The Israeli FoodTech start-up Better Juice announced its successful completion of pilot trials for reducing simple sugars in natural berry and other fruit juices. In partnership with GEA Group, one of the largest suppliers of food processing technology, Better Juice hosted several prominent berry fruit juice manufacturers from Europe, the USA, Australia, and Brazil to give brands a sugar-reduction makeover using its groundbreaking sugar-reduction technology.
The trials were conducted at the pilot innovation unit established last year in GEA's (Gesellschaft für Entstaubungsanlagen) innovation centre in Ahaus, Germany. Accommodating the GEA Better Juice Sugar Converter Skid, the state-of-the-art site has continuous flow columns containing Better Juice's sugar-reducing beads.
While preserving their characteristic flavours and textures during the trials, the team reduced the straightforward sugar content by 30 percent and 50 percent across various fruit juices, including strawberry, cherry, and blueberry.
"Fruit juices contain 10 percent or more sugar, with berry and cherry juices comprised of 10 to 20 percent sucrose and the remainder fructose and glucose," explained Eran Blachinsky, co-founder and Co-CEO of Better Juice.
"Our technology reduces loads of all three of these simple sugars. This will allow more people to enjoy berry-based juices."
Better Juice's sugar-reduction beads are formed using non-GMO microorganisms that naturally convert the juice's sucrose, glucose, and fructose composition into prebiotic oligosaccharides and other non-digestible fibres, retaining the natural complement of vital nutrients.
"By implementing a 'plug-and-play' approach, we produced juices with the same nutritional value and mouthfeel as the original products, with only a slightly toned-down sweetness," reports Gali Yarom, Better Juice co-founder and Co-CEO.
"The feedback was most promising, with several companies expressing a strong interest in continuing to work with us to bring these products to market. We are in advanced discussions with several major US-based fruit juice companies to install our technology in their juice production systems. We project sugar-reduced berry fruit juices will reach the shelves early next year."
The treatment process proved successful for both clear NFC (not from concentrate) juices and dense concentrates and pulp-retained juices. Many juice manufacturers worldwide use concentrates to reduce shipping costs by evaporating the water and adding it back to the destination during bottling.
Berry and cherry fruit juices are naturally abundant in pulp, so many juice companies strive to retain these fibre-rich fruit solids in their products. Better Juice's technology has been designed to handle pulp and ensure it remains in the juice, eliminating the need for filtering. This helps preserve the fruit's nutritional benefits and delivers a satisfying texture that consumers love.
The Sales Support Engineer for Non-Alcoholic Beverages for GEA, Michael Harenkamp, shared that the company has hosted numerous companies globally since opening the pilot facility. The companies would use the technology to test juice brands and other fruit-based products, including jams.
Major global players had expressed interest and enthusiasm for Better Juice’s technology. Harenkamp elaborated that there was excitement for the emerging consumer demand for naturally sugar-reduced products. The new technology gives products a unique competitive edge with lowered-sugar fruit juices that are still as nutritious and refreshingly delicious.
