INTHEBLACK October/November 2024 - Magazine - Page 44
F E AT U R E
The sugar
evolution
The sugar industry – a staple of Australian agricultural exports – is turning
to innovation and diversified products as it combats regulatory challenges
and potential threats from emerging sugar substitutes.
Words Cameron Cooper
In the US state of Colorado, food tech
entrepreneur Alan Hahn is leading what he
calls a “sweet revolution”, which he believes
could help alleviate obesity – disrupting the
sugar and non-sugar sweetener markets in
the process.
Hahn is the CEO of MycoTechnology,
an agricultural technology business that uses
fermentation to enhance food and beverages.
He heads a team that is developing a sweet
protein derived from honey truffles, which
can be converted into a natural sugar
substitute and is up to 2000 times sweeter
than sugar. In theory, this could enable
consumers to use less of the product and
minimise the risk of sugar-laden diets that
have long been linked to high diabetes
and obesity levels.
44 INTHEBLACK October/November 2024
Hahn is collaborating with other
players in the food and beverage sector
to turn the honey truffle discovery into
a commercial reality.
STANDING ITS GROUND
A combination of health concerns
around sugar and non-sugar sweeteners
– on top of sugar shortages due to weather
and supply-chain issues in countries
such as China, India and Brazil – is
bringing natural sweetener innovations
into the spotlight.
As disrupters such as MycoTechnology
emerge, the sugar industry occupies an
evolving, but potentially exciting, spot in
the food and beverage, agricultural and
biomass markets.