This startup is turning an ancient fruit into a new class of low-GI sugar and prebiotics

For years, the food industry has struggled to balance health, taste, and sustainability. Rising rates of metabolic disorders, diabetes, and gut health issues have pushed brands to reformulate products. However, many existing solutions, such as artificial sweeteners, refined fibers, or ultra-processed substitutes, often introduce trade-offs such as off-flavors, digestive discomfort, or complex labeling challenges. At the same time, climate change and water scarcity are putting pressure on traditional crops, forcing the industry to reconsider how ingredients are sourced and processed.

CarobWay addresses these challenges by revisiting an overlooked crop and building an end-to-end food-as-medicine platform around it. The startup uses 100% of carob fruit. It controls agriculture, processing, and clinical validation of this fruit and its products in-house. This allows the CarobWay to make low-glycemic sugars, prebiotics, and functional ingredients that are natural and scalable. The products are designed for modern food reformulation, especially in the post-GLP-1 era. 

To better understand how they are doing it, we spoke to Udi Alroy, CEO of CarobWay Ltd. This article contains notable highlights from our entire conversation.

This interview is part of our exclusive Scouted By GreyB series. Here, we speak with the founders of innovative startups to understand how their solutions address critical industry challenges and help ensure compliance with industry and government regulations. (Know more about startups scouted by GreyB!)

“We are not a replacement for sugar. We are sugar—but a healthy type of sugar.”

This startup is transforming 100% of carob into sugar, prebiotics, and GLP-1-friendly foods.

CarobWay is a food-as-medicine company focused on developing clinically supported health ingredients derived entirely from the carob tree. The company operates as a vertically integrated platform, controlling the process from agricultural cultivation to finished B2B ingredients. Its product portfolio spans low-glycemic sugars, prebiotic fibers, and functional thickeners used in food, dietary supplements, infant nutrition, and medical nutrition. By using 100 percent of the carob fruit with zero waste, CarobWay combines sustainability, nutrition, and industrial scalability into a single ingredient ecosystem.

What is CarobWay doing, and how is it different from other food-as-medicine companies?

CarobWay works on the principle of food as medicine. We focus on health ingredients for metabolic health, gut health, and related conditions, and everything we do is built around the carob tree. What makes us different is that we are fully vertically integrated from the seed and agriculture all the way to clinically supported B2B ingredients.

We don’t just source an ingredient. We build the entire supply chain. That includes climate-resilient farming, sustainable processing, and scientific validation. Our goal is to deliver health ingredients that are natural, effective, scalable, and economically viable for the food industry

You work across prebiotics and sweeteners. Where are you in terms of commercialization?

We are almost ready to launch. Our prebiotic ingredients are scheduled to enter the market in Q1 of 2026, and our sugar products will follow around Q3. We are already highly advanced in our go-to-market strategy.

Unlike many companies, we use 100 percent of the carob fruit and generate no waste. Our processing is extremely green. We use only water and energy. The cultivation is sustainable, the industrialization is green, and the products are designed to be ready for large-scale market adoption by 2026.

How does carob sugar compare to alternatives like monk fruit or allulose?

Carob sugar is real sugar, but it has a very low glycemic index. When you consume it, you don’t see insulin spikes, which is especially important for pre-diabetic consumers. It contains calories, but it behaves very differently from conventional sugar.

What makes carob unique is that it’s the only sugar in nature with an embedded bioactive compound called epititol, which contributes to its low GI behavior. It has no off-flavors, no aftertaste, and it can be used one-to-one like regular sugar, one spoon to one spoon, without changing consumer habits.

Do you have data to support the low glycemic index claims?

Yes. A low GI is considered anything below 55. Our carob sugar measures around four, which is extremely low. In glucose tests, traditional sugar doubles blood glucose levels within two hours, while our product does not elevate levels above baseline.

This is very meaningful for people managing pre-diabetes, metabolic health, or GLP-1-related diets. You get energy without the spikes, which is something very unique to carob.

How does carob perform in real food applications like baking or snacks?

Sugar is sugar in terms of processing, so formulators don’t need to dramatically change recipes. Carob sugar works well in cookies, cakes, and baked goods, and it actually enhances flavors like vanilla, coffee, or maple.

On the prebiotic side, carob fibers contribute to bulking and satiety while being very gentle on the gut. Unlike many prebiotics, they cause minimal bloating or gas. We also produce locust bean gum (LBG) from the seed, which provides excellent mouthfeel and is widely used in infant nutrition, dairy, and medical foods.

What challenges did you face in building this platform?

The first challenge was agriculture. Carob trees were traditionally grown in the wild, so we had to develop orchard protocols, identify high-yield varieties, and design a stable supply chain from the root level.

The second challenge was processing: learning to efficiently separate sugars, fibers, and seeds while preserving nutritional value. Once we solved that, we focused on choosing markets with strong growth and high scientific value, such as metabolic health, gut health, and anti-reflux applications

How scalable is CarobWay’s model?

Product consistency is critical, and we’ve spent five years building systems to ensure that. We combine in-house R&D with outsourcing partners to scale production when needed. This gives us flexibility without over-investing too early.

We are seeing strong interest from the market, especially as food companies reformulate in response to GLP-1, metabolic health, and gut health trends. We’re deliberately pacing our rollout to avoid over-promising and under-delivering.

Are there regulatory or certification barriers?

Carob has been consumed for over 4,000 years, so it doesn’t face the same regulatory barriers as novel ingredients. It’s non-GMO, gluten-free, allergen-free, and already widely accepted across global markets.

We’re not introducing an unknown ingredient—we’re processing a well-known one differently and more efficiently, which gives us a strong advantage when entering new markets.

What does CarobWay’s roadmap look like?

We are a B2B company, and our focus is on helping brands make healthier formulations across food and dietary supplements. In the near term, we’re focused on sugars, prebiotics, and LBG applications across bakery, dairy, confectionery, and medical nutrition.

In the long term, we plan to replicate this zero-waste, full-fruit model with other crops. But for the next five years, we are fully focused on carob and building the strongest possible platform around it.

Meet our Interviewer – Raveena Singh, Senior Research Analyst at GreyB

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