Hello Sweety

hello sweety – Replacing Sugar Without Compromising

Baking without sugar is not an academic question for professionals – it is a craft problem. In baked goods, sugar is not merely a sweetener. It is a structure-builder in bread dough, a stabiliser in egg whites, a binder in creams and an irreplaceable reaction partner in caramelisation. Every baking school, every confectionery textbook describes what happens when sugar is omitted or replaced with the wrong substitute: the cake sinks. The meringue loses volume. The caramel does not brown. Anyone wanting to avoid this had no satisfying solution until hello sweety was developed.

Marcel Paa did not approach this problem as a researcher, but as a practitioner. He completed his apprenticeship as a baker and confectioner at his parents' business in Interlaken, finished his master craftsman's examination as one of the best in his year and subsequently worked as a trainer in various bakeries. In parallel, he began uploading tutorial videos on YouTube – today his channel «Einfach Backen» has over 160,000 subscribers. He runs his own baking school, has published two baking books and presented the CH Media show «zuckersüss & bitterzart». Paa knows from thousands of hours of practice what baked goods need – and he knows even more precisely when a result is good and when it is not. This combination of technical understanding and craft experience is the background against which hello sweety was created. Not as a laboratory product. As a bakery solution.

Hundreds of Attempts to a Patented Recipe

The development process took over two years. Hundreds of baking trials, many of them in the bin, until the proportions were right. Marcel Paa understood the problem early: no single sugar substitute can fulfil all the properties of sugar simultaneously. The solution lies in combination – but not just any combination, rather the precise coordination of ingredients that complement each other without interference. The result of this work is patented. The recipe cannot be copied.

Inulin is a naturally occurring dietary fibre found in chicory, Jerusalem artichoke and other vegetables. It is readily water-soluble, acts as a stabiliser in baked goods and supports texture. As a prebiotic it promotes gut health – in the quantities typical for baking recipes, this is unproblematic.

Isomaltulose is a carbohydrate of glucose and fructose that occurs naturally in honey and sugar beet molasses. It is processed more slowly by the body than sucrose – hence the more moderate rise in blood sugar. In the bakery it is crucial for caramelisation: it reacts at high heat and produces the characteristic brown colour and aroma that many other sugar substitutes lack.

Erythritol is a calorie-free sugar alcohol occurring naturally in cheese, grapes and certain fruits. It tastes pleasantly sweet without bitter or metallic aftertaste and has no significant effect on blood sugar.

Stevia powder is the extract of the stevia plant – a daisy-family plant from South America whose leaves are intensely sweet. Well water-soluble and low in calories, it is used in hello sweety specifically to enhance overall sweetness. The liquorice aftertaste that pure stevia causes in some people is neutralised by the combination with the other components.

These four substances, in the proportion developed and patented by Marcel Paa, combine into a product that keeps its promises: the sweetness is right. The water-solubility is right. The caramelisation works. There is no aftertaste. The calories are halved.

What hello sweety Can Do in Practice

The core technical promise is concrete: replace sugar 1:1, without adjusting quantities in the recipe. If a recipe calls for 200 grams of sugar, use 200 grams of hello sweety. No conversion table, no corrections. Hello sweety dissolves readily in water – relevant for glazes, syrups and soaking liquids. It caramelises perfectly at high heat – a test most sugar substitutes fail and which is crucial for crème brûlée, caramel sauces and toffee decorations. In egg whites, hello sweety acts as a stabiliser so the whipped mass retains its volume. In buttercream and other creams it binds reliably. In bread and yeast doughs it promotes structure and supports yeast activity.

The taste is sweet and clean. No metallic undertone. No bitter finish. No liquorice note. This is not a minor point – many sugar substitutes fail precisely here. With hello sweety this is not the case. Calorically, hello sweety is around half that of conventional crystal sugar. The product is lactose-free, vegan and suitable for people with corresponding dietary requirements – including diabetics.

Product Properties at a Glance

Sugar substitute 1:1 · Plant-based & vegan · Lactose-free · Caramelisable · No aftertaste · Patented recipe · Approx. 50% fewer calories

From the Bakery to «Die Höhle der Löwen» – and into the Trade

In August 2021, Marcel Paa founds Hello Sweety AG together with Roger Wehrli, Thomas Künzler and Verena Keller. The product has already been available in the trade since September 2020 and sold around 20,000 packs in the first seven months – without TV presence, purely through the community and Marcel Paa's own reach. The appearance in the Swiss edition of «Die Höhle der Löwen» in November 2021 is the growth accelerator. Three of the five investors make an offer. Marcel Paa chooses Patrick Mollet – co-owner of Great Place to Work –, who invests 100,000 Swiss francs for a 5% share and subsequently joins the board of directors.

Mollet brings not only capital but contacts and entrepreneurial know-how. In August 2022, SanaSweet GmbH joins as a further investor to expand production capacity and drive international growth. Today hello sweety is on the shelves at SPAR, Manor, Aldi Switzerland and Müller Drogerie – the step from niche product to mainstream range has been taken.

hello sweety at miniSchoggi

For baking enthusiasts who want to bake with reduced calories without sacrificing quality, simple solutions are rare. hello sweety is one of them. No recipe needs to be converted. No texture suffers. No aftertaste interferes. This is not self-evident – it is the result of over two years of development work, hundreds of baking trials and a craft standard that can only come from someone who bakes daily and knows the difference between good and very good.

miniSchoggi carries hello sweety because the product is made for exactly the customers miniSchoggi knows: people who take baking seriously, who insist on quality and who want to create delicious things for themselves or their guests without having to forgo a clear conscience. Whether birthday cake, Christmas biscuits or everyday yeast pastry – hello sweety works wherever sugar works. And that is ultimately the highest accolade a sugar substitute can receive.

Developed in the bakery. Over two years of experimenting. Patented. Available since 2020. hello sweety.