INNOVATORS Gold Award - New Orleans City Business

INNOVATOR
PhytoCeutical Formulations
Key innovation: Swerve, an all-natural sugar alternative
Biggest client: Whole Foods
Where they’re based: Mandeville
Top executive: Catherine Wilbert, founder and formulator
Year introduced: 2001
2007 sales: $1 million
PHOTO BY SHANNON DIECIDUE
THE INFAMOUS CRY “let them eat cake” might not be
perceived so negatively these days, what with the invention
of the natural sugar alternative Swerve.
“With Swerve, you can have your cake and eat it, too,”
said Swerve formulator Catherine Wilbert. “In the big
scheme of things, no one wants to give up indulgences. With
Swerve, you don’t have to.”
The Mandeville practitioner of naturopathic medicine
saw a need to develop a natural sweetener eight years ago
when she began formulating nutritional supplements.
“The biggest challenge became ‘how do you sweeten
things and keep them all natural’ I had no option,”
Wilbert said.
Her solution was Swerve, made from the fibrous parts
of certain fruits and then crystallized, yielding a product
marketed as tasting and acting like sugar, without causing
the adverse health affects often associated with sugar and
other sweeteners.
“The biggest difference is it has zero calories and zero
glycemic index,” Wilbert said. “Swerve is the first and the
only all-natural sugar substitute that looks, measures,
tastes, cooks, bakes, freezes and candies just like sugar.”
In taste tests, Wilbert said, many people could not tell
the difference between Swerve and sugar.
Wilbert points out the health benefits Swerve offers
for a country suffering such ailments as diabetes and obesity,
both driven by elevated insulin levels.
“Insulin drives all your other hormones,” Wilbert said.
“(Consider) the impact it could have on this country. Our
No. 1 issue is carbohydrates and sugar. Everyone understands
the problem with sugar.”
An estimated 20 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes,
which increases the risk of kidney disease, blindness, eye disease
and amputations,according to established health reports.
Americans consume 20 teaspoons of added sugar daily
— twice the amount the U.S. Department of Agriculture
recommends. In the past 20 years, annual sugar consumption
in the United States has ballooned from 26 pounds to
135 pounds per person, according to USDA statistics.
Swerve comes in 1- and 3-pound packages, in bulk and
in 50-packet boxes in stores in all 50 states, most notably
the Whole Foods chain, and in franchised Vitality Juice,
Java and Smoothie bars in Harahan and Mandeville.
Products are also available at www.pcflabs.com and
www.vitalityjuice.com.
Additionally, the entire PhytoCeutical line of natural
products is sweetened with Swerve.
Wilbert points out using Swerve reduces calories in any
dish traditionally prepared with sugar, including smoothies,
candies, sauces, ice cream and baked dishes.
“You can make a praline with Swerve,” she said.•
— Diana Chandler
PhytoCeutical Formulations founder and formulator Catherine Wilbert sprinkles her all-natural sugar substitute Swerve on strawberries.
New Orleans CityBusiness 29A