Better Juice partners with GEA and US juice maker to commercialise reduced-sugar juices.

FoodTech start-up Better Juice, Ltd. sealed its first commercial deal to bring reduced-sugar juices one step closer to supermarket beverage aisles. The company inked an agreement with a major US fruit juice manufacturer for commercial installment of its sugar-reduction technology.

This is Better Juice’s first official commercial venture in its long-term collaboration with GEA Group, AG, Germany, a world leader in process engineering for the food and beverage sectors. The two companies joined forces in a strategic move to scale up and promote the sugar-reduction technology throughout the global beverage market.

Start-up receives patent and a self-affirmed GRAS approval

Better Juice was granted a patent for its sugar-reduction enzymatic process in Europe. Armed with recent self-affirmed GRAS status, the company is out to market its innovative system to food and beverage manufacturers worldwide. “These achievements, together with GEA’s knowhow and cutting-edge technology, will open doors to work more closely with food and beverage companies,” explains Eran Blachinsky, PhD, co-founder and co-CEO of Better Juice.

Better-Juice’s patented enzymatic technology uses all-natural ingredients to convert fructose, glucose, and sucrose sugars into prebiotic and other non-digestible fibers. The juice passes through a continuous flow bio-reactor housing non-GMO microorganism that transform the unwanted sugars into beneficial, non-digestible molecules. It boasts capabilities to reduce sugar loads by up to 80 %, while preserving the full complement of vitamins and other nutrients inherent in the fruit. The process moderates the sweetness of the juice, while intensifying the fruit flavour.

Sugar-reduced juices will line the shelves next year

Under the new venture, GEA will design, manufacture, and install the bioreactor that reduces sugars, and offer follow-up technical support. Better Juice will produce the microorganisms for the enzymatic process. According to the first commercial order, the fruit drinks manufacturer will produce natural juices with a minimum sugar reduction of 30 %, and anticipates the product to arrive in supermarkets by spring 2022.

“This new agreement marks an exciting milestone in our mission to get our sugar-reduction technology off the ground, to penetrate the US market, and to expand our global footprint,” enthuses Blachinsky. “We’ve officially launched our drive to help consumers enjoy reduce sugar in their favourite fruit juice.”

“Scaling up is always a challenge,” confesses Gali Yarom, co-founder and co-CEO of Better Juice. “But when your partner is GEA, with its vast industrial food processing capabilities and global presence, the acceleration of the Better Juice commercialisation is much faster and brings added value to the supply chain. Imagine—in just a few months, affordable, reduced-sugar fruit juice will be a ready option for American consumers.”

The equipment has been tested in GEA’s quality assurance facility in Germany and can be easily integrated into existing juice production lines, providing product at a capacity of up to 200 liter per hour. Total production capacity of reduced-sugar juices can be adjusted to the manufacturer’s needs.

“Better Juice has incredible potential to transform the global juice industry,” notes Colm O’Gorman, Head of Sales Management for GEA’s Global Technology Center for Non-Alcoholic Beverages. “As consumer demand for lowered-sugar beverages continues to surge, we are eager to join Better Juice on this momentous journey. We look forward to delivering products that address one of the top consumer needs of reducing their sugar intake, especially in daily beverages.”

New product helps food manufacturers ensure premium quality, reduced sugar fruit spreads meeting clean label requirements and capitalizing on the healthy living trend

Capitalizing on the low-sugar trend, DuPont Nutrition & Health has developed GRINDSTED^® Pectin PRIME 541, a new product that will allow food manufacturers to formulate new appealing reduced sugar fruit spreads recipes faster than ever and without processing hurdles.

GRINDSTED^® Pectin PRIME 541 is designed to increase flexibility: it doesn’t require calcium addition, has an improved tolerance to heat and can work in a wide range of fruit types, sugar levels and fruit levels.

“This product was developed in response to customer requests,” said Eva Lynenskjold, principal application specialist, Fruit Application, DuPont Nutrition & Health. “The improved formulation and process flexibility makes it possible, in a minimum amount of time, to develop and produce reduced sugar fruit spreads with outstanding quality, and at the same time reduce the number of pectin SKU’s needed.”

Increased consumer awareness of healthier diets makes sugar reduction a focal point for fruit spread manufacturers. As the premium fruit spread market makes new gains, continuously improving today’s standards, it is essential that sugar reduction does not negatively impact product quality. Prime 541 allows food manufacturers to meet the quality demands on appearance, texture and flavor for reduced sugar fruit spreads while also meeting clean label requirements.⁽¹⁾

GRINDSTED^® Pectin PRIME 541 provides maximum functional performance based on sustainable raw materials and processes. With unparalleled application knowledge from DuPont, it ensures food manufacturers’ solutions enter the market rapidly with minimum impact on their development time and cost.

⁽¹⁾ The clean label advantage with using GRINDSTED^® Pectin PRIME 541 is that calcium salts are not required, however, the pectin itself must be declared in the ingredients list of the final consumer product.