BioPlus: Sucralose sales could double in 4-5 years

Bangalore-based BioPlus Life Sciences manufactures sucralose using a process it claims does not infringe any of Tate & Lyle's patents and is itself supported by a suite of patents.

BioPlus vice president Joe Zannoni told FoodManufacture.co.uk that he predicted “continued growth of existing products containing sucralose currently on the market as well as new product launches containing sucralose”.​

He added: “The growth of the retail food manufacturing and marketing sector globally combined with the expansion of the presence of global multinational food and beverage companies will result in the introduction of a range of innovative products to emerging markets to supply the demand for high quality nutritious foods and beverages to these 'new' consumers.”​

But there were also growth opportunities in mature markets, he said.“The trend toward reduction or elimination of aspartame will continue as a result of perceived health-related concerns. A continued evolution of sweetener blends will result in custom sweetener systems that are not only category specific but product specific.”​

While stevia would “establish itself in the market in spite of its flavour and stability limitations” ​owing to its all-natural credentials, there was room in the market for a range of sweeteners, he argued.

“I would expect the overall use of sucralose across Europe in both retail and ingredient applications to double in the next four to five years.”​

Table-top sweeteners​

As revealed by FoodManufacture.co.uk last month,​ Dutch firm Prinsen (which has a deal with BioPlus to distribute its sucralose in Western Europe) is in talks with all of the leading UK supermarkets about supplying sucralose for own-label table-top sweeteners in tablet or granular form.

This was a significant growth opportunity, claimed Zannoni. “In Europe, the initial marketing efforts of BioPlus through our partnership with Prinsen have been targeted toward the retail high intensity sweetener category. It is our belief that this shelf category space is underdeveloped and undervalued in many of the European retail markets.” ​

Manufacturing process​

After “years of research and development and after having submitted over 30 patent applications”​, BioPlus had achieved parity with Tate & Lyle in terms of quality and purity, he claimed.

“We prefer to keep our production capacities confidential but I can tell you that we are capable of supplying significant volumes of sucralose to the global marketplace.”​