One year after the European Union granted approval for steviolglycosides to be marketed, WILD has noted positive interim results. The great-taste expert has worked with customers to create a number of stevia-sweetened products that have been market successes — everything from beverages to candies.
28 Nov 2012 --- Stevia's great potential is the two key properties it combines: it is derived from a natural source, and it has no calories. These features meant that anticipation about what stevia could do was quite high even before it received official marketing approval in Europe. Early on, WILD invested in stevia research and development and acquired shares in the stevia manufacturer Sunwin International. In doing so, the corporation acquired solid expertise in terms of applications in different finished products. “We were perfectly prepared for the large demand, and we managed to launch the first products very quickly in places like Scandinavia and central Europe. More and more food and beverage manufacturers in Germany as well have been asking us about stevia over the course of the past year. There is great interest throughout Europe,” states Silke Ortmann, product manager of sweetener systems at WILD.
WILD has joined forces with manufacturers to create several different products with stevia, including near waters, tea beverages, carbonated soft drinks as well as hard caramels, chewing gums and chocolate products. WILD's portfolio features different kinds of reb-A, and depending on the customer specification and market demand, the company can create low- or no-calorie products with compelling sensory profiles. Having an outstanding taste is critical if a food or beverage is to be a long-term success. “This is why we developed our 'Taste Optimization Technology,' which offsets the licorice-like and somewhat bitter aftertaste of stevia. We make it available to manufacturers in direct conjunction with premium stevia extracts,” Silke Ortmann says. “Our customers very much appreciate this turnkey solution.”
Another sweetener from WILD's portfolio also offers ways to round out the flavor profile of a finished product: Fruit Up is a natural fruit sweetener which can be effectively combined with stevia. Fruit Up is derived exclusively from fruit and is appealing to manufacturers, both because of its sensory profile and because of the labeling options it creates.
In WILD's product portfolio to date, Sunwin Stevia was only used as an ingredient in foods and beverages. In the meantime, however, the company has also developed a stevia table-top sweetener. This allows manufacturers to distribute stevia as a finished product, thus developing further sales potential and market opportunities for the sweetener. WILD produces the table-top sweetener in powdered form. It contains 60% rebaudioside A, which is known for its particularly good sensory properties, and can be processed in different forms such as tablets, powder or cubes. “We not only offer our customers Sunwin Stevia, we also provide additional consultation in terms of packaging options, marketing strategies and labeling issues,” Silke Ortmann says.
