Tate & Lyle has widened its partnership with BioHarvest Sciences, moving beyond the initial 2024 agreement to cover multiple plant-based sweetener molecules. The companies said the expansion reflects technical progress so far and is intended to give food and beverage manufacturers a broader set of options that can be matched more closely to specific formulation needs.

According to Tate & Lyle, the collaboration is designed to support sweetener systems that can be used on their own or in combination, allowing customers to balance sugar reduction, calorie reduction, clean labelling and cost control. The work draws on BioHarvest’s Botanical Synthesis platform, which the companies say can produce plant-based, non-GMO ingredients without relying as heavily on conventional agricultural extraction methods for rare or difficult-to-source botanicals.

The move comes as Tate & Lyle points to continuing consumer appetite for sugar reduction. In a 2025 study across seven global markets, the company said more than half of respondents planned to cut sugar intake over the next 12 months, with strong interest in sweeteners derived from fruit and plants. Tate & Lyle also said the desire to reduce sugar was stronger than the intention to cut calories or fat.

Victoria Spadaro-Grant, Tate & Lyle’s chief science and innovation officer, said the market is unlikely to be served by a single sweetener alone, given the range of needs customers now face. She said the expanded programme with BioHarvest adds “critical” flexibility and strengthens the company’s innovation pipeline through what she described as a disciplined, efficient and science-led approach.

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