Stevia Category Exploding in USA

The natural sweetener stevia looks set to become the next big thing, according to a report from consumer research firm Mintel. Since December 2008, when the FDA approved use of rebaudioside A (an active ingredient of stevia) in U.S. foods and beverages, the stevia market has undergone tremendous growth: by mid-July 2009, sales topped $95 million, in contrast to the $21 million racked up for all of 2008. The report forecasts that the stevia market could surpass $2 billion by the end of 2011. In the first eight months of 2009, Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD) monitored the introduction of over 110 US food, drink and health care products containing stevia, and found that annual new product activity for sweetener more than doubled between 2007 and 2008.