EFKO has launched Rissia's first production and sales of candies containing sweet-tasting protein brazzein. This new food ingredient, a beneficial substitute for sugar, received certification in the EAEU during the summer of 2024.

Sweets are produced in the Belgorod region at the mini-confectionery "EFKO Art," which is fully equipped to create and refine new product recipes. Eventually, the EFKO facility in the Tula region will launch the industrial production of sugar-free chocolate with sweet protein.

Currently, the sweet-tasting protein candy is offered in various flavors, and a chocolate line is also being prepared for mass production. The product was unveiled at the international exhibition Prodexpo-2025.

The candy has been delivered now to four cities: Moscow, Voronezh, Belgorod, and Alekseyevka in the Belgorod region. The geography will gradually expand.

In all items of the new line, the sweetness is achieved through brazzein resulting from the fermentation process.

Key characteristics of the sweet-tasting protein include a high sweetness factor, no impact on blood glucose levels, eco-friendly production, and safety validated by clinical research.

Brazzein's sweetness is higher than sugar by a thousand times or more. While a typical bar of chocolate contains about 50 grams of sugar, sweet-tasting protein requires only five-hundredths of a gram for the same flavor. The available space in the recipe can be given to beneficial ingredients, like dietary fiber.

Alena Surkova,
Director for Confectionery at EFKO's Oil & Fats Division

"EFKO has been involved with food ingredients for over 20 years. The development and testing occur at the company's two R&D centers in Alekseyevka and Moscow. The product range of the oil and fats division already covers over 150 different ingredients and is still growing.

As we develop and test various formulations with sweet protein, a major challenge is finding a filler to replace the sugar mass in the product. The best choice is a mix of bulky complex carbohydrates, which includes plant-based dietary fiber. Then, with a properly selected recipe, we get products with taste and consistency that closely match what consumers are accustomed to – sweet as usual and still healthy!"

Sweet proteins occur in rare wild tropical fruits, but the amount of brazzein is minimal, and transportation would be costly, so extracting is impractical. The issue was fixed by the biosynthesis of sweet-tasting proteins, meaning they were recreated through fermentation, especially since biotechnological production is significantly more compact and eco-friendly compared to traditional methods, as it does not require large areas of cultivated land and does not depend on the climate.