Dive Brief:
- Lampados International Ltd., is launching Liteez, a next-generation sweetener, which can melt in coffee or a hot drink or be enjoyed as an ultra-low calorie treat, according to a company release.
- Shaped like a meringue, the innovative plant-based sweetener is egg-free, sugar-free and vegan. Liteez is made with a vegetable protein that foams like eggs to create the product's meringue-like texture.
- The product is much healthier than sugar, Lampados claims. Two Liteez meringues contain about two calories compared to 20 calories in one teaspoon of table sugar.
Dive Insight:
Unlike other artificial sweeteners on the market, this vegan sweetener product can melt into coffee or tea and can also be eaten as-is for dessert.
Liteez's meringue-shaped delivery system can be used with almost any chosen high-intensity sweetener, including stevia, monkfruit and more.
“The strategy behind the creation of the product was to create a tabletop sweetener that is indulging, includes healthy ingredients and does not compromise on taste,” Noam Kaplan, CEO of Lampados, told Food Dive in an email. “Designing a sweetener that is shaped like a meringue kiss is much more satisfying then a tablet or powder.”
Every tabletop sweetener is composed of a high-intensity sweetener (including the likes of stevia, saccharine, sucralose or monkfruit) and a bulking agent or filler (dextrose, sucrose, polyol or erythritol). The product contains vegetable protein and fibers as a replacement for those bulking agents.
While this kind of product might not help manufacturers who are scrambling to reformulate their products to meet consumer demands for less sugar, it could do a lot to change the behavior of those who treat sugar as an indulgence. The fun factor of this product gives it a foothold in the beverage or even confectionery space. It also could launch interesting partnerships to formulate less sugary and vegan desserts.