Illustration by Dan Winters
When supersecretive agriculture giant Cargill decided to attack the no-calorie-sweetener market dominated by Sweet'n Low, Splenda, and Equal, it sent its best marketers and scientists to basement war rooms and covert labs. Only now can the inside story of Truvia -- and its unlikely success -- be told.
Says Zanna McFerson, plucking a stevia leaf from a plant on her desk and biting into it, "I knew there had to be something we could do with it." Through the expansive windows of her corner office at Cargill's headquarters, an Aspen-like mega-lodge on the outskirts of suburban Minneapolis, she stares out at the snowy pines and at the horizon beyond. McFerson chews, swallows, and smiles. "It's definitely nice to see the light," she says.
That's because McFerson is one of several Cargill employees who spent three years secluded in the company basement, in rooms with blacked-out windows,...
When supersecretive agriculture giant Cargill decided to attack the no-calorie-sweetener market dominated by Sweet'n Low, Splenda, and Equal, it sent its best marketers and scientists to basement war rooms and covert labs. Only now can the inside story of Truvia -- and its unlikely success -- be told.
Says Zanna McFerson, plucking a stevia leaf from a plant on her desk and biting into it, "I knew there had to be something we could do with it." Through the expansive windows of her corner office at Cargill's headquarters, an Aspen-like mega-lodge on the outskirts of suburban Minneapolis, she stares out at the snowy pines and at the horizon beyond. McFerson chews, swallows, and smiles. "It's definitely nice to see the light," she says.
That's because McFerson is one of several Cargill employees who spent three years secluded in the company basement, in rooms with blacked-out windows,...
- 4/25/2011
- by Ben Paynter
- Fast Company
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