Innovative Sweet Solution: New Zealand’s Whey-Derived Alternative Sugar

Wheytech Bionics is a New Zealand-based science-driven company focused on developing sweeteners derived from whey. In New Zealand, more than 250,000 individuals, predominantly with type 2 diabetes, underscore the increasing demand for preventive measures and products. Wheytech’s innovative sweetener has the potential to revolutionise this landscape.

By harnessing whey by-products from cheese-making companies throughout New Zealand, Wheytech Bionics is actively reducing waste generated by the cheese production industry. This not only contributes to waste reduction but also alleviates a significant burden on the biological waste system.

Wheytech Bionics is on a mission to create a new generation of natural sweeteners suitable for everyday use. These sweeteners aim to not only satisfy taste preferences but also carry the added benefit of reducing the global risk of diabetes and potentially reversing the effects of type 2 diabetes.

Presently, New Zealand lacks locally-produced sweeteners on retail shelves, with the majority being imported and often containing artificial additives detrimental to health. 

While currently utilising cheese whey, Wheytech Bionics is actively exploring the incorporation of various whey types, including milk whey, acid whey, goat cheese whey, and sheep whey, among others.​


Our Progress in the Lab So Far

Utilising the resources at Lincoln and Massey Universities, we have been diligently refining our product line, which includes a dry granulated sweetener, a liquid syrup, and a gummy sweet. These products boast an appealing bright colour, a delightful taste, no lingering aftertaste, and high sweetening power, making them versatile for a wide range of applications. Whether in food and beverage manufacturing on a commercial scale, as a household ingredient, or even as a daily health supplement, the potential uses are extensive.

We have enlisted the expertise of two of New Zealand’s top scientists, each with a proven track record in the development of agriculturally based products. In the upcoming trials, we aim to demonstrate that whey possesses specific properties that exhibit anti-diabetic effects. Through these trials, we aspire to provide compelling evidence supporting the potential benefits of our products for individuals with type 2 diabetes

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