Zilch’s 80g monk fruit sweetener pouch puts its two-ingredient approach front and centre.
Born from a shared frustration with sugar alternatives, Edinburgh brand Zilch keeps things simple: monk fruit extract, soluble tapioca fibre and a powder designed to bring sweetness to everyday food and drink.
E dinburgh brand Zilch is offering a simpler route to cutting sugar with its monk fruit sweetener, a two-ingredient powder made for anyone tired of sugar-free swaps that taste like a compromise.
Co-founders Keith and Gemma met at an Edinburgh co-working space, bonding over a shared frustration: every sugar alternative they tried came with a catch. Some left a bitter aftertaste, some caused bloating, and many came with ingredient lists that took some serious deciphering. The usual suspect was erythritol, the sugar alcohol found in a large share of sweeteners on supermarket shelves. So they set out to make their own. Keith now runs the business day to day, overseeing everything from the growers to the finished pouch, while Gemma focuses on the honest, clearly-labelled ingredients.
Zilch is made from monk fruit, a small green melon grown in the mountains around Guilin in southern China, where it has been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Its sweetness comes from natural compounds called mogrosides rather than sugar. The brand produces its powder the traditional way. The fruit is simmered gently in water to draw out its sweetness, then dried into a fine powder. This method is approved in the UK and EU. The result contains just monk fruit extract and soluble tapioca fibre, with no erythritol, no allulose, and no artificial sweeteners.
The brand describes the taste as clean and honey-like, with none of the lingering aftertaste common to many sugar substitutes. It has almost no calories and a negligible effect on blood sugar, and a little goes a long way: each 80g pouch holds around 123 servings.
Stir it into tea or coffee in place of sugar, as Keith does every morning, or sprinkle it over an acai bowl, yoghurt, or porridge, as Gemma does. It also works in baking, sauces, and homemade drinks wherever a recipe calls for sweetness.
Zilch Monk Fruit Natural Sweetener Powder is priced at £9.99, with free UK delivery.
EDITOR’S NOTE
A short ingredient list makes a refreshing starting point. Zilch caught our attention for its straightforward approach to everyday sweetness, combining monk fruit extract with soluble tapioca fibre. It is an interesting addition to the cupboard for readers exploring alternatives to sugar.
