Amai Sweeteners – Amai Proteins

Amai designs proteins for the mass food market starting with the first healthy, tasty, sustainable and cost-effective sugar substitute. Sugar overconsumption is the world’s largest cause of non-communicable diseases. Beyond health challenges, sugar production and distribution contaminate air, land and sea and affects the lower socioeconomic class the most. Yet, sugar substitutes are challenged by taste, health, cost or product fitness. Consequently, sugar and high-fructose corn syrup dominate 90% of the sweetener market.

Amai (‘sweet’ in Japanese) designs proteins using Agile-Integrative Computational Protein Design by mimicking proteins that live in harsh environments e.g. the Dead Sea, hot springs or acidic swamps. The resulting proteins are well fit for the harsh conditions of the mass food market. The world’s sweetest and stable protein is then produced by sustainable and environmentally-friendly precision fermentation using consumer-friendly microorganisms. The resulting GMO-free pure protein enables to reduce 30-80% of the added sugar without compromising taste or price. Amai has collaborations with PepsiCo, Danone, Ocean-Spray and others. The novel award-winning protein sweetener is expected to reach the market in less than two years. Next, Amai is expanding to other alternative proteins including meat, plant and milk thus, curing our food system, one protein at a time.