According to the Valuates Reports report, the global natural sweetener market size is expected to grow from $22.49 billion in 2020 to $27.94 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 3.7%.

Among them, the demand for Monk fruit sugar as a member of the natural sweetener is also growing. According to data from SPINS, a market research agency, among the main sweeteners, mogroside achieved a market growth rate of 20% in 2021, which can be seen in the rapid growth rate.

In the domestic market, the popularity of monk fruit has also continued to increase, especially since Naixue officially announced the full use of monk fruit candy in stores, this raw material has immediately become the focus of the industry. This can't help but make people think of erythritol that exploded through the Genki Forest, so how far is monk fruit sugar from becoming the next erythritol? What are the potential tracks to land in the application market and pay attention to?

01

What does ChatGPT think of monk fruit candy?

Today, we introduce a "powerful" partner, ChatGPT, to see how the hottest artificial intelligence currently views monk fruit candy, and what inspiration its answers can bring us.

Stmonk: Do you know monk fruit candy?

ChatGPT

Monk fruit sugar is a natural sweetener, usually extracted from monk fruit. Monk fruit is a common fruit in Asia, and it contains a variety of nutrients and bioactive components, such as vitamin C, polyphenols, saponins, etc. Monk fruit sugar has attracted much attention because of its sweetness, low calorie and natural characteristics, and it has a wide range of applications in food, beverages, health products and other fields. Compared with traditional sugar sweeteners, monk fruit candy is healthier and more natural, so it is loved by consumers.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of mogroses compared with erythritol?

ChatGPT

Mogrose and erythritol are both common sugar substitute raw materials, and they have the following advantages and disadvantages between them:

Advantages of monk fruit sugar:

Low calories: Monk fruit sugar contains only 1.6 calories per gram, which is lower than erythritol.

Antioxidant: Mogroses contain a variety of flavonoids and vitamin C and other antioxidants, which have more antioxidant capacity than erythritol.

Disadvantages of monk fruit sugar:

Bitterness problem: The bitter taste of monk fruit sugar may affect the taste and popularity of food, and it is necessary to find effective ways to reduce or remove bitterness in the R&D and production process.

Higher price: The price of mogroses is higher compared to erythritol, which leads to its lack of competitiveness in the market.

Advantages of erythritol:

High sweetness: The sweetness of erythritol is about 60%~70% of sucrose, which is closer to the sweetness of sucrose than monk fruit sugar.

No bitterness: Erythritol does not produce a bitter taste, making it ideal for situations where food needs to be preserved in its original taste.

Disadvantages of erythritol:

Higher in calories: Erythritol has a caloric content of 2.6 kcal/g, which is higher than mogrose.

May cause side effects such as bloating: Erythritol may cause gastrointestinal discomfort such as bloating, diarrhea and other adverse reactions when ingested in large amounts.

It is necessary to choose the appropriate sugar substitute raw materials according to the specific use. If caloric intake and blood sugar need to be controlled, monk fruit sugar may be more suitable; If you need to preserve the original taste and texture of food, erythritol may be more suitable.

It can be found that compared with erythritol, mogrose has advantages in terms of calories, antioxidants, and safety. However, according to the application of the current market, there will still be a large gap between the application of monk fruit and erythritol, which is mainly related to its price. So, what factors affect the price, and what problems need to be solved if monk fruit sugar wants to be widely used? How to solve it?

ChatGPT also gave its answer.

Stmonk: What disadvantages need to be solved in order for monk fruit to be more widely used?

ChatGPT：

Unstable yield: The cultivation and harvest of monk fruit has a certain seasonality, and the yield is unstable due to the influence of climate, disasters and other factors, which will cause certain restrictions on the supply of monk fruit sugar.

Higher production cost: Compared with other sugar substitute raw materials, such as sucrose, beet sugar, etc., the production cost of monk fruit sugar is higher, which will lead to its relatively high price in the market.

Bitterness problem: The bitter taste of monk fruit may affect the taste and popularity of food, and effective ways to reduce or remove bitterness need to be found in the R&D and production process.

Low market recognition: Compared with other sugar substitute raw materials, the market recognition of monk fruit sugar is low, and more publicity and promotion are needed to improve its popularity and acceptance.

In response to these problems, the following measures can be taken:

Optimize planting and harvesting techniques to improve the yield and stability of monk fruit and reduce its production costs.

Strengthen research and development to find effective ways to reduce or remove the bitterness of monk fruit, and improve the taste and popularity of food.

Carry out marketing to improve the popularity and recognition of monk fruit sugar, and increase the trust and acceptance of consumers.

Carry out scientific research to deeply explore the efficacy and safety of monk fruit sugar, and improve its application value in medical and health care fields.

02

How far is monk fruit sugar from the next erythritol?

On the whole, if Luo Han Fruit Sugar wants to rise, it still needs to solve the problems of market awareness, output, and cost.

Among them, the production problem is the main limitation of monk fruit sugar. The production area of monk fruit is mainly concentrated in Guilin, Guangxi, and the singleness of the planting area limits its development to a certain extent. According to data from Guosen Securities, the output of monk fruit sugar is about 1,100 tons.

Compared with the production of erythritol, the output of ternary biological biology alone has reached 135,000 tons, coupled with the increase of Baolingbao, Huakang shares and other enterprises, erythritol has almost no problems in terms of cost and response to supply and demand.

In response to issues such as the production capacity of monk fruit, ChatGPT mentioned the way to optimize planting and harvesting technology, in fact, some leading companies such as Huacheng Biotechnology and Rhine Biotech are moving towards this path and breaking through the geographical planting restrictions of monk fruit. In addition, Rhine Biotech is also exploring the production of monk fruit sugar through biosynthesis technology.

While domestic enterprises are accelerating, foreign companies are not to be outdone. Elo Life Systems, a food technology company, has added genetic information about the sweetness of monk fruit to a variety of common and easy-to-cultivate plants in the United States, such as watermelon, sorghum, sugar beet, etc., to obtain stable production and affordable products.

Regarding the low awareness of the monk fruit sugar market, the driving force of terminal enterprises plays a crucial role.

From the perspective of erythritol, in addition to the drive of brands such as Yuanqi Forest, Nongfu Spring, and Pepsi, the process of its rise is also inseparable from the help of ready-made tea brands such as Heytea and CoCo. Monk fruit candy is currently also driven by Nai Xue's tea, and more brands may participate in the future.

Overall, monk fruit sugar is still a certain distance from becoming the next erythritol, but it is not far off. With the improvement of domestic consumers' awareness of monk fruit candy and the addition of more brands, monk fruit candy has the potential to stand in the center of the stage of mainstream sugar substitute raw materials.

What's more worth mentioning is that monk fruit itself is also a medicinal and edible homologous substance, in addition to sugar substitutes, it has more application possibilities in other directions.

Stmonk: In addition to being a sugar substitute raw material, what other application potential does monk fruit have?

ChatGPT：

In addition to being used as a sugar substitute ingredient, monk fruit has many other application potentials:

Food additives: monk Fruit Extract contains a variety of antioxidants, which can be used as a natural food additive to increase the shelf life and taste of food.

Medicinal value: Monk fruit is rich in flavonoids, which help prevent and treat a variety of diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, tumors, diabetes, etc.

Skin Supplements: Monk fruit contains antioxidants such as flavonoids and vitamin C, which help to reduce skin aging and maintain skin elasticity and radiance.

Cosmetic raw materials: Monk fruit extract can be used as a natural raw material in cosmetics to reduce skin pigmentation, increase skin radiance, improve skin texture, etc.

Biomass energy: Wastes such as monk fruit husks and pits can be used as biomass energy for energy conversion and utilization.

In conclusion, monk fruit has a wide range of application potential, and it may be more applied and developed in multiple fields in the future.

Specifically, monk fruit is used as a food additive, in addition to being directly added to various food and beverages, it can also be used as table sugar, according to the "Sugar Intake Level and Risk Assessment of Chinese Urban Residents", the primary source of daily sugar intake of Chinese residents is cooking sugar. It is believed that with the gradual deepening of consumers' understanding of monk fruit, it will have great potential to be used as table candy.

In addition, monk fruit may also play a role in the field of baking, for bakery products with high starch content, the addition of sucrose means that consumers have to consume more sugar, and with monk fruit can reduce sugar intake to a certain extent.

Give full play to its medicinal value. According to the current products on the market, they are mainly concentrated in the direction of clearing heat and relieving pharynx, relieving cough and reducing phlegm, and other medicinal values of monk fruit have yet to be further developed. Even less so in skin health products and cosmetics, which are almost impossible to see on the market. For biomass energy, it may be necessary to wait until the output of monk fruit is raised, and more companies will pay attention to this direction.

Monk fruit + probiotic throat lozenges

However, now we have also noticed that upstream raw material companies have begun to explore the diversified applications of monk fruit. For example, Huacheng Biotech took a fancy to the pharyngeal characteristics of monk fruit, and cooperated with Jinqi Biology to deeply explore the synergy between monk fruit and probiotics, and launched a sugar-free throat lozenge, which not only relieves throat discomfort, but also helps oral defense. Zhiyou Life, a subsidiary of Rhine Biotech, has launched a variety of monk fruit teas, and has also added monk fruit to beer, moon cakes and other products.

Monk fruit + protein powder

In foreign markets, according to SPINS data, the most used categories of monk fruit are protein supplements, meal replacements, frozen desserts and nutrition bars, and the fast-growing categories include yogurt and main dishes. United States one company, ALOHA, has launched a variety of vegan protein powders with monk fruit extract.

Combined with the application direction mentioned by ChatGPT and the products currently launched on the market, the application of monk fruit as a food additive and medicinal value has shown potential, and enterprises can deepen the application research in these aspects, so that the application track of monk fruit will continue to expand, and provide consumers with products that meet taste needs and health needs with the help of the health attributes of monk fruit.

Finally, let ChatGPT predict the future development of Luo Han Guo.

Stmonk: Predict the future development of monk fruit

ChatGPT

As the focus on healthy and natural foods continues to grow, so will the market demand for monk fruit as a natural sweetener. It is expected that in the next few years, the market size of monk fruit will continue to expand, and the application fields of monk fruit will also continue to expand, including food, beverages, health products, cosmetics and other fields.

At the same time, with the continuous progress of science and technology, the production technology of monk fruit will also continue to improve, and its production cost will gradually decrease, making its price more affordable to the people, and further promoting the market demand of monk fruit.

In the future, the main challenges of monk fruit may include: intensified market competition, continuous improvement of production technology, and environmental protection. In order to remain competitive in the market, monk fruit manufacturers need to continuously improve their technology and product quality, and seek a wider range of applications. At the same time, in order to protect the environment, companies also need to continuously optimize their production processes and reduce waste emissions.

On the whole, Luo Han Guo has a wide range of application prospects and good development potential, but it requires continuous innovation and development of enterprises to meet the challenges and needs of the market, and also needs the support and encouragement of the government and all aspects of society.

Finally, are you satisfied with ChatGPT's understanding and cognition of Luo Han Guo?