FiE 2024 live: Incredo Sugar features sweeteners for healthy indulgence and tasty supplements

At the ongoing Food Ingredients Europe (FiE) 2024 trade show, Incredo Sugar is showcasing its sweetening ingredients, which allow food and nutrition manufacturers to reduce sugar content without affecting products’ taste and mouthfeel. The company’s Incredo Sugar G2 ingredient with protein was a finalist in the trade show’s Future Foodtech Innovation Award. 

Nutrition Insight catches up with Shiri Ranot, the company’s VP of marketing and business development, on the show floor. 

Ranot details how the company’s first and second-generation sugar-based sugars meet the demand for healthier and more tasty foods and gummy supplements. 

“We offer a way to reduce sugar substantially without compromising taste. Taste is the number one driver in food purchase decisions, especially considering functional foods.” 

For example, she illustrates how the sweeteners help manufacturers create nutritional gummies with bitter-tasting, healthy ingredients, such as ashwagandha or moringa.

“It masks the flavor so they are still tasty, but with substantially less sugar. You don’t want to have something good for you with very high amounts of sugar.”

Second-generation sugar

Incredo Sugar launched its G2 ingredient in March 2024 — “It’s the concentrated version of our first generation,” says Ranot.

She adds that Incredo Sugar G1 and G2 have similar applications, such as baked goods, chocolates, spreads, snacks, bars and gummies. 

Incredo Sugar G2 broadens the company’s portfolio to different types of customers who are looking for various kinds of solutions.

Ranot illustrates: “We have a big customer in the US that uses G2 in the food matrix but uses our first generation as a standing sugar.”

Incredo Sugar G2 helps offset the taste of bitter ingredients in nutritional gummies without adding high sugar levels.

“In some cases, people rather use G2, which is labeled as a sugar and a protein. G1 is labeled as sugar,” she adds. “Some people gravitate toward the first generation, some toward the second generation and others use both.” 

As a micro-ingredient, Incredo Sugar G2 is easier to ship and store than G1, which looks “just like sugar.” Due to its concentrated form, it is also more sustainable than the company’s first-generation sweetener. 

Healthy indulgence

Ranot says that governments and regulators are trying to educate consumers about anything high in fat, sugar and salt to raise their awareness. “I think there is also more pressure from governments for the industry to do better by the consumers.” 

“There is a high rise in obesity and diabetes, and people that have any illnesses as a result of obesity and high weight. Type 2 diabetes is one of them, but there are cardiovascular diseases and others.” 

Consumers are becoming more conscious of what they eat, she adds. 

“However, people want to indulge. We can’t assume that people will stop eating sugar, cakes or gelatos when they’re vacationing in Italy. People will consume sugar, but you have to bring down the sugar levels to what people are supposed to consume versus what they’re used to consuming.” 

2025 and beyond

Looking to the future, Ranot says that the company is expanding its focus from the US to the European market, adding customers and increasing its presence. 

“We hope to have many more launches with many projects in the works. Some take longer, especially with the larger companies, to work on innovation and put products out there.” 

“We have many things in the pipeline that we’re very excited about, especially one product in the sugar reduction space that will probably become available later in 2025,” she adds. 

With live reporting by William Bradford Nichols at FiE 2024 in Frankfurt, Germany