Amyris has announced a new partnership with Camil Alimentos, one of the largest food companies in Latin America, to meet growing consumer demand for zero calorie natural sweeteners.

The agreement, which provides exclusivity between Camil Alimentos and Amyris in Latin America, consists of the development of an innovative option of a natural sweetener, zero calorie and extracted from sugarcane. Camil Alimentos has a broad market reach through 300,000 points of sale including retail, cafes and restaurants.

"We are always attentive to the demands of the consumers and with the União brand, the most remembered by the Brazilian consumers, we are able to innovate and surprise once more. The partnership makes perfect sense both for Camil Alimentos' business strategy and for the expansion strategy of the sweetened category,” said Luciano Quartiero, Camil Alimentos CEO.

“We are thrilled to partner with such a world class consumer products company as Camil. And, as it is with all of our partners, Camil can count on us to deliver a reliable supply of sugarcane derived, zero calorie sweetener that has the leading taste profile, and is lower in cost than competitors. We call this No Compromise™ and it’s essentially a certificate of trust that we stand by,” said John Melo, President and CEO of Amyris. “Ahead of our official launch event for our sweetener on the evening of December 3 in New York City, we are very pleased to announce our partnership and we expect to quickly become the leader in providing Brazilian consumers with the best-tasting, zero calorie sweetener with none of the bad effects of synthetic or other natural sweeteners that leave a lingering bitter aftertaste,” he added.

This collaboration is said to fit well with Amyris’s strategy to create value for market leaders by delivering No Compromise ingredients through long-term partnerships. Amyris’s zero calorie sweetener has received designation as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) by an independent expert panel.