DouxMatok, a food technology company whose first product is a sugar-based sugar reduction solution called Incredo Sugar, takes a nod to that and changes its company name to Incredo.
Incredo’s technology binds real cane or beet sugar with traces of a natural carrier that can reduce the amount of sugar in foods by 30% to 50%. This means that people can eat less of it, but still get the same effect of taste, mouthfeel or texture – and without changing the ingredients.
We last checked in with DouxMatok in 2017, when the Israel-based company was developing that technology. Since then a lot has changed.
Ari Melamud took over from Eran Baniel as CEO in 2021. He joined the company with a number of goals, including getting the technology to market and starting another round of fundraising after Incredo’s Series B round in 2019.
Consider them fulfilled: Incredo Sugar is now commercially available, and along with the name change, the company announced it had raised $30 million in a Series C funding round.
The investment was co-led by dsm-firmenich Venturing and Sienna Venture Capital. They joined a group that included strategic commercial partner Ferrero, new investor Teseo Capital and existing investors Pitango and BlueRed Partners. The company has now raised a total of $60 million.
“Incredo has developed one of the most promising nutritional innovations we’ve seen – a delicious, affordable and clean-label product that can reduce the sugar in foods without additives or flavor changes,” said Isabelle Amiel-Azoulai, managing partner at Sienna Venture Capital, in a written statement. “Incredo has what it takes to make Incredo Sugar appear in products around the world.”
There are currently numerous sugar substitutes on the market. They’re not all the same, however, according to Melamud, who noted that the World Health Organization released new guidelines this month “against the use of non-sugar sweeteners to control body weight or reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases” because of the lack of benefits on show the long term.
Health values aside, one of the biggest problems with sugar alternatives is that each one has a different sweetness profile, which often changes the flavor of the foods it’s in, he said.
“Consumers are very clear in their message to the brands that the taste is what they don’t like,” Melamud said. “The second is that they want a clean label. We are the only solution that is actually sugar based, which gives us the benefits of taste and clean label.”
Incredo is one of a handful of companies developing healthier versions of sugar alternatives, including Supplant, MycoTechnology, Sensient, and Joywell Foods, which has been in the industry for nearly a decade.
Incredo’s recipe testing laboratory. Image Credits: Incredo
Last year was Incredo’s first commercial year, which included collaborations with Batory Foods and Blommer Chocolate Co. Melamud declined to comment on revenue details, but did say “we’ve essentially achieved our goal” and that there are “aggressive growth plans” for the next two years.
The company launched in Europe earlier this year and there are plans to do the same in Asia later in 2023. Plans also call for new and greater availability in Europe, Israel and the US, where Incredo has built headquarters in Austin. The North American effort is led by Kelly Thompson, who joined the company in 2022 after previously holding R&D roles for companies such as Kraft Foods.
Melamud plans to invest most of the new funding in Incredo’s R&D team, which works to improve and launch new versions of its product, as well as commercialization efforts for Incredo Sugar.
Meanwhile, even though Incredo is commercially available, it could take two years or more for major food manufacturers to sign on and change their recipes to include the sugar product. However, the company is trying to get ahead of that by “currently executing hundreds of projects in the US,” with some of those big players, Melamud said.
“We have to remember that this is a slow category,” Melamud said. “Some of those projects will mature this year with bigger amounts next year and even bigger amounts in 2025. We see a lot of interest in the market, which shows that the need is there.”
