Tereos enters strategic stevia extracts sourcing agreement
Tereos, a leading French-based sweetness solutions supplier, has announced a strategic sourcing agreement for stevia extracts, enabling the company to globally offer its customers unique and traceable stevia-based sweetening solutions.
In our quickly evolving world, the “good for me, good for the planet” consumer trend continues to play an important role in purchasing decisions. Consumers are paying closer attention to their sugar intake and public health policies encourage consumption of nutritionally improved products. When buying sweet goods, 55% of European consumers now scrutinise the sugar content (Tereos’ 2020 IFOP consumer survey). The Covid-19 health crisis has reinforced this trend, with 78% of European consumers looking to eat and drink healthier (Source: FMCG Gurus 2020). And 54% of Europeans indicate that they will pay closer attention to natural ingredients (Source: FMCG Gurus 2020).
In this context, Tereos says it comes as no surprise that consumers’ interest in stevia continues to grow. The number of product launches containing stevia grew by more than 16% per year between 2016 and 2020 (Source: Innova Market Insights) and current stevia utilisation rates still leave plenty of room for expansion in some major categories. This growth connects with consumers’ desire for better nutritional products. Consumers are looking to reduce fat, sugar, and calories (also supported by new references such as the “Nutri-Score” labelling system), which is leading brands to adapt formulations to meet these trends. Products with good nutritional qualities and high scores inevitably perform much better in the marketplace, states Tereos.
The newest IFOP European consumer survey commissioned by Tereos confirms consumer awareness of stevia and its positive perception. This survey indicates that, after sugar, stevia is the best-known sweetening ingredient (83% of 6,002 European consumers interviewed recognise stevia), and that it benefits from the positive image and a perception of naturalness.
As a leading sweetening solutions company, Tereos has been dealing with stevia for more than 10 years, developing a deep market knowledge and application expertise. Stevia extract is one of several options that Tereos has been offering to meet customers’ sweetening needs. It is part of Tereos’ broad product portfolio which includes sweetness options, bulking agents, fibres and proteins, which add up to a complete set of solutions supported by proven (re)formulation expertise.
By combining Tereos’ solutions with Firmenich’s range of stevia extracts and building on unparalleled expertise in taste, the French business believes this agreement further accelerates Tereos’ innovation in sugar reduction. Guillaume Planque, marketing director at Tereos, said: “This strategic sourcing agreement with Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company and a leading stevia supplier, opens up new perspectives around stevia and sweetening options for customers who will benefit from Tereos’ reformulation skills and Firmenich’s extensive expertise in taste and aroma.”
