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How Bonumose’s new tagatose facility moves better-for-you sweeteners forward

How Bonumose’s new tagatose facility moves better-for-you sweeteners forward
How Bonumose’s new tagatose facility moves better-for-you sweeteners forward


CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — There was no ribbon to cut, but Bonumose CEO Ed Rogers and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin officially opened the company’s new manufacturing and R&D facility with something sweet.

A barrel of the rare sugar tagatose, which Bonumose is now producing in large quantities, was at the front of a conference room, where the announcement was made, with a gigantic spoon next to it.

“We’ll take the first spoonful,” Rogers said, as he and Youngkin dipped into the barrel, scooped out the tagatose, and dropped it back in as the room of guests applauded. 

The sweetener was white and crystaline, much like the sugar Bonumose is hoping to start replacing, both as an ingredient used by manufacturers and as a sweetener consumers use to improve the taste of their beverages and for home baking.

Bonumose is on its way to building up its supply of the rare sugar and getting it to manufacturers. Although the $27.7 million, 50,000 square foot facility had its official opening ceremony on March 2, Rogers said the plant has actually been in operation since December. It’s currently operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he said, and production is ramping up to full capacity. 

Glenn Youngkin and Ed Rogers hold a large silver spoon of white crystalline tagatose over a white barrel at the front of a conference room with a Bonumose logo backdrop. People take photos in front.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (left) and Bonumose CEO Ed Rogers scoop some tagatose at the opening of Bonumose’s Charlottesville, Virginia facility on March 2.

Megan Poinski/Food Dive

 

ASR Group, which is the world’s largest reformer and marketer of cane sugar, was a key investor in Bonumose and is currently selling its tagatose to manufacturers. James Kappas, ASR’s vice president of specialty ingredients, said interest in tagatose has so far been deep and widespread, coming from a variety of different types of product manufacturers.

Hershey was also a key investor to help Bonumose build out its plant. In 2021, the confectioner unveiled a detailed strategy to offer more better-for-you candy options and grow in the space. Part of this commitment was co-leading Bonumose’s funding round that allowed it to build out the new facility, which company leaders have written can advance its work with rare sugars.

With Bonumose’s manufacturing facility in operation and influential people in the food industry spreading the word about tagatose, Rogers said the future is bright for the sweetener. 

“It works in everything, and it’s got this great flavor to it,” Rogers said. “And then it’s functional. One of the things that the sugar guys say is that it works more like sugar than any other alternatives.”

What is tagatose?

Tagatose is found in small quantities in nature, making it a natural — but rare — sweetener. It naturally occurs in some fruits, including apples and oranges, and in some dairy products.

Structurally, it’s a lot like sucrose. It can be used in a variety of applications, from baking to ice cream to confectionery to sweetening beverages. It’s also 90% as sweet as sugar, meaning a similar amount can be used in recipes.

Tagatose differs from sucrose in important ways. It has fewer calories — 1.5 calories per gram of tagatose, versus four calories per gram of sugar. 

It also has more distinct health-related functions. Tagatose doesn’t spike blood sugar levels, and has been found to even reduce them when consumed with other foods. It doesn’t cause tooth decay, and has been found to break up dental plaque. It also has prebiotic effects, feeding healthy gut bacteria with dietary fiber.

A man walks into a production facility with large equipment tanks on either side.

Bonumose Engineering Manager Tal Elseth leads a tour group into the area of Bonumose’s Charlottesville, Virginia facility where it produces tagatose.

Megan Poinski/Food Dive

 

Tagatose has been shown in studies to be as effective at managing hyperglycemia as diabetes drugs, as a toxin inhibitor for people with a gut pathogen, and can be made into a treatment for sickle cell anemia. 

Bonumose uses enzymes to convert other more plentiful ingredients into tagatose. On the day of the opening, the company was using maltodextrin from cornstarch to make the sweetener, but Tal Elseth, Bonumose’s engineering manager who led tours of the manufacturing facility, said that they could also operate with pea or potato starch.

In remarks at the facility opening, Rogers said Bonumose can enable healthier and affordable food that tastes as good as products consumers love today. It’s a pressing need, he said. The global market value of the food system has been estimated at $9 trillion, while a decade-old estimate of the amount spent on diet-related diseases is $11 trillion. Rogers said the cost differential is astonishing; food is making people sick.

Because the Bonumose facility is close to Thomas Jefferson’s famed home of Monticello, Rogers borrowed from the third president and primary Declaration of Independence author’s famous writings, declaring truths the company holds to be self-evident. People will eat healthier food when it tastes as good as the items they love. Less spending on diet-related health care will lead to lower prices on everything across the globe. And people will be happier and more productive if they aren’t battling diet-related illnesses.

“This is our purpose,” he said. “This is what drives us forward, and in a time when there are wars and rumors of wars, and pandemics and panics, we hope this is good news.”

How the tagatose is made

A loud hum of machinery fills the air in the part of Bonumose’s facility where the tagatose is made. It’s full of massive tanks and machines that convert the maltodextrin into tagatose, then purify and crystalize the rare sugar into a form in which it can be used.

Shouting above the noises, Elseth said on a tour that the plant will make about three metric tons of tagatose each day — about 6,615 pounds — when it is running at full capacity.

From an equipment standpoint, Rogers said the facility is similar to that of a plant making high fructose corn syrup. The choice of this kind of equipment was deliberate. 

Two large white tanks for tagatose production in a plant, surrounded by other equipment.

Tanks for preparing for the enzymatic production of tagatose in Bonumose’s Charlottesville, Virginia facility.

Megan Poinski/Food Dive

 

“We think that will help us scale because it’s not like we have to invent a whole supply chain,” Rogers said.

The facility had been a paper warehouse, which Bonumose gutted and rebuilt to accommodate its technology and meet food manufacturing requirements.

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