One day I suspect someone will write a management study about sucralose as the definitive way not to launch a new product. Discovered by accident in 1976, this super-sweetener has been the main talking point for Tate & Lyle watchers for the past two years. It was cleared for use in various developed markets in the 1990s, but this took longer than expected; in 2006 the patent expired, the Chinese brought their own knock-offs to the market and the price fell.
Tate had to retrench, cut capacity and move production to one plant in Alabama. The good news is that the restructuring is a year ahead of schedule, and profits of £22 million in the year to March 31 can be repeated or even exceeded