European sugar producer, Südzucker, and DouxMatok, a developer of targeted flavor delivery technology, have announced a partnership to commercialize DouxMatok’s “breakthrough” sugar reduction solution across Europe to support the food industry’s efforts to reduce sugar content. According to the company, DouxMatok sugar, which is compliant with European and US regulations, can reduce up to 40 percent of the sugar content in various food products while maintaining the same sugar sensory profile.

DouxMatok and Südzucker recently executed a memorandum of understanding, setting up the production, joint marketing and sales of DouxMatok sugar to customers in Europe. The partnership is designed to help food companies address the growing desire for balanced nutrition from consumers and ongoing regulatory pressure to reduce sugar content in food, while still offering a solution that is non-compromising on taste. The patented sugar delivery technology takes advantage of loading sugar molecules on a mineral carrier, resulting in a more efficient delivery and enhanced sweetness perception, according to DouxMatok.

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Eran Baniel, CEO and Co-Founder of DouxMatok, says that the pull for such technology, in an industry as concerned about sugar as we are today, is unbelievable. “We have found ourselves completely immersed in our sugar work and this scale up and our partnership with Südzucker proves how necessary it is to the industry.”

The companies are currently focusing on process technology for scaling up the production and expect to offer it to European food brands for use in a large variety of categories, including chocolate, spreads, snack bars, biscuits, baked goods and candies.

“The reason we believe this technology to be ‘breakthrough’ is that we are still using sugar. We are 99.75 percent sugar. There is no aftertaste and it is also possible to keep much of the functional roles of sugar, including color and mouthfeel,” Baniel explains.

“This is a whole new category and approach to sugar reduction,” he continues. “Most people are looking to reduce sugar consumption (almost 70 percent) and out of those people, 50 percent want the taste experience to remain the same.”

“We are exceeding very well in dry applications, such as cakes and biscuits – recipes that traditionally contain a lot of sugar. We are slowly making our ways into other territories and applications. The pull from the industry is powerful and with this partnership, it is reinforced even further. Working with Südzucker means that we can manage the scale up together and prioritize partners and applications categories.”

“We believe the partnership will be a success,” he notes. “There will be hundreds of kilos available towards the end of the year and second part of 2019. The second half of next year that is wher the commercial quantities will be available in Europe and there will also be other territories, in the near future.”

In addition, sugar reduction will be accompanied by recommendations for rebalancing recipes while improving the nutritional values of food, based on the companies’ expertise in filling ingredients.

“We see this cooperation as a vote of confidence by the best of the sugar industry in Europe in launching the first sugar-based targeted delivery technology,” explains Baniel. “The great synergies of the two teams are proven daily during the scale-up of the production set-up, as well as during the preparations for marketing and sales. Our vision at DouxMatok is to pioneer targeted delivery of flavor and food ingredients, such as sugars, enabling consumers to enjoy the same tastes they know and love, with a better and healthier nutritional profile. We feel fortunate to have Südzucker as our European partner in launching our first products and bringing together our vision to life.”

“Südzucker has been serving the market with sugar reduction solutions for years. Leveraging key trends, we strive to deliver to our customers the best solutions, enabling them to be successful in their markets. The innovative and natural sugar reduction technology of DouxMatok is a logical extension of our diverse product portfolio,” states Randolf Burisch, Commercial Head of Südzucker´s sugar business unit.

“We are very pleased to engage in this collaboration with DouxMatok and are looking forward to bringing the new DouxMatok sugar to the European market as it will provide many possibilities to customers for reformulation and new product development,” he adds.

A spokesperson from Südzuckers Public Relations department tells FoodIngredientsFirst: “We will be in the position to answer further requests as soon as the product will be available on the market. We expect the product to be launched in 12 to 18 months.​​​​​​​”​​​​​​​

The demand for sugar reduction is rising quickly, with over 60 percent of consumers seeking healthier and balanced nutrition, without avoiding sugar. Realization remains a challenge for producers, especially when it comes to the reformulation of solid food products. The DouxMatok solution is unique within the marketplace as it provides sugar reduction benefits, sugar-equivalent process technology and sensory sweetness performance equivalent to standard sugar, according to the company.

With major players such as Nestlé and Cadbury announcing sugar reduction technologies, this has played out particularly well for DouxMatok, according to Baniel. “Recent announcements of 30 percent sugar reduction in the industry has driven more requests to our business,” he notes. “We have been asked if we can offer the same thing – or better – and this has reinforced our message, which we are very pleased about.”

“Sugar reduction is a huge trend right now and we see it across many categories globally. There are many projects and solutions to offer reduced sugar with added health claims. If we rethink this category – will see huge changes, to health and to the food industry as a whole,” he concludes.

DouxMatok’s ability to achieve desired sweetness level while reducing sugar content by up to 40 percent, has been tested and validated by third-party panels as well as major food companies.

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