Over the past decade, a little-known herb 200 times sweeter than sugar has become a €3.5bn global industry, showing up in everything from Coca-Cola drinks to Heinz ketchup.

The Continental Farmers Group has been given anti-monopoly approvals in Ukraine for its joint venture sugar project with ED&F Man Holdings Ltd.

Continental Farmers Group , quarter-owned by Irish agri-food business Origin, has reported profits of €3.1m to the end of last year, a 19% increase on 2010.