ASR Group, working in collaboration with Bonumose, have announced that production of tagatose, an alternative sweetener, has begun at Bonumose’s new commercial production facility and advanced research and development lab.
Tagatose has been available commercially for over a decade, but the production process is expensive – starting with a high-cost raw material, expensive processing steps and results in relatively low yields. Using a low-cost, abundant, plant-based raw material and developing a proprietary method for producing tagatose from plant-based starches, Bonumose has been able to produce rare sugars at scale. As of mid-February, ASR Group will have tagatose available for shipments and samples.
As a rare sugar that naturally occurs in a variety of foods including fruits and dairy products, tagatose works similarly to sucrose in many applications, is 90% as sweet and has 60% fewer calories. According to ASR Group, it also offers a number of other advantages as a sweetener: it has a low GI of 3 and is Ketogenic Certified.
For these reasons, tagatose proves a sought-after ingredient for global food companies as it can be used to meet calorie-reduction targets and add functional benefits for a variety of food and drink without compromising on taste, texture or function.
American Sugar Refining, a member of ASR Group, is among the investors that helped Bomumose achieve tagatose commercial production. ASR Group, a large-scale cane sugar refiner and marketer, is also the company’s exclusive distribution partner in the US, Canada, Mexico and Western Europe. ASR Group’s research and testing of tagatose in formulations indicates that it performs well across a variety of food and beverage categories.
“Because of the compelling functional and nutritional properties of tagatose, we are seeing strong market interest across a wide variety of food and beverage companies,” said Jim Kappas, Vice President of Specialty Ingredients at ASR Group. “For this reason, Bonumose is fast-tracking plans for a second, larger plant.”
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