Since 2018, the market for high-intensity sweeteners has begun to grow, with a year-on-year growth of 12% in 2019. Although people are worried about the metallic odor and slightly bitter aftertaste brought by high-intensity sweeteners, high-intensity sweeteners are used in all major food categories, such as nutrition, baking, beverages, and candy.
Sweetener suppliers are under great pressure to provide the right solutions. Many suppliers have introduced new solutions that combine high-intensity sweeteners, rare sweeteners and low-intensity sweeteners. Multinational companies are helping their customers experiment with different product formulations through digital platforms to find the right taste and texture.

New product development is the key to the sweetener business. Most of the research and development of sweeteners are focused on sweetness, calorific value, taste, odor resolution, key functions and price competitiveness. Before expanding into commercial production, new products, application development, functional features (such as probiotic functions), feasibility, and product price models need to be tested.

Generally speaking, it takes 12 to 18 months for a company to develop any new process or new product containing new ingredients. In addition, for a new sweetener product, large-scale commercialization is relatively slow, because the market now has many options and alternatives.

With the development of the food industry in the direction of low-calorie, low-sugar, high-fiber, natural, organic, clean and healthy, more and more manufacturers are replacing sugar with sweeteners and natural substitutes without compromising taste. . Sweetener manufacturers are also studying rare sugars, such as fucose, kojibiose, cellobiose, brown sugar, etc., but these are still in the research stage, and the main challenges they face are product feasibility and formulation requirements.

Sweetener manufacturers are facing severe pressure to develop new products and need to provide correct solutions for formula makers around requirements such as taste, texture, cleanliness, and price. The natural sweeteners, Aspartame, allulose and stevia, are still untapped areas for many manufacturers, with promising prospects in the next five years.