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my country's sugar substitute industry has entered the fast lane since 2018, and its total output has ranked first in the world in recent years. While developing rapidly, the safety of some sugar substitutes has been controversial, and overcapacity has led to intensified competition in the industry. At present, new natural sugar substitutes such as allulose have become a new focus of the market.

Faced with rapid changes in the industry, Wang Qiang, president of Baolingbao Biotechnology Co., Ltd. ("Baolingbao"), a leading sugar substitute company, said in a recent interview with the Beijing News that my country's sugar substitute industry is transitioning from the start-up stage to the mature stage, with huge market potential. In the future, the sugar substitute market will move towards a natural and healthy direction.

Wang Qiang, president of Bowling Ball. Photo provided by the interviewee

Transition from start-up phase to mature phase

Beijing News:What stage of development is my country's sugar substitute industry at?

Wang Qiang:With the improvement of consumers' health awareness and the sharp increase in demand for sugar-free and low-sugar products, the application of sugar substitutes has become one of the mainstream trends. In recent years, China's total output of sugar substitutes has ranked first in the world. At present, my country's sugar substitute industry is transitioning from the start-up stage to the mature stage. The market potential is huge, but it also faces challenges in terms of technological innovation, product safety and market education. The market demand for healthier and more natural sugar substitutes has shown explosive growth. On the one hand, it has promoted sugar substitute companies to continuously innovate technology and increase production capacity. On the other hand, it has also put forward higher requirements for the standardization and normalization of the entire industry.

Beijing News:Sugar substitutes have caused some controversy in recent years. What impact have they had on the industry?

Wang Qiang:The development of the sugar substitute industry is indeed accompanied by some controversy, but all approved sugar substitutes have been strictly scientifically evaluated and approved by regulatory agencies, and are safe to use within the prescribed range and dosage. These controversies reflect consumers' high concern about food safety and also put forward higher requirements for the industry. As an enterprise, we should attach great importance to product safety and consumer trust, and work hard to strengthen scientific research and information transparency, improve product quality and safety, respond to consumer concerns, and promote industry norms and self-discipline.

Beijing News:There is overcapacity in erythritol production. How will it develop in the future?

Wang Qiang:In recent years, the market demand for sugar products, especially erythritol, has surged, prompting many companies to start production and expand production, resulting in overcapacity problems and bringing certain challenges to the development of the industry. However, the industry is confident that it can cope with the current overcapacity problem.

In the future, industry enterprises need to try to expand more industry opportunities by driving innovation, creating a diversified market, optimizing production and supply chain management, expanding new areas to create characteristic growth, strengthening brand building and promotion, etc., so as to allow erythritol and other sugar substitutes to have more application scenarios. Bowling Ball is also developing more high-value-added new sugar substitute products through technological innovation and product upgrades to expand the application scenarios of sugar substitutes.

Natural sugar substitutes become the mainstream of the market

Beijing News:What do you think is the development trend of sugar substitutes?

Wang Qiang:In the current market, artificial and natural sweeteners coexist, each with its own application scenarios and market demand. More and more consumers tend to choose products with natural ingredients, and natural sweeteners such as stevioside and erythritol are gradually becoming the mainstream of the market.

Under this trend, some artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin, are facing a situation of gradually decreasing market share, prompting companies to gradually reduce their dependence on artificial sweeteners. However, artificial sweeteners still have irreplaceable advantages in certain specific application scenarios, such as in some low-cost, high-sweetness products.

Beijing News:Will plant-based sugar substitutes become a new incremental market?

Wang Qiang:Plant-extracted sweeteners, such as stevia extract and monk fruit extract, have attracted widespread attention in the market due to their natural and safe properties, but their direct scope of use is relatively narrow and they need to be used in combination with filler sweeteners such as erythritol or allulose. Therefore, the market space for filler sweeteners is larger.

Beijing News:The emerging sweetener allulose is currently attracting much attention. What do you think of its prospects?

Wang Qiang:Allulose has attracted widespread attention worldwide in recent years due to its advantages such as low calories and low glycemic index. I believe that allulose has great potential in meeting the needs of health and functional foods. From the perspective of the global market, allulose has been widely used in North America and some Asian countries, becoming an important ingredient in many food and beverage formulations. In China, although it has not yet been approved for use, the market is very hot. It is expected that in the next few years, as approval is implemented, allulose will gradually be promoted and popularized in the domestic market, and the prospects are broad.

Beijing News reporter Liu Huan

Editor: Guo Tie

Proofread by Liu Baoqing