Cargill’s leading stevia sweetener EverSweet, combined with its technology ClearFlo as a platform, has reached widespread commercial availability, allowing for the company’s sweetener to be combined with other natural flavors. This combination can offer flavor modification, improved solubility, stability in formulations, and faster dissolution.
 
Cargill first debuted this technology in 2019, and spent the following years refining the flavor platform, so that it would be ready for reduced-sugar applications in need of high stevia concentrations such as soft drinks, energy drinks, alcoholic drinks, fruit concentrates, dairy, coffee, and beverage syrups.
 
“With EverSweet + ClearFlo, we’re taking stevia sweeteners to the next level, reimagining the possibilities and paving the way for a new round of product innovation,” said Andrew Ohmes, Cargill’s global director for high intensity sweeteners. “It really is a game-changer for sugar-reduction technology, making it possible for stevia to go where it has never gone before.”
 
EverSweet’s quick sweetness onset and high sweetness potency will serve as a foundation, with the platform delivering a more sugar-like experience especially at higher concentrations. The new sweetening system also can help to manage off flavors from other ingredients used in a formulation, including earthy notes from proteins, bitterness from caffeine, or metallic tastes from potassium chloride.
 
While Reb M stevia extracts like EverSweet provide optimal sweetness profiles, they can be limited by a lower solubility maximum, according to Cargill. This can be an issue for concentrated applications such as throw syrups in beverages. However, the new delivery system enables far more concentrated solutions than Reb M alone, allowing stevia to be used in applications like foodservice fountain drinks and flavor syrups.
 
Also, unlike standalone Reb M sweeteners, EverSweet + ClearFlo dissolves in water at ambient temperatures, with no heating required – this is a significant advantage for beverage processing facilities without heating capabilities. This is also a benefit for long-time stevia users, as the sweetener system’s near-instantaneous dissolution can enable faster manufacturing times.
 
In the U.S., EverSweet can appear on ingredient statements as stevia sweetener, while ClearFlo can appear on labels as a natural flavor. Cargill reports that its consumer research finds that consumers approve of these designations on product labels.
 
There are a lot of tools out there that might help with solubility or dissolution or flavor or stability,” Ohmes said. “But EverSweet + ClearFlo address all of those points, which is why this sweetener system stands apart in the market today.”