Cargill Becomes Exclusive US-Europe Distributor for TREHA™ Trehalose Sweetener
Food manufacturing titan Cargill as inked a deal with Tokyo-based pharmaceutical and food processing ingredient manufacturer Nagase Group. As a result of that deal, Cargill has become the sole United States and Europe distributor of TREHA™ trehalose, a sweetener produced by Nagase Group subsidiary Hayashibara Co. Ltd.
A naturally occuring glucose-based disaccharide, trehalose is classified by Cargill as a specialty sweetener and a multi-functional sugar with myriad potential ingredient applications for the food processing industry. Cargill is marketing the ingredient as a perfect addition to beverages ranging from energy drinks and nutritional shakes to powdered drinks and bottled coffee. The product also offers properties beneficial to food manufacturing such as an ability to retain moisture while preventing the formation of ice crystals, thereby helping to extend the shelf life and overall quality of baked goods and frozen foods. According to Cargill, TREHA™ can also increase juiciness and texture in proteins, mask unpleasant aftertastes in other artificial sweeteners, and preserve the color and vibrancy of vegetable and fruit juices.
The teams at Nagase Group and Cargill have expressed excitement over the deal and the opportunity to bring the ingredient from manufacturing in Japan to food processors in Europe and the U.S.:
“TREHA™ trehalose could literally go into 20 different finished products for 20 different reasons. This really is a unique ingredient that provides value in many areas due to its many functional properties,” said Deborah Schulz, Cargill specialty carbohydrates product line manager.
“TREHA™’s unique functionalities have been harnessed for food and beverage innovation in Asia in extremely diverse ways,” said Bradley Hilborn, director of business development at Nagase America Corporation. “Our partnership with Cargill will help us bring these innovative solutions to the U.S. and European communities, as well as work together to discover new possibilities for the ingredient.”
