Chocolate being mixed in a stainless steel mixer. Photo: Wikimedia commons / Encik Tekateki

Israeli food-tech startup DouxMatok, which develops sugar-based sweetener alternatives to combat overconsumption of sugar levels, is making a foray into the US market with a limited edition of cocoa spreads.

DouxMatok on Tuesday started to sell its hazelnut cocoa spread and a dark-cocoa salted caramel spread, based on its flagship product Incredo sugar, which it claims is structured to dissolve faster in the saliva and generate a more efficient response from sweet taste receptors.

The result, says the Israeli startup, is that the spreads — a spin on a longtime national favorite in Israel — contain almost 50% less total added sugars than other similar products. The US launch is the first time DouxMatok is launching its own product with the low-sugar ingredient directly to consumers.

The iconic chocolate spread found on breakfast tables across Israel was first released by Hashachar Ha’ole in 1948, over a decade before the launch of Nutella, by the five Weidberg brothers, a family of immigrants from Romania.

DouxMatok’s Incredo is based on real cane sugar crystals that have been redesigned to taste sweeter and to allow for sugar reduction of 30%-50% without compromising taste, mouthfeel, or texture, the company says. The ingredient can be used for baking, spreads, confectionary, chocolates, and snacks, and is already used in by a number of bakeries, including Maison Kayser, Piece of Cake, and Matzot Aviv.

DouxMatok, which connects the French and Hebrew words for “sweet,” was founded by now-102-year-old Prof. Avraham Baniel and his son Eran Baniel. It present Incredo as an alternatives to sugar substitutes, such as sucralose and aspartame, with which some consumers have health concerns and taste issues.

Incredo is entering the market as the US only in 2020 made it compulsory to list the added amount of sugar on product’s nutritional tables, as a way to combat rising obesity levels.

“We have been hard at work perfecting the commercialization of our Incredo Sugar,” said Eran Baniel, CEO of DouxMatok. “We believe the only way to meet the challenge of sugar reduction is by maintaining the joys of sugar.”

Back in October 2020, DouxMatok announced a partnership with Roger Sugars Inc., parent of North America sugar manufacturer Lantic Inc., for the production and supply of Incredo for new product launches.