Wholesome’s Flavored Blue Agaves Now Sweetening Canadian Market

After success in the US market, word is spreading across Canada about the new Wholesome Sweeteners' organic blue agave syrups.

Following initial success in the U.S. market, new flavors of Wholesome Sweeteners’ organic blue agave syrups also are selling well in Canada, where the company already enjoys strong brand recognition.

Pauline McKee, vice president of marketing, says “early sales have been very promising” north of the 49th parallel for the company’s four, new blue agave flavors – cinnamon, maple, strawberry and vanilla.

Over the past two to three years, the company has seen a “significant adoption” of its organic blue agave in both Canada and the United States. “The response to our new flavored agaves in the U.S. has been remarkable, and it was matched by interest from Canadian retailers and their customers as well.”

Pauline McKee, vice president of marketing, at Wholesome Sweeteners.

Wholesome Sweeteners sells a range of organic and natural products to major supermarkets and thousands of independent specialty stores in both countries.

In the first quarter, the company launched its new flavors of blue agave syrups in America. Initially, the strategy was to see how well these flavors sold in the states before expanding into other markets.

“We were inundated with requests from retailers, distributors and our brokers to make these new products available in Canada, too,” McKee says.

The launch of these blue agave products builds on Wholesome Sweeteners’ popularity there – with a nearly a 20 percent growth in its Canadian sales last fiscal year. This growth, coupled with consumers’ increasing interest in organic and natural foods, accelerated the introduction of the four, new French-Canadian labeled agaves.

The company’s flavored organic blue agaves offer cooks an option to the traditional “sugar and spice” approach to baking. Blue agaves have a lower Glycemic Index – or GI – than table sugar. This index measures how different carbohydrates affect levels of blood glucose. Blue agaves also have a higher sweetness profile – 25 percent sweeter than sugar, in fact.

Wholesome Sweeteners is the U.S. leader in Fair Trade Certified™ and sustainably produced sugars, syrups, nectars and honeys – all made from natural resources.

Its blue agaves are certified U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Organic. International equivalence agreements between the USDA and its Canadian counterpart, Canada Organic Product Regulation (COPR), allow these products to be certified under the COPR standards as well. Each bottle bears the Canada Organic Biologique logo.

“In addition to meeting Canada’s organic standards, our new, dedicated French-Canadian packaging meets the country’s bilingual labeling requirements,” says McKee.

Beyond its blue agave syrups, Wholesome Sweeteners also is working to extend its Fair Trade Organic honey products into the receptive Canadian market.

“Canada has very different regulation compared to the U.S. with regard to labeling, jar size and honey origins,” McKee explains. “We expect to have the Wholesome Sweeteners Canadian honey available by the third quarter this year.”