Under the new agreement, ADM will be exclusive global marketer and distributor of low-calorie sweeteners made from stevia and monk fruit by natural sweeteners specialist GLG.
The businesses are aiming to tap consumer demand for natural, clean label ingredients.
“ADM is already helping customers meet that growing demand with our portfolio of ingredients and flavors,” said Rodney Schanefelt, ADM director for sugar and high intensity sweeteners. “Now, we’re expanding that portfolio further by offering customers around the world a wide array of stevia and monk fruit sweeteners.”
Demand for low-sugar and sugar-free sweeteners is being boosted by the increase in overweight, obese and diabetic patients, said analysts Technavio in a recent report on the global sweetener market, which it tipped to grow at a CAGR of around 5% between 2016 and 2020.
Third-largest market
Europe emerged as the third-largest market for zero-calorie sweeteners in 2015, according to Technavio, accounting for just over 18% share of the $1.5bn (€1.34bn) global market.
GLG supplies high-purity zero-calorie natural sweeteners including stevia and monk fruit extracts for use in food and beverages.
The company said its operations are vertically integrated and cover each step in the stevia and monk fruit supply chains, including “non-GMO seed and seedling breeding, natural propagation, growth and harvest, and proprietary extraction and refining”.
Its corporate headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada, and the business has manufacturing and processing facilities in China.
Soy crushing expansion
ADM also announced it is looking to further expand its soy crushing options in northwest Europe after starting up new soybean crushing capacity at its oilseeds plant in Straubing, Germany (pictured, left).
The new capability enables the site to crush soybeans sourced from the Danube region. These will then be marketed as European non-GMO soymeal and oil to customers in Western Europe.
“The future of crushing beans in Europe looks healthy, and we are looking very closely at where we can best expand crush in Europe,” said Jon Turney, general manager of ADM European soybean crush.
ADM said scale would be key to its success as a soy crusher and its ability to compete with origin crushers importing meal into Europe.