When serial entrepreneur Dagi Pekatch began showing early signs of developing Type 2 diabetes, he began to study the negative health effects of sugar. His research not only showed him he wasn’t alone – in just the United States, one in three people have prediabetes and worldwide, it is estimated that 422 million people live with diabetes – but also made him realize our sugar addiction represented a huge opportunity for a better alternative. It wouldn’t be long before he co-founded a start-up called B.T. Sweets in 2019, which this week unveiled its first product: Cambya, a sugar alternative made from soluble fibers, botanicals, and monk fruit.
Cambya is a one-to-one sugar replacement, meaning that it uses the same measurements used for standard white sugar. For example, if a muffin recipe called for 1/2 cup of cane sugar, then a 1/2 cup of Cambya could be used instead. Since soluble fibers are one of the main components of this alternative sugar, the company says this improves digestion and increases satiety.
Sugar poses a major problem in our modern society: we eat way too much of it, and it’s making us sick. Of course, while many other alternative sweeteners like stevia, erythritol, monk fruit extract are already widely available, it is well known that many of these zero sugar sweeteners have a bitter or “off” aftertaste. With more consumers choosing to reduce their added sugar intake, the sugar-alternative market is projected to be worth $10.2 billion USD by 2026.
Another start-up called The Supplant Company has a similar idea to Cambya. This company also uses plant fibers to craft a low-sugar, high-fiber sweetener, but what sets Supplant apart is that it uses the fibers of agricultural side streams like corn, wheat, and rice. DouxMatok and BetterJuice are two other companies in the food tech space that have also developed sugar reduction technologies.
Cambya operates on a plug-and-play model where it will work with both new and existing CPG companies to achieve the goal of creating products with lower added-sugar content. Manufacturers have the option to only use Cambya, or blend it with other sugars. According to the company, Cambya has been tested in many confectionery applications, in everything from cake to pudding to ice cream. Cake without all the sugar (and negative health effects!) and sounds pretty sweet to me.
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