A new player on the natural sweetener scene

Promoted as “the only sweetener that is a superfood”, SugaVida is a new brand of health-oriented natural sweetener from UK-based Conscious Food Ltd which is claimed to be “set to revolutionise the global food industry”. The ‘magic ingredient’ behind the product appears to be palmyra jaggery, an ingredient extracted from the sap of the Palmyra Palm tree which is said to be particularly high in  B vitamins. According to Conscious Food, just 1 tablespoon of the powder provides 664% of the RDA of vitamin B1.

SugaVida highlights the battle currently taking place for the hearts and minds of consumers in the natural sweetener space, as industry has latched on to demand for ‘all things natural’. The clear winner in the battle to date has been stevia, an ingredient which has come to dominate natural sweeteners despite the efforts of more recent pretenders such as monk fruit.

Unlike either stevia or monk fruit, however, SugaVida does not claim to be low-calorie. Instead it competes more directly in the ‘natural sweetener’ space alongside products such as agave syrup and honey, which benefit from stronger health connotations than table sugar despite their comparable calorie content.

Whether or not SugaVida turns out to be the ‘revolutionary’ ingredient it claims to be, it is a further indication of the diverse nature of the natural sweetener market in the absence of a single ‘miracle’ product. As it stands, the trade off between supposed health benefits, ‘natural’ qualities, affordability, calorie content and flavour is likely to see a broad range range of products vying for supremacy for some time to come.