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Sweeteners: Buy Active
Units, Not Weight

August 2026 · Technical Insight

When two sweetener quotes land on your desk, the per-kilogram price is the first thing you compare — and the least meaningful. Most conventional feed sweeteners are actives adsorbed onto mineral carriers: silica, limestone, or salt. You are paying freight, duty and dosing cost for filler.

The arithmetic of active content

A carrier-based sweetener at 40% active content and a carrier-free grade at 100% active are not comparable per kilogram — the real comparison is cost per unit of sweetness delivered to the animal. Recalculated on active units, carrier-free grades typically reduce true dosing cost by 20–30%, before counting logistics savings.

Distribution is the hidden variable

At high pelleting speeds, a small inclusion of sweetener must distribute evenly through tonnes of feed. Carrier-based products depend on the carrier fracturing and dispersing — inconsistently. SILSEP VS7188 SweetFlow™ takes a different route: carrier-free micro-granulation producing 76,000,000 particles per gram. At that particle count, statistical distribution does the work — every pellet carries the same sweet signal.

Water systems need speed

In drinking-water dosing and milk replacers, dissolution speed decides usability. An insoluble carrier leaves residue in tanks and lines; VS7188 dissolves completely in 3 seconds, leaving nothing behind but sweetness.

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