“I bring to you today a sweet, well-guarded secret from the highlands of the Colombian Andes.”
With these puzzles words Anna Elisabeth Segovia, founder of " started;Guatavita Panela", yesterday evening, her Pitch in the den of the lions.
What is hidden behind your secret? Gold-brown, fine organic cane sugar: the Panel.
What is Panela de Cana is?
Panela in Colombia, a popular traditional product. It is full of cane sugar. The manufacturing process of the Panel is significantly different from that of the white, refined sugar.
The founder explains: “The sugar cane is boiled harvested by Hand, pressed into a juice, and cold hit. Everything is hand work.“ After this process, the sugar cane breaks down formally in his fine, brown, shiny consistency.
Not just sweet, but fruity-karamellig cooked sugar cane juice comes from the. Therefore, he is of coffee, muesli and Porridge with a very special touch.
Also the Sweet tea and iced tea the whole cane sugar can be used. Panela can be one-to-one as sugar is used and, therefore, easy to white sugar when baking and cooking to replace.
Panela is really healthier than sugar?
Anna Elisabeth Segovia praises of your Panel as the “most natural and most delicious sugar, the Germany has ever seen”. But is it really?
- Such as refined sugar, Panela is mainly composed of carbohydrates and also calories is technically the same as white sugar. For comparison, table sugar has 387 calories per 100 grams – the Colombian sugar cane 383 kilocalories.
- Due to the gentle production process, the more nutrients will remain, according to the manufacturer, however, include: brown sugar contains twice as much Vitamin B6 as well as refined sugar and is also rich in calcium, zinc, Magnesium, iron and potassium.
Panela is better than other sugar alternatives?
Other Alternatives, such as, for example, date syrup, also contain more minerals, vitamins and antioxidants than normal sugar, but less calories than sugar.
Birch sugar, also xylitol, has almost 40 percent fewer calories than sugar and is also better for dental health because it is anti-cariogenic.
The disadvantage of many sugar alternatives, however, is that you can replace them because of their taste, texture or effect on the digestive system not 1:1 or in cooked dishes.
Conclusion: Pure calories technically, brown sugar is not better or worse than white sugar and may also in other points not strictly as a "Zuckerersatz" to be titled – because it sugar is in this product is simple and easy to pipe.
Since this is made gentler than commercially available refined sugar remain more vitamins and minerals included.
Panela is a sugar with added value. Also, revealing caramel-like taste makes it a delicious Alternative for those who want to waive the white household sugar. Who according to other sugar alternatives, which is operated with xylitol, rice, date, agave or Yaconsirup better. This natural a replacement products also contain vitamins and valuable minerals, are also lower in calories and tooth friendly.
Panela convinced the investors
To be able to your firm expand and to make their natural sugar known, fought the founder of the TV-Show "Cave of the Löwen" an Investment of 200,000 euros. In return, she offered the lion’s 25 percent of your company.
Your Pitch to the investors: Ralf Dümmel, Dagmar Wöhrl and Georg Kofler made the young founder prompt an offer.
Judith Williams commented: “you gave a very convincing performance, and have mixed with your sugar really High.”
At the end of Anna Segovia listened to her gut feeling and opted for Dagmar Wöhrl in as an Investor.
The product Guatavita Panela is already in many supermarkets (including Karstadt, Kaufhof, Edeka, Tegut, Globus and Kaufland) in Germany and in Guatavita online shop.
There is plastic-free, the sugar bowl (125g) with a cork lid or a re-sealable 500 g bag. In the online shop, in addition, Sets with a prescription to be sold book.
The founder of Guatavita Panela
Founder Anna Elisabeth Segovia is the daughter of Colombian immigrants and founded the 2016 sugar Start-Up.
Your Vision: you want natural, mineral-rich Alternative to conventional industrial sugar to Germany, and to fair and sustainable trade in Colombian small-scale farmers support. With your product, you want to generate a fair and legal source of income for the farmers.
Elina Feeder
*The post “”the cave of The lion”: Why is brown sugar better sugar” is published by FitForFun. Contact with the executives here.