Delivering The Best Ingredients and Improving Your Speed To Launch

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One of the biggest shifts in the food industry of the past several years is consumers’ attitudes towards sugar. They are no longer looking to get a boost through sugary snacks and drinks, but instead, are turning to healthier options or low and no-sugar alternatives. The low-calorie sweetener industry is expected to grow at a rate of 4.5% between 2019 and 2024.

Recognizing the shift, in 2014 the world’s top beverage giants, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Keurig, and Dr. Pepper, joined forces and entered a landmark agreement to decrease beverage calories from sugar
in the United States. Their goal is to reduce beverage calories consumed per person by 20% before 2025. Known as the Balance Calories Initiative, these corporations created many campaigns aimed at driving demand and available of reduced and zero-calorie beverages. Additionally, they have introduced hundreds of zero-sugar, reduced sugar, and smaller portion beverages.
Many other food and beverage manufacturers have since followed suit. Responding to this industry trend, they have made replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners and natural alternatives a top priority.

Finding the right ingredients to maintain the standards consumers demand, while maintaining flavor and texture can be a challenge. The Essex team has extensive food science backgrounds and are highly skilled in the priorities and objectives of the R&D side of food manufacturing. Consumer’s attitudes toward sugary drinks have shifted in recent years. Responding to this
industry trend, beverage manufacturers have made replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners and natural alternatives a top priority. See how Essex can help!

We understand that with many ingredient alternatives available, selecting a new ingredient and “dialing-in the formulation,” can be very time-consuming. We are committed to our customers’ speed-to-launch by cutting the time it takes Research and Development teams to source the options and identify the ideal ingredient to meet consumer demands.
Following a referral of an existing Essex customer, a National company working on a sugar reduction project for a beverage in the flavor segment contacted Essex for help. They were working to improve an existing beverage product, while reducing the amount of added sugar on the label. The customer shared their ingredient deck with Essex asked for a list of products that could help them reach their goal.

Essex handled every ingredient on the customers deck, and had several sugar alternatives in mind. Rather than providing the requested list of suggestions, we provided 10 starter formulation proto-types with all the ingredients the customer outlined, and several sweeteners. This approach saved the customer months of R&D time sourcing samples and testing formulations and gave the
development team confidence they found the best solution on the market. The R&D team found that adding allulose and erythritol reduced added sugar and at the same time improved taste. The new formulation reduced sugars to 80 percent and improved mouthfeel and overall taste. The product is now on store shelves. The customer reports that
sales of the finished products continue to grow!