Huacheng Ranks 2nd in Monk Fruit Sweetener Market Share

Huacheng Ranks 2nd in Monk Fruit Sweetener Market Share

Hunan Huacheng Biotech, Inc, has become the world's largest company specializing in the production of monk fruit extract. Established in 2008, Huacheng developed monk fruit extract as its main industry in 2012. It has ranked second in market share of conventional monk fruit sweetener and number one in organic monk fruit sweetener globally for four consecutive years.

The trend of Sugar Reduction Excited the Sugar Substitute Market

According to the ninth edition of the IDF Diabetes Atlas, the number of diabetes patients worldwide reached 463 million in 2019, and it is expected to increase by 578 million by 2030. Diabetes research has shown that excess sugar is a great danger to public health.

Monk Fruit, (known scientifically as Momordica grosvenor), contains four natural sugars. Called mogrosides, these natural chemicals create a sweetness 256 times to 344 times the sweetness of sucrose -- the chemical from cane sugar. That, along with being zero calories, makes monk fruit sweetener a favorite in the natural sugar substitute market.

Industry Chain to Optimize the Global Market

According to Leo Zhou, Marketing Director of Huacheng, the planting and selection of raw materials affects the quality of the final product. To ensure that quality, Huacheng has its own monk fruit planting bases in places such as Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guizhou, with a total planting area of nearly 13 square miles, (50,000 mu.) The high-quality seedlings and planting techniques cultivated by the R&D team are then taught to planters, leading to quality fruit.

Huacheng has successfully increased the average content of mogroside in monk fruit from 0.35 percent in 2005 to 0.43 percent in 2018. "Our goal is to increase this value to 0.65 percent by 2025, by which time the cost will be the same as that of sucrose." Leo said that they are also leading the industry in extraction, with a yield of 95 percent per 100 kilograms of fruit, up from 85 percent.

Strategic Layout to Achieve Growth in New Environments

“Huacheng has built its own warehouses in the United States and has formed a North American sales force to expand the market,” according to Leo. Warehouses are used to stock up in advance, and local sales staff know how to achieve growth by tailoring the product to each market.

“Despite the impact of the epidemic last year, our sales revenue has achieved a growth of 40 percent. It is estimated that revenue in 2020 will exceed 300 million RMB.” Leo said.