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SUCCESS is really sweet for a St Francis Bay man who hit on a way to make a substance as sweet as sugar, but without all the negative health effects.

Master distiller Brian Neary converts agave plants, which grow abundantly in the Eastern Cape, into agave nectar or sugar powder, and clients are champing at the bit to get their hands on the product.

A godsend to diabetics and those wanting a sugar-free, low GI diet, Neary’s product is finding its way into diabetic chocolates and sweets, sugar-free baked goods, sweeteners, low GI bread and health stores all over the country and abroad.

A client in Cypress uses it to make diabetic ice-cream and yoghurt, a US concern sweetens its chocolates with it, while a UK company may soon be adding agave to its cereal bars.

Neary, 46, set up his R3-million Agave Nectar factory in St Francis Bay six months ago after relocating from the Free State, where he originally started the business two years ago.

“I had a lot of clients in the Port Elizabeth area and have always enjoyed coming to St Francis for holidays, so I decided to operate from here,” he said.

Another benefit of being based in the province is that he is close to the source of the plants he uses.

“We use the Agave Americana plant which is grown mainly in the Graaff-Reinet area, but also in Uitenhage.

“Then we extract the sap from the heart of the plant, filter it, break the sugar down by hydrolising it and make it into syrup or sugar crystals before packaging it,” explained Neary, who markets agave nectar under the brand name Maguey, the Aztec name for the Agave plant.

The plant grows liberally in the province and does not need much care or irrigation. “It was introduced to the Port Elizabeth, Port Alfred, East London and Wild Coast coastline by Spanish galleons which ran aground here in the 17th century – they used it to weigh down their ballasts and feed their animals and when it washed up on our shores it just grew,” said Leary.

Later, when the 1820 Settlers realised animals were feeding on the hardy plant, they took it with them to their Karoo farms.

Neary, a qualified master brewmaker who has worked at numerous alcohol distilleries in South Africa and the UK, came across it while working for a Graaff-Reinet agave distillery.

“The distillery, which has since shut down, was making tequila but one day an American woman who was visiting asked why we didn’t make the nectar like they do in Mexico.”

This suggestion propelled Leary to look into the idea and his operation is now the only one of its kind, besides the Mexican concern.

“At first I could not get it right, but eventually I formulated the process of making agave nectar and set up my own facility in the Free State two years ago before moving to the Eastern Cape.”

Neary is convinced agave nectar is the “next big thing” in health food, saying it is a much healthier option than the controversial sweetener aspartame.

The proof is in the agave-sweetened pudding – the company has gone from a turnover of R50000 per month to R300000. And, while business is booming, Neary is also mindful of how his products help diabetics with a sweet tooth.

“We supply many diabetics and one man wrote to say how grateful he is because he used to spend R6000 on insulin, but now that he uses agave nectar, he doesn’t use insulin anymore. It makes me feel good that I can help people.”