EID Parry - Co-crystallization of Sugar
How might we combine sugar with Stevia and other natural sweeteners to reduce calories while preserving the sweetness of sugar?
Background/Context
While India consumes less sugar per capita than the world average, it is the largest consumer of sugar globally. Founded 225 years ago, EID Parry is one of the largest sugar companies in India.
As much as people enjoy the sweetness that sugar provides, it comes with a lot of calories and well-documented health risks. If we consume more calories than the body processes over time, we gain weight and can be exposed to a range of conditions with serious consequences for our health.
Many Indian consumers look for healthy alternatives to sugar to sweeten their coffee and tea beverages. One approach is the blending of sugar and Stevia. Essentially, this can provide the same sweetness with half the calories of sugar. The process involves coating the sugar with Stevia.
The challenge is that there is an aftertaste that many consumers reject. Furthermore, the resultant product produces an altered texture and mouthfeel compared to regular sugar.
Co-crystallisation is a process that companies have explored to overcome the “non-sugar” character of a blended product. Given the size of the Indian sugar market, the potential for developing a sugar-like product with 30-50% calories is enormous.
Objective
EID Parry wants to create a new hybrid product with sugar and Stevia and other natural sweeteners that reduces calories but maintains all the desirable properties of sugar in a sweetner.
Solutions
The solution should fulfil the following requirements:
- The product should have good physico-chemical characteristics, such as dispersion, solubility and mouthfeel.
- It should be equivalent to regular sugar in terms of sweetness, particle size, and organoleptic properties.
- The calories should be reduced at least by 30%.
Reward
- Given the potential of the market, EID Parry is prepared to invest in a successful proposition based on the technology’s prior or demonstrated success.
- The pilot project will be supported by a SGD20,000 grant from Enterprise Singapore and close guidance from the EID Parry team.
