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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

The Supplant Company

Supplant is Expanding its Fiber-Based Sugar Throughout the US Following $18M Raise

Americans have a problem: we consume way too much sugar (about 57 pounds a year on average) and not nearly enough fiber (only about 5 percent of the population ingests enough). The Supplant Company aims to offer a solution to this issue with its sugar made from the fibers of agricultural side streams like corn, wheat, and rice.

At the start of this week, The Supplant Company announced that it has raised a $18 million Series A funding round. Celebrity investors like Ayesha Curry (actress) and Chris Paul (Basketball player) joined this round, along with Manta Ray, EQT, Khosla, Felicis, Coatue, Y Combinator, Agfunder, and more. This brings the company’s total funding to $27 million.

I spoke with Dr. Tom Simmons, the CEO and founder of The Supplant Company, earlier this week to discuss the latest funding round and what the next steps will be for the company. When asked what the next year will look like for the company, Simmons said the “…we’re really sort of focused on driving further rollouts of the product, so more products, and more places more consumers having them. And of course the scale-up size. There’s a whole load of technical work going on behind the scenes by all the scientists to ramp up production and use different feedstocks as well.”

The Supplant Company launched in the U.S. in June 2021 in partnership with Chef Thomas Keller and his restaurants in California and New York. The company’s sugar is currently still being used in the dessert dishes at these restaurant locations. Now, Supplant’s sugar is being used at You’re a Cookie (Illinois), Cookie Fix (Alabama), Sweet Republic (Arizona), Bakeology (California), and RiverSea (Virginia).

The Supplant Company is both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C), although it has primarily focused on business partnerships since its launch. I asked Simmons when I could buy a bag of Supplant’s sugar in say, my local Whole Foods, and he said, “We’re not planning to sell sugar anytime soon directly to consumers, maybe at some point in the future. We don’t think it’s where the big business opportunity nor the big social opportunity is.” Americans consume a shocking average of 71 grams of sugar per day, and Simmons sees most of this sugar consumption mostly stemming from foods, like cookies, cake, ice cream, and other sweets, that the consumers purchase outside of the home.

A few other companies in the food tech space are attempting to tackle the issue of individuals consuming too much added sugars. DouxMatok uses sugar reduction technology for its Incredo Sugar product, and launched its sugar-reduced products in April of this year. Better Juice uses enzymatic technology to reduce the amount of sugar in natural juices. Siggi’s, a company known for its Icelandic skyr cultured dairy products, released what it called a “Palate Training Kit” to help consumers reduce their sugar intake.

As The Supplant Company continues to rollout its sugar in the U.S., it will also work on developing new products. Simmons mentioned that the company will release new products in the not-so-distant future, including some that are not sugar.

Update: This article previously stated that The Supplant Company had raised $25 million USD in its most recent funding round, but the correct amount it has been updated to reflect is $18 million.

The Supplant Company’s Fiber-Based Sugar Launches in the U.S.

When it comes to growing major crops like corn, rice, wheat, and sugar cane, there is often an abundance of raw material left over post-harvest. Referred to as agricultural side streams, this material includes things like husks, leaves, cobs, and stems. Traditionally, industrial agricultural side streams have not had much use, but upcycling food waste and a focus on a circular economy have garnered a lot of attention in the past few years. Now, more and more companies in the food tech space are upcycling food waste and agricultural byproducts to create something new. One such company is The Supplant Company.

The Supplant Company was founded in 2017 by Dr. Tom Simmons, who holds a Ph.D. in Plant Science. The company upcycles agricultural side streams and uses the fiber from these materials to create its sugar. Stems, stalks, and cobs — parts of the plant that would otherwise go to waste — are the primary ingredients for the sugar.

On a phone call at the end of last week, Simmons said that enzymes produced by fungi are used to break down the long complex chains of sugar found in fibrous materials. From there, the shortened chains can be more easily converted to sugar.

Regular white cane sugar does not contain fiber and has a high glycemic index, which causes blood sugar spikes. Since Supplant’s sugar is made from a base of fiber, it has a lower glycemic index than cane sugar, has fewer calories, and is also prebiotic, according to the company. Sugar obviously provides sweetness, but it can also contribute to the texture of certain foods, like baked goods for example. The Supplant Company said that its sugar behaves the same way as cane sugar in baking, cooking, and caramelizing.

Since there is so much excess raw material leftover from industrial agriculture operations, other companies besides Supplant are also finding uses for side streams. Comet Bio is also upcycling farm waste like stalks and husks to create sweeteners and supplements. Kokoboard uses agricultural waste in Asia, including coconut husks, peanut shells, and rice straw, to create construction building boards. Nestlé launched a product called Nescafé Nativ Cascara this year, a carbonated soft drink that uses the coffee berry fruit surrounding the coffee bean which is typically discarded.

This past Friday, June 18, Supplant debuted its fiber-based sugar in the U.S. in partnership with Chef Thomas Keller. The sugar was used to make vanilla ice cream and chocolate sprinkles, and was offered at Keller’s California and New York restaurants over the weekend. Supplant is currently working with consumer brands, restaurants, and chefs to expand its product throughout the U.S. market.