“Our honey truffle sweetener is derived from a protein, which brings an unprecedented level of excitement as proteins are widely recognized as the future of sweeteners,” Alan Hahn, CEO of MycoTechnology said in a statement. “This breakthrough ushers in a new era of clean label sweeteners, revolutionizing the way we create foods and beverages without relying on traditional sugar or artificial sweeteners.”
Mycelium’s growing use in plant-based foods stems from its nutritional properties and its ability to scale efficiently with minimal resource requirements. With mycelium’s increasing market value from 2022 at $2.88 billion to $5.86 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 7.4% during the forecasted period, the food and beverage industry can anticipate more investments surrounding mycelium R&D.
Consumer preferences continue leaning towards natural alternative sweeteners
According to FMI – The Food Industry Association’s report “The Power of Plant-Based Food and Beverages," 29% of consumers look for both low sugar and no added sugar on packaging, while 24% look for natural attributes, which unsurprisingly underscores the rising supply of natural alternative sweeteners in the market. In the same report, 30% of consumers reported putting in “a lot” of effort into selecting nutritious and healthy options, while 49% reported putting in “some” effort, highlighting the role brands can play in communicating ingredient and health attributes in plant-based food and drink.
Coupled with consumers’ evolving demand for clean and simple label ingredients and low-to-no-calorie sweeteners, MycoTechnology’s honey truffle sweetener is an addition to its traditional portfolio of mycelium-forward flavor modulation solutions for food and beverages—including ClearIQ which addresses bitter and off-notes and reduces salt and sugar while improving nutritional profile and FermentIQ protein, a more digestible and functional plant-protein.
While its honey truffle sweetener is still in its early stages of adoption, MycoTechnology plans to expand production:
“MycoTechnology is developing a proprietary platform designed to scale production, minimize manufacturing costs, and optimize yield. The result is a clean, intense natural sweetness with an expected cost-in-use competitive with sugar, and absence of aftertaste,” Hahn explained.
