5
NOV2017 FOOD FOCUS THAILAND
Advertorial
Mr.ChongKamChun
RegionalVice President,APAC
PureCircleTrading Sdn Bhd,
Malaysia
enhances the tasteofchocolate.Mr.Chong
KamChun,RegionalVicePresident,APAC
of PureCircleTradingSdnBhd, Malaysia,
revealed that the company has launched
anewstevia leaf-basedflavorenhanceras
“CocoaReplacer” is significantlyaugment
the cocoa flavors, enabling companies to
produce products at a manageable price
point. This new enhancer can be labelled
as natural flavors on product ingredient
labels. This breakthrough builds on
PureCircle’s extensive range of flavors
which allows them to enhance key
benefits such as mouthfeel, sweetness
quality and different tonalities across
awide range of applications. PureCircle’s
new flavor enhancer bolsters companies’
supplyof limitedcocoapowder ingredients,
and thereby diversify risk strategies by
introducing a plant-based solution. This
newproductwillallowdevelopers to reduce
the amounts of cocoa (about 15%)
alongside sugar (about 20%) without
compromising taste.
Steviacanalsobefound inunimaginable
product like chili sauce.Again, PureCircle
workedwithaMalaysia-basedproducer to
find thebestpossible recipeandgoaround
obstacles likehow to stabilize the formula
as they replace sugar, which is a natural
preservation, with stevia. After 2 years of
dedicationandhardwork, theworld’s first
chili saucewas launched early this year.
With its quality as a substitution for
sugar, stevia canbe the solution formany
Thaimanufacturerswhoareseekingways
to re-adjust their beverage recipes in
response to thenewsugarydrinks tax.The
new regulation,whichwas implementedon
September16,allowsmanufacturers tofind
“healthiersolution” - inotherwords, reduce
sugar level - within 2 years, or face
maximum2%extra taxon topof thecurrent
20%.
According toMr.Chong, adding stevia
into the formula can help manufacturers
maintain the products’ sweetness while
lowering sugar content (g/100ml). For
example,abeverageproducer isproducing
a drink with 8-10 g/100ml sugar content.
If he carries on with the same recipe, his
drinkwill be taxedTHB0.30per litermore
in 2019. However, if he reduces 30% of
sugar content to lower than6g/100ml and
replaces it with stevia, his product can be
exempted from the additional excise tax
and still be as original taste as it is today.
Not only that, hecanalsogoall theway to
reducingsugarcontent to0%whilemaking
it tastes like thedrinkswith6-8g/100ml of
sugar.
Who isPureCircle?
As demand for stevia is on the rise,
PureCircle has been established as the
global leader in production andmarketing
ofhighpuritystevia ingredients.PureCircle
leads the industry with development of a
vertically integrated, sustainable and
natural supply chain. PureCircle has
developed a broad portfolio of ingredient
solutions and has pioneered such
ingredients as Reb A, SG95 and
breakthroughproprietary ingredientsAlpha,
Delta, Sigma Solutions Stevia (Sigma-D,
Sigma-T, Sigma-B & Sigma-S), Zeta family,
aswell asPureCircleFlavours.
TheCompanyhasestablishedacomplete
agronomyprogramcollaborateswith farmers
whogrow thesteviaplantsandwith foodand
beverage companies which seek to improve
their low- andno-calorie formulationsusinga
sweetener from plants.
PureCircle has offices around the world
with theglobalheadquarters inKualaLumpur,
Malaysia.Tomeet growingdemand for stevia
sweeteners, PureCircle is rapidly rampingup
itssupplycapability. It recentlycompleted the
expansion of its Malaysian stevia extract
facility inMarch2017, increasing its capacity
fromcurrent2,500metric tons to5,000metric
tons, to supply the newer and great-tasting
specialty stevia sweeteners and helping
provideever-increasingvalue to itscustomers.
Its high expectation also includes plan to
encourage more farmers to switch from
sugarcane and tobacco to stevia for better
income, and toexpand supply chain tomany
countries including Paraguay, Kenya,
Zimbabwe, Uganda, Guatemala, Ecuador,
India, and Indonesia, etc.
“Themorepeoplegrowingstevia, themore
supplywecanget.Then,wecan improve the
industry, and stevia can become a common
ingredient everyone can be used”, says
Mr.Chong.
