Wholesome Sweeteners Organic raw blue agave, 11.75-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6)

by Wholesome Sweeteners

Product Features

• Organic raw blue agave
• A richer fuller taste produced at temperatures below 118 F
• A low glycemic sweetener,
• An amber nectar
• Gluten free; Vegan; GMO free; Organic

Product Description

About the Brand

Wholesome Sweeteners brings the very best of nature's sweetness to you and your family every day. Wholesome believes in traditional ways, artisanal products and a very light environmental footprint. After searching the world for the best products, Wholesome has focused on the tropics, where the climate and conditions are just right for growing organic sweeteners. With Fair Trade Certified™ organic and natural sweeteners from Central and South America and Africa, Wholesome is committed to making the world a sweeter place, one spoonful at a time.

Company Overview

• Founded in 1995 in Sugar Land, Texas, Wholesome Sweeteners supplies the American market the highest quality natural and organic sweeteners from around the world.
• Wholesome Sweeteners pioneered efforts to bring sugar and honey into the Fair Trade movement and was the first to bring Fair Trade Certified sweeteners to American markets. Wholesome Sweeteners now offers a wide range of Fair Trade Certified, organic and natural sweeteners produced by traditional methods from nature’s best resources.

Fair Trade Certification is a promise that: Farmers’ cooperatives are paid directly (no middlemen). The members receive a fair and reliable set price for their crops. The cooperative has access to loans and additional premiums for community and business development. It’s trade, not aid. Cooperatives decide how the money is invested; the only stipulation is that every member has a vote in how the inves™ent is made.

Social Responsibility
The Fair Trade Certified™ logo represents Wholesome's commi™ent to consumers that a fair premium price is paid to the farmers’ cooperatives that supply Wholesome’s Fair Trade products.

Since initiating the Fair Trade Certified program in 2005, Wholesome Sweeteners has paid more than $800,000 directly to Fair Trade cooperative partners in Costa Rica, Malawi, Mexico and Paraguay. Fair Trade means that farmers can send their kids to school, keep their land, develop the quality of their harvest and build thriving communities.

Beyond the parameters of Fair Trade Certification, Wholesome selects suppliers based on a demonstrated commi™ent to social responsibility and community outreach.

Environmental Responsibility
Wholesome Sweeteners' ethos is shaped by a deep concern for the long-term health of the planet and all of its inhabitants.

The USDA Organic logo is Wholesome's promise that we hold every product to the highest environmental standard. Each product bearing the USDA Organic logo has been grown and milled to USDA Organic standards, without the aid of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or chemicals.

Wholesome uses traditional methods:

• Fair Trade certification includes a commitment to sustainable agriculture. In recent years, unprecedented acreage has been converted from conventional agriculture to organic cultivation, reducing exposure to pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
• From the seed stock to harvest, our sugar cane is cultivated and harvested by hand and grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.
• Wholesome’s cane fields are never burned. During the harvest, trimmings are allowed to stay where they fall, decomposing naturally, returning nutrients to the soil, helping protect topsoil and ground water and providing habitat for wildlife.
• At the small mills in Costa Rica, Malawi and Paraguay, our sweeteners are made simply and the spent sugar cane, called bagasse, is often recycled as fuel to generate electricity for the mill and nearby villages.
• Deep in Southern Mexico’s jungles, honeybees browse on lush wildflowers without exposure to antibiotics or chemicals.

Product Description

A low glycemic organic sweetener, Wholesome Sweeteners Premium Organic Agave is a natural nectar made from of the Blue Agave plant. Agave has a Low Glycemic Index (GI), so it is slowly absorbed into the body, preventing spikes in blood sugar. Raw Blue Agave nectar is produced at a low temperature (less than 118 degrees F) and has a full sweet flavor with subtle molasses tones. It is 1-1/4 times sweeter than sugar, use wherever you would table sugar. USDA Organic and kosher certified. Suitable for vegan, vegetarian, Halal and plant-based diets. Product of Mexico

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000FL08AQ
• Item model number: 21122
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,050 in Grocery & Gourmet Food (See Top 100 in Grocery & Gourmet Food)
  • #97 in Grocery & Gourmet Food > Cooking & Baking Supplies > Sugar Substitutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delicious but Not Optimal for Diabetics, January 11, 2007

By 

MacGuffin "MacGuffin" (New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wholesome Sweeteners Organic raw blue agave, 11.75-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6) (Grocery)

I picked up Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Raw Blue Agave recently because it was on sale at a local health food store. I had already made up my mind, after scouting my local stores to no avail, to purchase the Volcanic Nectar brand online but decided to give this a shot because Volcanic Nectar only has one option available (midway in color between Wholesome Sweeteners' lighter option and this one), whereas this looked like a nice alternative for a dark, "amber" variety; claims to be both raw and blue; and was displayed right in front of me (I was already primed to buy blue agave nectar, so what the heck...I wanted to believe). I was very pleased when Wholesome Sweeteners returned Sucanat to its wholesome, hand-made/minimally processed origins and so felt confident buying this product because they take their sweeteners and their organic/Fair Trade status very seriously (despite the strong case for Volcanic Nectar on their site, including their claim that color in blue agave nectar, unlike maple syrup or honey, is immaterial).
This is a delicious sweetener--very versatile, with many possible uses, and which can often be substituted for honey in recipes (be careful though, because certain of its properties are quite different; also be aware that fructose is the predominant simple sugar in agave's profile and that its fruity taste might not complement certain foods); the price is usually fairly low, too for agave nectar. However, Volcanic Nectar--which owns its manufacturing facility--really does produce the only PURE blue agave nectar for sale in the US and the ONLY one that displays Diabetic Friendly certification by the Glycemic Research Institute--THE ONLY AGENCY OF ITS TYPE RECOGNIZED BY THE FDA AND FTC--on its product label. I was able to determine by the glucose level--28%--indicated for Wholesome Sweeteners on their Web site which producer (I thought Nekutli but it was pointed out to me that IIDEA is right on the label) processes their agave products and indeed, it has additives (despite claims on their Web site and toll-free calls to customer service to the contrary--this apparently has to do with Mexico's somewhat cavalier labeling laws). A chemical analysis of pure blue agave nectar should list ONLY fructose, glucose, and inulin--any other sugars in the profile indicate additives that are potentially harmful to diabetics/hypoglycemics. This is a delicious product but is not certified safe for diabetics. Wholesome Sweeteners' site claims a GI of "39 or less," which is much higher than that of Volcanic Nectar; these figures are still below the <55 determined to be safe for diabetics, but their nutritional profile also indicates the presence of other sugars. For diabetics looking for safe, alternative, natural sweeteners, Volcanic Nectar, with its incredibly low GI of 27 and no additives of any kind, is the blue agave nectar of choice (it, too, is delicious although much fruitier than Wholesome Sweeteners, and their FAQ claim processing at a low enough temperature to qualify as "raw" ).
The bottom line: if you have no blood sugar problems and want an alternative sweetener that tastes good and isn't too expensive, this is fine. I like its darker, less fruity flavor, but I'll be sticking with Volacanic Nectar when the bottle's empty.
And for the record, I have no professional/personal connection with either of the firms cited in this review; I'm just a consumer who assumes that, like me, people want the ammunition required for making informed decisions.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful sweetener, January 19, 2007

By 

Lynda Ells "Lynda" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wholesome Sweeteners Organic raw blue agave, 11.75-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6) (Grocery)

This organic raw blue agave is very honey like in taste. It does not give me a headache as sugar does and does not have a chemical taste as artifical (poisonous) sweeteners have.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for diabetics, January 19, 2007

By 

Randi L. Macdonald "CaliPoutine~" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wholesome Sweeteners Organic raw blue agave, 11.75-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6) (Grocery)

I bought this because I'm a type 2 diabetic on Byetta. I use it on my oatmeal and on fresh grapefruit. I havent used it on anything else yet, but I plan to try it when I bake some granola. Its very sweet with no aftertaste. It also doesnt affect my blood sugar. Great stuff.