Tereos and Firmenich collaborate on stevia extracts sourcing agreement

16 Jul 2021 --- Tereos has inked a strategic sourcing agreement with Swiss flavor house Firmenich for stevia extracts. The move will allow the company to offer its customers traceable stevia-based sweetening solutions worldwide.

“The consumer trend of ‘good for me, good for the planet’ continues to play an important role in purchasing decisions. Consumers are continuing to seek a healthy lifestyle, paying particular attention to what they eat, and stevia is ideally placed to meet this trend,” Guillaume Planque, marketing director at Tereos, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

Consumers are paying closer attention to their sugar intake, and public health policies encourage the consumption of nutritionally improved products. When buying sweet goods, 55 percent of European consumers scrutinize the sugar content (Tereos’ 2020 IFOP consumer survey). 

The sourcing agreement with Firmenich enables Tereos to offer its customers across the globe unique and traceable stevia-based sweetening solutions.Greenlighting stevia
This trend is also reinforced by nutritional grading schemes such as Nutri-Score, where products that enjoy a good score perform better. 

Notably, governments and organizations promoting healthy eating are encouraging consumers to reduce their sugar intake, and in this context, stevia is very appealing, Planque notes.

“Stevia is one of the most popular alternatives to sugar,” he continues. “It ranks high with consumers because it is familiar, and scores highly on naturalness, with a very positive consumer image, compared to other high-intensity sweeteners.”

Opening the door to new possibilities 
Commenting on untapped potential in terms of innovation, Planque says the stevia journey is a “good example of this when you see the progress made.” 

“At the same time, application and formulation expertise has continued to grow, and combined with the versatility, this has resulted in a range of appealing solutions for customers and consumers.” 

Regarding innovation, the company is seeing some growth in new categories where interest in stevia-based sweetening solutions opens new possibilities. 

“The number of applications keeps growing as interest in the ingredient continues to grow,” Planque underscores. “We expect that creativity will continue to find new out-of-the-box applications.”

“Unparalleled expertise in taste”
According to Tereos, the new agreement with Firmenich is crucial to the sweeteners industry so that Tereos can “build on unparalleled expertise in taste and further accelerate its innovation in sugar reduction.”

“This sourcing agreement with Firmenich opens up new perspectives around stevia and sweetening options for customers, who will benefit from Tereos’ reformulation skills and Firmenich’s extensive expertise in taste and aroma,” Planque details. 

Stevia in the spotlight  The “good for me, good for the planet” trend continues to play an important role in purchasing decisions, says Tereos.
Consumer interest in stevia continues to grow. According to data from Innova Market Insights, the number of global product launches containing stevia grew by more than 16 percent per year between 2016 and 2020. 

Current stevia utilization rates still leave plenty of room for expansion in some major categories. This growth connects with consumers’ desire for better nutritional products. 

Consumers are looking to reduce fat, sugar, and calories, leading brands to adapt formulations to meet these trends. 

Taking stevia a step further 
Stevia extract is one of several options that Tereos has been offering to meet customers’ sweetening needs. Tereos’ broad product portfolio includes sweetness options, bulking agents, fibers and proteins, which add up to a complete set of solutions supported by proven reformulation expertise. 

By combining Tereos’ solutions with Firmenich’s range of stevia extracts and building on unparalleled expertise in taste, this agreement further accelerates Tereos’ innovation in sugar reduction.

By Elizabeth Green