As Americans consume less added sugar, theyre switching to stevia. According to the Packaged Facts market-research firm, the naturally derived diet sweeteners share of the total US sugar and sweeteners market zoomed from 1.8% in 2010 to 9.1% in 2011. (Sugars market share, by comparison, dropped from 63.8% to 58.9%.) The market report estimated that stevia sales went from $210.6 million in 2010 to $1.192 billion last year. And thats just the beginning, as Packaged Facts predicts stevia will be the runaway leader in retail-sales growth, replacing artificial sweeteners, sugar and high-fructose corn syrup in products. In the 52 weeks ending April 16, 2011, stevia product launches increased 918% over the previous 52 weeks. Given the green light by the FDA in late 2008, stevia is derived from the leaves of a plant and thus is touted as natural.
