Four Emerging Sweeteners on the Horizon

When it comes to sugar reduction, consumers want it all: low calories, natural ingredients, and above all, great taste. For years, stevia has claimed to meet these three criteria, but consumers haven’t fully embraced it. Its lingering bitter aftertaste often means stevia needs to be blended with other sweeteners or flavor modifiers to become palatable.

For innovators, the challenge is clear: develop a sweetener that is natural, delicious, reduces calorie intake, and ideally offers additional functional benefits. Solving this challenge could potentially replace natural alternatives like stevia and monk fruit.

Meet yacon: this perennial tuber, native to the Andes in South America, has long been a staple ingredient in local sweet and savory dishes. But now, this vegetable, also known as the Peruvian ground apple, is gaining attention from the food industry as a natural sweetener due to its high fructooligosaccharide (FOS) content—a fiber beneficial for gut health.

Consumers want ingredients that do more than just sustain basic bodily functions. Coccola is a blended ingredient made from coconut milk powder (entirely dairy-free) and coconut water powder, deriving its functional benefits from these components. Coconuts are naturally rich in electrolytes, potassium, protein, and iron.

An enzyme called Convero can convert about 30% of ingested sugar into prebiotic fiber during digestion. The idea is that consumers can still enjoy the sweetness they crave while benefiting from extra fiber and reduced net sugar. By acting within the human body rather than altering formulations, Convero helps food manufacturers preserve the appealing flavors consumers expect—without the compromises often associated with sugar substitutes.

Gova, composed of 70% erythritol and 30% sugar, meets consumers' demand for low-calorie, tasty products while avoiding the undesirable aftertaste of many sweeteners.

The future of sugar reduction remains uncertain—whether it will lean toward artificial or natural sweeteners. However, one thing is clear: more and more consumers want ingredient lists they can easily recognize and pronounce—we have entered the era of ultra-clean labels. Yet, it’s not just about what’s on the back of the packaging: if the taste isn’t good, consumers won’t buy it. And if it doesn’t meet the functional needs of manufacturers, it won’t make it to market. New sugar reduction solutions must now prove their value in real-world food and beverage applications. If they succeed on both fronts, they have the potential to dominate the food and beverage industry.