Washington – Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest coffee-shop chain, will start serving a calorie-free stevia sweetener in the U.S. and Canada, embracing a plant-based alternative to sugar that has befuddled beverage makers because of its aftertaste.
Merisant Co., the Chicago-based maker of Equal, reached a deal with Starbucks to put its Nature Sweet packets in almost 9,000 cafes — the first time that the coffee chain will serve a stevia-based sweetener.
The Nature Sweet formula is a mixture of plant-based stevia and monk fruit.