Nambawan Spain launches Thaûma sweetener for reduced-sugar protein products

Nambawan Spain is betting that the hardest part of protein reformulation is not protein itself, but taste. With Thaûma, a plant-derived thaumatin II sweetener and flavor modifier, the company is pitching a tool that it says can lift sweetness, smooth out bitterness, and help high-protein products shed sugar without turning chalky or medicinal.

The company says Thaûma is up to 13,600 times sweeter than sugar and works at just 1 to 5 parts per million, a tiny use rate that matters in beverages, nutrition products, dairy, confectionery, and other reduced-sugar formats. Nambawan says the ingredient can mask bitter, astringent, licorice-like, fruity, and fermented off-notes while improving sweetness perception and mouthfeel, positioning it as a co-sweetener rather than a stand-alone sugar replacement.

That positioning is aimed squarely at the formulation tradeoffs that define the next wave of protein products. Brands want lower sugar and cleaner labels, but many high-protein and plant-protein systems still lean on sugar to cover flavor gaps and keep repeat purchase rates high. Nambawan says Thaûma is a zero-calorie natural protein sweetener and flavor modifier designed to make stevia and monk fruit taste better, cost less, and scale further, which puts it in the middle of a broader ingredient-system shift in sports nutrition, functional beverages, and better-for-you indulgence.

Nambawan Spain SLU says it was founded in 2023, is headquartered in Extremadura, Spain, and operates as a commercial spin-off of Nomad Bioscience GmbH with an exclusive commercial license for sweet and taste-modifying proteins including thaumatin II and brazzein. The company says industrial production of Thaumatin II trademarked Thauma began in 2025, underscoring that this is being framed not just as a lab story but as a commercial scale-up.

The regulatory backdrop is unusually deep for a launch of this kind. FDA GRAS notices have covered thaumatin and thaumatin II, including thaumatin II produced in Nicotiana benthamiana and thaumatin II as a taste modifier, while FEMA lists thaumatin II under number 5010. JECFA revised the acceptable daily intake in 2025 to a group ADI of not specified for thaumatin and recombinant thaumatin II, and FDA’s thaumatin notice notes that katemfe fruit proteins have been used in West African cuisines for more than 100 years and marketed commercially in the USA, EU, Japan, and elsewhere since the mid-1990s.

Nambawan plans to showcase Thaûma at IFT FIRST 2026 from July 12 to 15 at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois, in the Startup Pavilion, Booth 67. The launch lands with a clear message for protein formulators: the next competitive edge may come from an ingredient that solves sweetness, off-notes, and cost in one move.