Fooditive Sweetener: The sweet idea that sparked a plant-based revolution, into a novel food application in 2022

Fooditive, a pioneer in developing plant-based ingredients, is gearing up for a game-changer in the industry: a Novel Food licence from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for its sweetener. The Dutch company has developed from a concept to a company worth of 26 million euros in 2022 and is making significant progress. Founded on the belief that sustainability is more than a trend, Fooditive provides innovative and natural ingredients to food and beverage manufacturers.

The company’s unique process allows them to develop a remarkable sweetener, made from side streams of apples and pears. The production process has been enhanced and evolved from batch to continuous fermentation, to be able to deliver on the high demand from the food industry by producing up to 30 tonnes of sweetener per week. For this purpose, 83 tonnes of apples and pears are being upcycled, raw material that is considered as side streams, third-grade by juice manufacturers or simply the “ugly fruit”.

The sweetener – the first of Fooditive’s cutting-edge products – sparked a sugar-free, plant-based revolution. The company hopes to make a ground-breaking step towards establishing the sweetener in the market by forming a successful collaboration with a production partner in the Netherlands.

Fooditive has already been offering the sweetener for research and development purposes to players in the food industry to determine which applications their sweetener performs best in. After three years’ worth of learning and development, feedback, and support from the food industry, the company will submit the sweetener as 5-D-Keto-Fructose in the process of applying for Novel Food certification from the European Food Safety Authority.

Global competitor

Following the recent study by ReportLinker, Fooditive is the only start-up and Dutch company that is considered as one of the global competitors for food sweeteners in the industry competing alongside with several of the leading ingredient market vendors. Fooditive provides an innovative sweetener to companies, for different product applications where it can deliver not only the sweet taste but also the functions of sugar.

The sweetener is developed from the extraction of fructose through fermentation and its conversion to 5-D-Keto-Fructose through bio-refining techniques. Fooditive has accomplished this through its innovative approach to offer solutions by valorizing side-streams and starting from different raw materials, including cherries and bananas, to transform them into valuable, healthy ingredients.

Exciting journey

The Fooditive team is aware that the road ahead will be long and challenging. However, they know that completing its goal of securing EFSA approval for such a unique ingredient comes with a slew of benefits. Investors, venture capitalists, food attorneys, and consultants are invited to join the company’s journey on this effort to deliver this game-changer to the market.