Sweet milestone: Monk Fruit Corp. highlights “tremendous potential” for monk fruit in the EU

28 Nov 2019 --- Monk Fruit Corp., a business specializing in the supply of monk fruit with operations in China, US, Europe and New Zealand, is marketing its all natural sweetener as having “tremendous potential in the EU.” David Thorrold General Manager of Sales and Marketing for Monk Fruit Corp. tells FoodIngredientsFirst that monk fruit is now growing at a faster rate year-on-year than stevia in the US market because it offers a unique combination of clean label, authentic natural origin, and excellent taste profile without the bitter and metallic notes associated with other natural sweeteners. “While EU food and beverage manufacturers have not yet been able to use monk fruit, we received extremely positive feedback when we officially launched our monk fruit products into the EU market at Health Ingredients Europe in November last year.”

Monk Fruit Corp. currently supplies more than 60 percent of the global monk fruit ingredient market, a market share that is more than three times its nearest competitor. As a result, it is well-placed to comment on how the monk fruit industry will respond to the increase in demand for monk fruit in the EU, notes Thorrold. 

Monk Fruit Corp. currently supplies more than 60 percent of the global monk fruit ingredient market.He also maintains that Monk Fruit Corp. is prepared for this increase should approval be granted for monk fruit in the EU. “EU approval has been part of our planning for the last three years. We have been building our supply capacity on the assumption that there will be an EU approval for monk fruit in 2019 or 2020. We will be adding new processing capacity to our existing site in Guilin, China, which will come online in time for the 2021 harvest when we are confident we will see volume from the EU growing,” he continues. 

“Our unique IP portfolio positions Monk Fruit Corp. as the only company that can guarantee freedom to operate in the EU for its monk fruit customers, and the only monk fruit company with a fully integrated supply chain that can be scaled to manage what is expected to be a significant increase in demand for monk fruit from the EU.” 

“As our experience in the US shows, monk fruit is rapidly becoming the preferred solution for natural sugar reduction, and we are very confident that once EU food and beverage companies and their consumers experience monk fruit, they will come to the same conclusion,” he muses.

“We know from our experience in the US, where monk fruit has been approved since 2010, that monk fruit is effective in all food and beverage and food supplement applications,” Thorrold affirms. “If the EU is granted approval, the company will target approvals in South America.

Monk fruit versus stevia?With the continued demand from consumers for clean-label, healthier foods and beverages, Thorrold believes monk fruit can also be used with stevia in sweetener blends to optimize cost and taste.
Monk fruit both competes with and is synergistic with stevia. In particular, monk fruit does not have the bitter and metallic off-notes that some people find with stevia, although monk fruit can also be used with stevia in sweetener blends to optimize cost and taste, explains Thorrold. 

Also speaking with FoodIngredientsFirst, Hans Van Daele, Monk Fruit Corp’s EU-based Business Consultant, expects monk fruit extracts and juices to have significant labeling advantages in Europe. This is in comparison to stevia sweeteners, which are labeled “steviol glycosides.”

“We expect that our monk fruit juice products, which are going through a separate approval process in the EU as a food product, will have label declaration advantages compared to stevia,” he explains. 

Looking ahead, consumer demand for healthier, more natural food ingredients with less sugar is expected to grow. “Monk fruit is ideally placed to meet this demand because, among the natural sweetener options, monk fruit is the best-tasting and has the most consumer-friendly labeling,” Thorrold explains. “As a result, and thanks also to new regulatory approvals, we expect that in the next five years’ monk fruit will establish itself globally as the preferred natural sweetener solution,” he concludes. 

By Elizabeth Green