Tate & Lyle and Manus: Yume – a benchmark for stevia traceability and taste

Tate & Lyle and bio-alternatives scale-up leader Manus have officially unveiled Yume, a category-defining sweetener brand designed to provide the food and drink trade with a high-performance, traceable alternative to traditional sugar.

The launch marks the first commercial milestone of “The Sweetener Alliance,” a strategic partnership formed between the two companies a year ago.

The debut product, Yume M Stevia Sweetener, is a premium Reb M solution derived from stevia that promises a “sugar-like” taste profile without the bitter afternotes often associated with first-generation plant-based sweeteners.

The most significant aspect of the launch is the production infrastructure. Yume M is produced at Manus’ BioFacility in Augusta, Georgia — currently the only large-scale stevia bio-conversion site in the United States.

By utilising an entirely “all-Americas” supply chain, Tate & Lyle and Manus are addressing two of the industry’s biggest pain points:

• End-to-end traceability: complete visibility from the bio-conversion process to the final ingredient.
• Supply security: reducing reliance on overseas shipping and volatile international markets by keeping production and sourcing within the Western Hemisphere.

The Yume brand — taken from the Japanese word for “dream” — is positioned as a solution for manufacturers who have previously struggled to balance cost-competitiveness with high-intensity sweetness. Unlike traditional stevia extracts, Yume M leverages Manus’ advanced bio-manufacturing platform to unlock the sweetest parts of the stevia leaf (Reb M) at a commercial scale.

Nick Hampton, CEO of Tate & Lyle, commented: “Our partnership accelerates the growth of ingredients that meet society’s evolving nutrition needs and industry’s growing need for security of supply. Yume M Stevia gives our customers expanded access to innovative, cost-competitive sugar-reduction solutions.”

The brand is designed to be “approachable, not technical,” aiming to help R&D teams bridge the gap between “natural” claims and “premium” sensory experiences. According to Tate & Lyle, the sweetener is engineered for reliable performance across a wide range of food and beverage categories, ensuring it can handle the rigors of modern production processes while maintaining a clean label.

Ajikumar “Aji” Parayil, founder and CEO of Manus, added: “With Yume sweeteners, we are translating next-generation industrial biotechnology into commercially scalable solutions. We are bringing cost-competitive, scalable products to consumer brands looking to reduce sugar without compromising taste.”