markets

According to a new report by market research firms
Mintel
and
Leatherhead Food Research
, plant-based sweetener stevia has quietly gained popularity among consumers and is disrupting the order in which mature traditional sweeteners are on the market. While the value of stevia as an additive in food and beverage production reached $
11
billion in 2013,
Mintel
and
Leatherhead
expect that value to grow to
$
275 million by

2017
Plant preparations are considered "healthier"in 2009
, only
5% of food and beverage products introduced to the market using high-strength sweeteners
plant sweeteners were used entirely alone. By contrast, the
market share of
sweeteners jumped to
15% by 2013
. In North America,
plant sweeteners accounted for up to

28% of the products introduced in 2011-2013
2013.
Laura Jones
, a food science analyst at Mintel
, said the growth in the global sweetener market would be largely due to increased consumer concerns about sugar intake, which is also expected to benefit from the development of more plant-based sweeteners.
Jones
says the gradual loss of sugar and the rising demand for sweetened foods and beverages suggest that high-strength sweeteners face good business opportunities, and that high-strength sweeteners provide a source of sweetness but are not as high in calories as sugar, which is becoming increasingly attractive to consumers struggling to control their weight. There are signs that the global market for high-strength sweeteners is already responding to this trend, and it is becoming increasingly evident, as consumer demand for "healthier" sweetener solutions continues to grow. By the end of
2013
, the global market for high-strength sweeteners, an additive used in the production of food and
beverage products, was expected to reach $
1.27 billion, an increase of
2.8%
compared to
2012
By
2017
, the global market for high-strength sweeteners is expected to grow to nearly $
14
billion,

9.7% higher than the

level in
.-artificial products still dominateaccording to a new report by
Mintel
and
Leatherhead
, if you break down the application of high-strength sweeteners to new products, it can be found that artificial variants still dominate today.As a result of
its increased use in the mixture, Ansemi is a leader in new products on the market, however, the market share of products using Ansemi has gradually declined from
56%
in 2009
to
49%
in
2013
. Sucralose is the second largest market share, its use has remained unchanged over the past
5
years, with approximately
40% of all new products using high-strength sweeteners
using sucralose. Aspartas was close behind, but its market share continued to decline year after year, dropping from
40%
in 2009 to

32%
in 2013
. Product categories that are still highly dependent on artificial variants include candy, desserts, ice cream, dairy products, and carbonated beverages.Food sweeteners will continue to grow
Emma Gubisch
, strategic research manager atLeatherhead Foods research
, said plant sweeteners are expected to provide a major driver of growth in the sweetener market over the next few years, as manufacturers work to create a suitable taste for stevia and other plant-based sweeteners and gain regulatory approval, while the artificial sweetener market continues to provide opportunities for growth, particularly in the saccharide and saccharide markets. In terms of value, sucralose is the largest area in the global market for high-strength sweeteners.
Mintel
and
Leatherhead
say that because it is the most "sugar-like" in artificial sweeteners, sucralose has greater growth potential in some areas.the
of high
strength sweeteners in new food and beverage products has been growing over the past five to
years.

,
3.5%
of all new products launched worldwide used high-strength sweeteners, and by
2012
, that proportion had risen to
5.5%
. This growth seems to be continuing.