When developing a new beverage, one of the most important decisions to make
is what sweetener to use—but selecting a sweetener isn’t as easy as saying “yay”
or “nay” to sugar. To make an informed decision, you’ll need to consider questions like,
How important is sweetener selection to my brand identity and target consumer?
What’s an acceptable calorie range for my product? What about carbohydrates?
Do I want my product to meet any specific retailer or certification standards?
Once you’ve established some answers to these questions,
you can begin to explore the best sweetener options for your unique
product. There are two broad categories to choose from—natural and artificial sweeteners.
As consumers continue to seek out naturally positioned drinks, natural sweeteners have
become a favorite for beverage brands. This category of sweeteners includes
standard sugar, as well as stevia, monkfruit, allulose, erythritol, honey, agave, and more.
Sugar is the benchmark by which all other sweeteners are compared.
Its taste, sweetness, and even mouthfeel are immediately recognizable. It works well in
beverage development; however, as a carbohydrate with 4 calories per gram, it’s not a great fit for
products targeting a lower calorie threshold. For reference, the average canned soda contains
around 40 grams of sugar—that’s 160 calories from sweetener alone! It’s easy to see why
beverage makers would be interested in exploring other natural sweetener options,
like stevia and monkfruit. In addition to being calorie-free,
only 0.04g are needed to achieve the same relative sweetness as 10g of sugar, offering potential cost
savings. When used together, stevia and monkfruit can create a more pleasant sweetness than when
used alone, though they can still be perceived as tasting “artificial” to some consumers.
Sugar alcohols like allulose and erythritol benefit from contributing few calories and no
net carbs. That being said, sugar alcohols are generally used in conjunction with other
sweeteners due to regulatory guidelines that limit their use in beverages.
Honey and agave nectar are carbohydrates that mirror sugar in terms of relative sweetness, but
with distinctive tastes. While they may benefit from being more recognizable to consumers, they
still contribute 3 calories per gram. Honey and agave nectar are also minimally processed,
making them among the most difficult sweeteners to use in commercial beverage applications.
While the world may be turning to natural sweeteners,
artificial sweeteners still have their appeal. Defined as synthetically created sweeteners,
the most popular options in the beverage space include sucralose, aspartame, and Ace-K.
Sucralose is a clean, zero-calorie sweetener that imitates the flavor of sugar more closely than
many of the natural choices, though it is much sweeter. To achieve the same sweetness level as
10g of sugar, only 0.02g of sucralose is needed. Aspartame and Ace-K have mostly fallen out of
fashion—except in the diet soda category. These are the sweeteners used to give iconic products
like Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi their signature flavor. These options are extremely sweet,
but have a very different taste than sugar with a negligible calorie contribution to boot. Despite
the unique flavor implications of aspartame and Ace-K, consumers have accepted the profile
and expect it in their favorite diet products. While there are a ton of options to choose from,
the right type of sweetener is the one that works best for your product and business plan.
To learn how Flavorman can help you change what the world is drinking,
visit flavorman.com and stay in touch by following us on social media.