Cargill-DSM Joint Venture Starts Commercial-Scale Production of EverSweet Stevia Sweetener
Avansya starts production at a commercial-scale fermentation facility for stevia sweeteners
As consumers continue to watch their calorie intake and strive to live a healthier lifestyle, food and beverage manufacturers are in need of great-tasting, zero-calorie sweeteners to help them achieve these goals. To meet this demand, Avansya, the joint venture between Cargill and Royal DSM, started production at the first commercial-scale fermentation facility for stevia sweeteners in the US. The facility is producing EverSweet™, a non-artificial, zero-calorie stevia sweetener.
The $50 million fermentation facility is located in Blair, Neb., and is operated by Cargill. It produces highly sought-after, sweet-tasting molecules, such as Reb M and Reb D used to make EverSweet, and gives food and beverage manufacturers an even more scalable, sustainable and low cost-in-use solution than if these molecules were extracted from the stevia leaf. The market for high-intensity sweeteners produced by fermentation is expected to exceed $3 billion by 2025.