Milling & Baking News - June 30, 2009 - 20

Food Ingredient Solutions

customers worldwide have come to
associate with Nielsen-Massey's premium products."

SUNOPTA GLOBAL ORGANICS INGREDIENTS

Lighter than honey
Another premium ingredient may
need more consumer education than
vanilla beans. Matt Salis and his
wife, Sheri, have used agave nectar
as a sweetener for five years in some
of their bread. They own four Great
Harvest Bread Co. franchises in the
Denver area.
"We spend a lot of time explaining
to customers what agave nectar is,"
Mr. Salis said. "They assume it's something cool and neat. So they often ask
us about it."
Besides agave nectar, Mr. Salis and
his wife also use honey and molasses
as sweeteners. Agave nectar has lower
moisture content than honey and gives
the bread more of a crumbly texture.
Agave nectar makes bread a lighter
color than honey does.
"That visual makes a big difference," Mr. Salis said.
He and his wife use agave nectar
solely in whole wheat bread. Besides
the lighter color, the agave nectar also
may make the whole wheat bread appear similar to white bread because
the sweetener helps the bread rise and
gives it more air pockets.
"Agave nectar has won its place

in a handful of breads,"
Mr. Salis said. "It's the
addictive ingredient
in a number of our
breads."
He buys the
sweetener from a
Colorado supplier.
"It's an expensive product, but
the price for us has
not fluctuated at
all," he said.
Honey
prices
fluctuate
more,
but agave nectar
has cost more the
last couple of years,
Mr. Salis said. He said
honey prices have ranged from $1 to
$1.70 per lb while agave nectar prices
range from $1.30 to $1.50 per lb.
Wholesome Sweeteners, Sugar
Land, Texas, now offers organic blue
agave nectar from Jalisco, Mexico.
Blue agave (Agave tequilana var. Weber) is a member of the Amarylis
family. It's the same plant used in the
production of tequila. The blue agave
plants used by Wholesome Sweeteners are grown to U.S. Department of
Agriculture organic standards.
Cooking the plant's inulin turns it
into nectar. Wholesome Sweeteners
offers light blue agave nectar, which is

Agave nectar works as both a natural preservative and water preserver in baked foods.
20 / June 30, 2009

Milling & Baking News

heated to 161 degrees Fahrenheit, and
raw blue agave nectar, which has
lower temperatures and slower cooking times.
Agave nectar may replace sugar
since it is 25% sweeter than sugar and
low-glycemic, according to Wholesome Sweeteners. Since agave nectar
adds liquid, formulators should reduce other liquids in the recipe by onethird when using it as a sugar replacement. They also should reduce oven
temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit
and bake for a few minutes longer.
SunOpta Global Organic Ingredients, Aptos, Calif., is another agave
nectar supplier. The agave nectar
works as both a natural preservative
and water preserver in baked foods,
said Hendrik Rabbie, a sales manager. The Japanese market uses agave
nectar in cakes such as sponge cakes,
he said, while the North American
market primarily has used the sweetener in food bars.
Agave syrup is about 25% sweeter
than sugar, but sugar is dry while agave syrup has 25% humidity, Mr. Rabbie said.
"So bakers who use less agave
than sugar might need to increase
the amount of agave to get the same
sweetness level," he said. "They have
to factor the humidity level."
Dipping and drizzling chocolate
While agave nectar may sweeten
premium products, chocolate may
add indulgent appeal.
"Manufacturers are creating decadent products with the addition of
rich, indulgent chocolate," said Courtney LeDrew, marketing manager for
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - June 30, 2009

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