PureCircle-Firmenich agreement aims to accelerate flavor commercialization

05-Jul-2011 - Last updated on 06-Jul-2011 at 11:25 GMT

Stevia player PureCircle, has agreed a multi-year global distribution agreement with Firmenich to accelerate commercialization of the company’s new natural flavor, NSF-02.

NSF-02 is part of PureCircle Flavor’s new range, which also includes NSF-01. The flavors have been specifically designed to enhance flavor, sweetness and taste in combination with the stevia sweeteners, Reb A and SG-95, and sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

According to the terms of the new agreement, Firmenich will get exclusive rights to commercialize NSF-02 as both a stand-alone ingredient and within the company’s flavor systems.

The agreement also allows for further collaboration between the companies to accelerate the adoption of the new flavor modifier beyond the US.

Path to market

Jason Hecker, VP global marketing for PureCircle, told FoodNavigator-USA that agreement with Firmenich is limited to PureCircle’s NSF-02 flavor, which has FEMA GRAS status in the US.

Hecker added that NSF-02 has the broadest application for companies looking to achieve deeper calorie reductions in conjunction with our high purity sweeteners, sugar and HFCS.

“As with all of our ingredients, both sweeteners and flavors, we seek the best path to market that will add the greatest value to our customers and our business. With NSF-02 this path is in partnership with Firmenich,” he added.

“In this case, we see very broad application with NSF-02 and will be working with Firmenich to quickly commercialize the ingredient across all potential markets.”

The terms of the agreement, however, allow PureCircle to retain rights to distribute directly in select accounts.

Magomet Malsagov, CEO of PureCircle, said: “Combining PureCircle’s flavor innovation and stevia portfolio with Firmenich’s world class expertise in incorporating sweetness enhancement and flavor masking ingredients will accelerate the adoption of our new innovation globally.”

Patrick Firmenich, CEO of Firmenich, added: “Building on our earlier stevia sweetener partnership with PureCircle, we continue the pursuit of breakthrough flavor solutions that fulfill the desires of consumers around the world, who are looking for great tasting, low sugar, low calorie foods and beverages.”

Positive reaction

Hecker added that the customer reaction since commercializing NSF-02 has been “very positive”.

“Products are already beginning to come to market with our NSF-02 natural flavor included in the formulation and products formulated with NSF-01 are now on the market as well,” he added.