Research Outline

Monk Fruit Industry

Goals

To understand the Monk fruit industry's market value, biggest players and their market share, and industries that monk fruit is being used in order to inform an investor deck.

To understand Sohta Saraya and Yuji Murata research regarding monk fruit extract and why monk fruit can only be farmed in China to inform an investor deck.

Recommended Resource:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9Q_TrNlJdY

Early Findings

Our initial research on the Monk fruit industry revealed insights. Here are key pieces of information we found:

Monk Fruit Industry

  • The market value for the Monk fruit sweetener industry as determined by CAGR is projected to be 4.8% during the forecast period of 2020-2025. This market is mainly driven by health consciousness consumers who are increasingly demanding naturally derived sweeteners substitutes, diabetic patients, and the growing awareness regarding the negative health effects of sugar, as well as the medicinal benefits of monk fruit sweeteners such as their anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic properties. However, the elevated prices of monk fruit sweeteners and the presence of a large number of artificial sweetener competitors is restraining the market.
  • Key players in the Monk fruit industry are: Monk Fruit Corp., Archer Daniels Midland Company, Tate & Lyle Co., BioVittoria Co., Lakanto, GLG Life Tech Inc., and Steviva Brands, Inc.. Major companies in the Monk fruit sugar market are also: Apura Ingredients, Guilin Layn Natural Ingredients Corp., Imperial Sugar Company, Whole Earth Sweetener Co., LLC, Health Garden USA, Matakana SuperFoods Ltd., Group Krisda Stevia Canada Inc., and Bulk Barn Foods Limited.
  • Monk fruit sugar is widely recognized as an innovative means for sweetening food products.
  • Monk fruit (also known as Luo Han Guo) is up to 300 times sweeter than sugar and offers the benefits of a zero-glycemic index, zero calorie content, essential antioxidants, and significant healing attributes. Monk fruit also does not cause dental cavities and is consumable by diabetic patients.
  • The Monk fruit industry is segmented based on its type and application. Type based divisions are: purelo, monk fruit in raw, nectresse and lakanto.
  • The main industries where monk fruit is being used are in the food & beverage and pharmaceutical industries.
  • The food & beverage segment is further divided into sub types as: dairy products, bakery products, confectionery, nutrition drinks, frozen desserts, fruit & vegetable juices and several other products like salads, tea, flavor enhancers, fruit spreads, table-top sweeteners, processed fruit, dry-mix products, and chewing gum.
  • Within the pharmaceuticals segment, monk fruit is primarily being used for diabetics treatment, cancer treatment, and cough remedies.