JINAN, China, Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Bestzyme, a synthetic biology company under GenScript Biotech, today announced the completion of the world’s first dedicated, automated smart production line for sweet proteins at its Jinan facility. This milestone marks the first full-chain integration of R&D, mass production, and application for sweet proteins globally, addressing the food and beverage industry’s long-standing challenge of reducing sugar without compromising taste.
Resource: Bestzyme
Complete the “Final Piece of the Puzzle”
Dr. Bai Aixi, General Manager of Bestzyme, noted that the real challenge in sugar reduction is not simply removing sugar, but replicating the pure, full-bodied, natural taste of sucrose while removing calories and metabolic burden. The company’s flagship product, Mellia® Brazzein sweet protein, is not a simple replacement for traditional sweeteners, but rather the “final piece of the puzzle” in sweetener formulations. It can efficiently blend with existing sweeteners such as Stevia and Monk fruit to achieve complete, rounded sweetness. With a clean label and no impact on blood sugar, Mellia® means “zero sugar” no longer requires a compromise on taste — it’s an upgrade.
Engineering Breakthrough: 100 Tons Annually, Equivalent to 300,000 Tons of Sucrose Sweetness
Brazzein, derived from the West African Oubli fruit, is thousands of times sweeter than sucrose, with virtually no glycemic impact and zero calories. However, due to low host expression levels and extreme difficulty in separation and purification, it has long remained at the laboratory stage. Bestzyme, with over a decade of expertise in industrial enzymes and biocatalysis, has successfully overcome high-density fermentation.
The new Jinan facility spans 5,000 square meters and features a fully automated “fermentation — purification — freeze-drying” process. Once operational, the Mellia® sweet protein product line will have an annual capacity of over 100 tons. Based on high-purity Brazzein sweetness conversion, this is equivalent to the sweetness of 300,000 tons of sucrose annually. Capacity is expected to have the potential to double within two years.
Global Footprint: U.S. Market First to Launch
Mellia® has completed its “0 to 1” commercial validation. In the U.S. market, Mellia® partnered with an innovative sparkling water brand to bring a product to market achieving zero sugar with full-bodied sweetness, gaining consumer recognition and entering the “1 to N” scale-up phase.
On the regulatory front, Mellia® received a “No Questions Letter” from the U.S. FDA in April 2025, confirming its GRAS status, alongside regulatory progress underway in several other countries and regions.
According to industry reports, the global sweet protein market reached the tens-of-millions scale in 2025. Companies with integrated “R&D + owned production + application solutions” capabilities are extremely rare globally. Bestzyme is the first to achieve this, providing customers in the global food and beverage industry with structural guarantees in supply stability, quality control, and response speed.
Strategic Significance: Opening a New Era of Natural Sweetness
The completion of Bestzyme’s Jinan production line marks a landmark industrialization breakthrough for synthetic biology manufacturing in the natural sugar reduction sector, a market valued in the hundreds of billions.
Mellia® is positioned as the “final piece of the puzzle” in sweetener formulations, delivering complete, rounded sweetness through synergistic blending. Brand proposition: Make Sweetness Complete.
About Bestzyme
Bestzyme is a synthetic biology company under GenScript Biotech, specializing in industrial enzymes and biocatalysis, dedicated to providing innovative, sustainable natural sugar reduction solutions to the global food and beverage industry.
