Imperial Sugar Company, Sugar Land, TX, and PureCircle Limited, Oak Brook, IL, have launched Natural Sweet Ventures LLC, a joint venture that will combine the natural benefits of both sugar and stevia to develop reduced-calorie natural sweet product solutions for the beverage and food industries.

Natural Sweet Ventures’ product line will deliver benefits of pure cane sugar and stevia to manufacturers across North America through a broad portfolio, including liquid form—for the beverage industry as a liquid sweetener option; crystallized form—for syrup, spray-on, dairy and many baking and confection applications; a variety of calorie reduction levels—allowing formulation to specific calorie levels that best suit the application; and a sugar option with the added benefits of a lower glycemic index, no GMO (genetically modified organism), temperature and pH stable, and uniform dispersion of both sugar and stevia.

The Natural Sweet product line will directly aid manufacturers responding to strong consumer interest in natural reduced calorie products and the recent announcements by the beverage industry of more stringent labeling.

Natural Sweet Ventures’ products will be produced at Imperial’s Port Wentworth, Georgia refinery and marketed across North America by the combined sales teams of Imperial and PureCircle.