THE SPECIALTY SUCROSE MARKET -- AN IMPORTANT NICHE

摘要

The sugar industry has three basic areas for economic expansion: (1) Incremental improvements in processing that increase yield, energy efficiency, or other desirable processing parameter; (2) byproducts, and (3) new uses of sucrose as a specialty food product or new types of specialty sugar. The first two topics, incremental process improvements and by-products, have been well covered in recent meetings. The value added specialty sucrose niche, on the other hand, has received less coverage. In recent years, "unrefined," "less refined," "natural" and organic products have developed a strong following. Part of it is due to the appealing descriptions used in marketing campaigns, but a lot of the appeal also taps into the desire of many consumers to use less processed foods in their diet. This paper reviews some of the sugar products on the market, the pitfalls and promise of specialty products, and some speculations as to what the future may hold.