Page 22 - ameft-journal-2022-1

Eran Blachinsky, PhD, co-founder and co-CEO of Better Juice, Gali Yarom, co-founder and co-CEO of Better Juice, and Colm O’Gorman, Head of Sales Management for GEA’s Global Technology Center for Non-Alcoholic Beverages. (From left to right)
BEVERAGES
Better Juice, better with less sugar
Founded in 2017 by a team of food industry professionals with the aim to help beverage manufacturers pro- duce healthier, lower-sugar fruit juice, Better Juice, Ltd. along with FoodTech start up sealed its first commercial deal to bring reduced-sugar juices one step closer to supermarket beverage aisles. The company inked an agreement with a major US fruit juice manufacturer for commercial instalment of its sugar-re- duction technology.
This is Better Juice’s first official com- mercial venture in its long-term collabo- ration with GEA Group, AG, Germany, a world leader in process engineering for the food and beverage sectors. The two companies joined forces in a strategic move to scale up and promote the sug- ar-reduction technology throughout the global beverage market.
Start-up receives patent and a self- affirmed GRAS approval
Better Juice was granted a patent for its sugar-reduction enzymatic process in Europe. Armed with recent self-af- firmed GRAS status, the company is out to market its innovative system to food and beverage manufacturers world- wide. “These achievements, together with GEA’s knowhow and cutting-edge technology, will open doors to work more closely with food and beverage companies,” explains
Eran Blachinsky, PhD,
co-founder and co-CEO
of Better Juice.
Better-Juice’s pat- ented enzymatic tech- nology uses all-natural ingredients to convert fructose, glucose, and sucrose sugars into pre- biotic and other non- digestible fibers. The juice passes through a continuous flow bio- reactor housing non- GMO microorganism that transform the unwanted sugars into beneficial, non-digest-
22 AMEFT 1 2022
Better Juice has developed a ground-breaking solution that naturally reduces the amount of sugar in fresh juice drinks by up to 80%, without affecting its
nutritional value or taste.
ible molecules. It boasts capabilities to reduce sugar loads by up to 80%, while preserving the full complement of vi- tamins and other nutrients inherent in the fruit. The process moderates the sweetness of the juice, while intensi- fying the fruit flavor.
More healthy juices for 2022 shop- pers
Under the new venture, GEA will design, manufacture, and install the bioreactor that reduces sugars, and offer follow-up technical support. Better Juice will produce the micro- organisms for the enzymatic process. According to the first commercial order, the fruit drinks manufacturer will produce natural juices with a minimum sugar reduction of 30%,
and anticipates the product to arrive in supermarkets by spring 2022.
“This new agreement marks an ex- citing milestone in our mission to get our sugar-reduction technology off the ground, to penetrate the US market, and to expand our global footprint,” enthuses Blachinsky. “We’ve officially launched our drive to help consum- ers enjoy reduce sugar in their favorite fruit juice”, he added.
“Scaling up is always a challenge,” confesses Gali Yarom, co-founder and co-CEO of Better Juice. She said, “But when your partner is GEA, with its vast industrial food processing capabilities and global presence, the acceleration of the Better Juice commercialization is much faster and brings added value to the supply chain. Imagine—in just a few months, affordable, reduced-sug- ar fruit juice will be a ready option for American consumers.”
The equipment has been tested in GEA’s quality assurance facility in Ger- many and can be easily integrated into existing juice production lines, pro- viding product at a capacity of up to 200 liter per hour. Total production capacity of reduced-sugar juices can be adjusted to the manufacturer’s needs.
“Better Juice has incredible potential to transform the global juice industry,” notes Colm O’Gorman, Head of Sales Management for GEA’s Global Technology Center for Non-Alcoholic Beverages. He added, “As consumer demand for lowered- sugar beverages continues to surge, we are eager to join Better Juice on this momentous journey. We look forward to delivering products that address one of the top consumer needs of reducing their sugar intake, especially in daily
beverages.”
(Source: Better Juice)
www.ameft.com