Food manufacturers all over Asia are facing mounting pressure from both consumers and governments to reduce sugar content in their products. However, in terms of formulation, it is challenging to deliver both great taste and nutritional value. Not to mention, the amount of R&D that manufacturers have to undertake to create these healthier alternatives.
To address this issue, Singapore-based food technology company, Alchemy Foodtech Pte Ltd has officially launched Alchemy SweetFibreTM in May 2023, a fibre-based sugar substitute under the proprietary Alchemy TechnologyTM. Like sugar, it dissolves easily in water and can be made into a clear, sweet syrup. SweetFibreTM is also able to increase the nutritional value of the product in terms of dietary fibre and prebiotics while simultaneously reducing the number of calories.
In terms of application, SweetFibreTM range is also created to be a simple and fuss-free way for food manufacturers to take their first steps into the zero/reduced-sugar market.
AFBR has the opportunity to interview Alessandro Accornero, General Manager of Alchemy Foodtech to find out more on Alchemy SweetFibre and its applications within the F&B industry. The following are excerpts from the interview with him.
Can you describe the different types of solutions available within the SweetFibre range?
There are 3 product lines under the Alchemy SweetFibreTM range and they are SweetFibreTM ESV Blend, SweetFibreTM ESL Blend and SweetFibreTM DES Blend.
In terms of application, DES, ESL and ESV can be used in beverages, dairy products (e.g. ice cream, yoghurts, creams), sauces and jams to replace sugar and achieve their desired sweetness and texture. Manufacturers can also achieve and make these potential product claims:
- Up to 0% sugar and 0% calories (Mainly for beverages)
- Lower sugar and/or reduced calories
- Higher dietary fibre
- Added prebiotics
For confectionery (e.g. chocolates, cakes, baked goods), we have DES or ESL blends that can help maintain sweetness and texture, thereby help manufacturers achieve potential product claims of:
- Lower sugar and/or reduced calories
- Higher dietary fibre
- Added prebiotics
Who are your target customers for these products ?
Our range of Alchemy SweetFibreTM is primarily targeted for B2B ingredient solutions. As such, our target customers are food manufacturers and food service providers amongst others.
How different is Alchemy SweetFibreTM compared to other sugar reduction solutions found in the food ingredients sector ?
Alchemy SweetFibreTM differs from other solutions in the following ways:
1. More Than Just Sweetness, Building Back Texture and Flavour
In baked goods, sugar plays a crucial role in maintaining moisture content, providing colour, and delivering the right texture. Just substituting sugar with a sweetener alone often results in a bitter after- taste, off-flavours, crumbly and dry cakes. In jams, sugar helps with its consistency, which has a huge impact on texture and spreadability when it is removed.
Being a fibre-based sugar substitute, Alchemy SweetFibreTM is able to build back texture and sensory properties that formulations/recipes would traditionally rely on sugar for.
2. Highly Versatile in Application
Highly water-soluble, neutral in taste, free-flowing in powder format, and resistant to colour changes, SweetFibreTM is a simple and fuss-free ingredient. In many cases, we have seen SweetFibreTM being applied to formulations with minimal R&D and with a relatively short “go-to-market” turnaround time.
For instance, our collaboration with Subway Singapore to develop a reduced sugar version of their iconic chocolate chip cookie took just 3 months to deliver the first prototype. This healthier ‘Siew Dai’ version tastes just as sweet and chocolatey as the original, was released earlier this year in February 2023.
We also worked with China’s largest e-grocer platform, Dingdong Maicai, to introduce a zero sugar, high fibre, high protein white toast for their own bakery brand, Bao’s Bakery. The toast, made with Alchemy SweetFibreTM, remains fluffy and moist without compromising the original flavour that customers love.
With little to no change in recipes and manufacturing processes needed, adopting Alchemy SweetFibreTM is a quick and immediate healthier solution for chefs, innovation teams and F&B operators worldwide.
3. Affordability: Use Less For More
By simply utilising Alchemy SweetFibreTM in lieu of sugar, food manufacturers will be able to achieve the same sweetness with a lower quantity. For instance, manufacturers can use less DES5, a 5:1 sugar substitute, to achieve the same sweetness profile as sugar.
4. Additional Health Benefits
SweetFibreTM also offers food manufacturers possible health claims for reduced sugar, high fibre, added prebiotics, and lower glycemic index (GI). For beverage makers, this is a complete solution to achieving a better Nutri-Grade mark (in Singapore) for their product’s sugar content and to boost nutritional value at the same time.
With Alchemy SweetFibreTM, manufacturers may also claim “sugar- free”, “no sugar added”, “low-sugar”, “high-fibre”, and products containing “high prebiotics” on their packaging, making their products even more appealing to health-conscious consumers.
All in all, these key characteristics are what makes SweetFibreTM so compelling as a truly complete solution for innovating and creating reduced/zero sugar food.
SweetFibreTM makes it easier for manufacturers to substitute and remove sugar from their formulations without having to worry about change in taste and texture, while at the same time add value to their products in terms of health and other benefits. In terms of cost, Alchemy is already producing at scale that allows competitive pricing. For example, in beverage applications, the cost of DES5 usage is in fact very close to the cost of sugar syrup.
