By Tom Fuzer, vice-president of market strategy at HOWTIAN
Rapidly rising sugar prices, consumer demand for natural alternatives, and never-ending supply chain woes — the list goes on.
In short, the food & beverage industry is exploring more-natural, less-sugary pastures for its consumers, leading to a sugar-replacement revolution.
Bloomberg has reported:
- Sugar prices are at a six-year high, and not expected to improve
- The global sugar supply & demand gap is widening, reducing the stock-to-use ratio
- India, Pakistan & others introduced sugar export restrictions
Moreover, high oil prices have led to competition for the output from the sugar sector, as economies are likely to use more cane sugar toward producing ethanol, further reducing sugar supply.
Food and beverage manufacturers worldwide are thus feeling the squeeze in production costs, which contribute to the inflationary pressures on consumers.
The bottom line is this: manufacturers are seeking cost-friendly alternatives. On the other hand, consumers are seeking natural, low-sugar solutions. Research and development teams across all industries are thus actively searching for new solutions to meet these demands, all the while still maintaining the integrity of their products’ taste.
In these challenging times, stevia, a popular natural sugar alternative, has emerged as a promising solution.
Thanks to decades of agricultural science advancements and improvements in steviol glycoside yield levels, the global supply of stevia is healthy and cost-effective. Contrary to some reports of an industry shortage, the overall supply of stevia is at its lowest price point since it arrived on the global stage over a decade ago.
To address this time of economic uncertainty and volatility, HOWTIAN has, effective immediately, implemented another significant price reduction for SoPure Stevia Reb A 97, our most popular stevia product.
Read the full article here.
