During the last five years, stevia has become recognised as a mainstream ingredient for great tasting food and beverage products with reduced calorie content. Whenever consumers enter their local supermarket, they can now see that stevia is available across a number of product categories, from cereals and soft drinks to diary and table-top sweeteners. Stevia is a plant-based calorie-free sweetener, which can be up to 450 times as sweet as sugar.
Key stevia developments
The stevia market has significantly increased in the past five years, as Larry Fernandes, president of the International Stevia Council, confirms.
"Personally, I have noticed when you spoke about stevia in the past, few people would have heard about it; now everyone I talk to knows about stevia," he says. "I believe it has become much more visible in the market place – whether you are in the supermarket or out for a coffee, a drink or a meal, you can find stevia everywhere."
Stevia addresses many of the issues surrounding food and health demographic macro-trends. With its characteristics, stevia satisfies consumers’ demand for ‘better-for-me’ products and consumers’ interest in lower calorie intake. Stevia is an ideal ingredient for food and beverages manufacturers to allow them to achieve calorie reduction in great-tasting products.
"Being plant-derived and with zero calories, stevia contributes to the solution of current global concerns such as obesity and diabetes, and at the same time helps consumers in their search for a healthy lifestyle balance and weight management programme," says Fernandes.
Global product launches
In the five years up to 2012, product launches incorporatig stevia have considerably increased year by year in all geographies.
"Stevia has been approved in the Asia-Pacific region for many years and therefore this region led until 2011 in terms of product launches," notes Fernandes. "With the approval of stevia in Europe at the end of 2011, it has become the leading market for stevia product launches, with North America and Latin America showing continuing growth as well."
Globally, product introductions are evident across a wide range of product categories, with non-alcoholic beverages, snacks, table-top sweeteners and dairy at the forefront of this movement. This trend clearly demonstrates that stevia is an extremely versatile ingredient that is successfully used as a source of sweetness in an increasing array of food and beverages applications, as Fernandes explains.
Examples of stevia products
"It is interesting to follow the current developments for product formulation and reformulation, where I have noticed a tendency to use stevia in a blend with sugar or as a blend with other sweeteners," he says. "I see this as further evidence that stevia is now considered a mainstream ingredient by all in the food value-chain. We have seen globally recognised brands that have recently reformulated with stevia − an example would be Sprite by the Coca-Cola Company."
The regular Sprite in Europe has been reformulated with stevia, achieving a 30% reduction in calories, while Sprite Select – containing stevia and other sweeteners – was launched in the US in 2012.
Examples of stevia products are widespread, regardless of whether you live in Asia, Europe or the US. Unilever includes stevia in Lipton Ice Tea and table sauces such as ketchup.
Beverages
Additional stevia-sweetened products include a range of global beverage brands, including Vitaminwater Zero in the US (Coca-Cola) and Tropicana Trop 50 fruit juice in Australia (Pepsico).
Confectionery
Recognised confectionery products featuring stevia include RicolaLakrits in Germany (Ricola), Kaiser BrustCarmellen in Germany (Bonbonmeister), sugar-free Gourmet Jelly Beans in Ireland (the Jelly Bean Factory), HariboLicorice in Germany (Haribo) and Lily Sweet dark chocolate in the US (Lily’s Sweets).
Dairy products
Tillamook Light Yogurt in the US (Tillamook), Spar Vital ice cream in Switzerland (Spar Osterreich) and Sia Glass ice cream in Scandinavia (Sia Glass) are examples of stevia-sweetened dairy products.
In Europe, the range of stevia products includes chocolate, breakfast cereals, fruit spread, ice cream, throat sweets and beer.
Where is stevia heading?
Due to its appeal to consumers who are demanding more and more simple and natural products, stevia will continue its growth in markets that have been quite successful until now, and will appear even more rapidly in new markets.
"One of the current trends in the stevia market is the development towards calorie reduction and more products in the mid-calorie range," Fernandes explains.
This can be achieved, for example, by using stevia and sugar blends in products, where this combination gives the best texture and flavour.
Although stevia cannot be labelled ‘natural’ in all markets, consumers perceived that it comes from a plant and is that its origin is natural. Thus, stevia contributes to positive communications in terms of ‘calories reduction’, ‘sweetness from natural origin’ and ‘light product with no artificial ingredients’ claims in the food and beverage sectors.
Conclusion
The stevia market has grown noticeably in recent years and will likely continue to do so in the immediate future; for example, through the introduction of more mid-calorie products.
"Stevia’s place in the sweetener market is now undisputed through its widespread recognition by consumers and food manufacturers alike," Fernandes explains. "What is also very important at this stage of the development of the stevia market is stronger cooperation between the different players in the value chain.
The International Stevia Council − which at the moment represents the stevia extract producers – is looking to engage with stevia users and growers of stevia to respond to the needs of a more mature stevia industry."
