On September 26, Tate & Lyle, the British producer of sugar, cereal sweeteners and starches, and McNeil Nutritionals, a Johnson & Johnson company, announced the realignment of their sucralose activities into a new global alliance designed to maximise the market penetration and accelerate the worldwide growth of sucralose. Existing sucralose sales and marketing arrangements have been restructured to play to the geographic and market strengths of each company, they claim. Under the agreement, the companies will cooperate closely to further the development of the sucralose business. Tate & Lyle will act as exclusive broker for sucralose ingredient sales in certain key markets outside of North America. McNeil will exclusively market the Splenda® tabletop brand of sucralose to retailers worldwide. The formation of this alliance represents a continuance of the 20-year partnership between the two companies. Sucralose, a non-caloric sweetener made from sugar, is manufactured by McNeil in the United States, and is currently approved in over 40 countries worldwide. Larry Pillard, Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle said: "We are glad to be able to further our long-standing relationship with McNeil through this alliance. The new arrangements will enable us to leverage our global sales network and offer this exciting product to more of our customers alongside our existing range of value added carbohydrate-based food ingredients and sweeteners."
