PureCircle Expands Stevia Global Supply Chain Reach

CHICAGOPureCircle has expanded its global supply chain for stevia leaf, successfully completing recent shipments from Paraguay, Kenya and the United States. Over the past few years the company has invested in cultivation and sourcing from these regions to strategically diversify its supply base in the face of broadening stevia demand worldwide. The commercialization of stevia in these regions is an important step toward the companys future model of localizing their supply chain to service major markets.

PureCircles South American subsidiary in Paraguay, where stevia is a native plant, started shipping stevia leaf to PureCircle extraction facilities in early January 2012 and has continued to ship regularly from the new site. This expansion was boosted by new developments in the region, including the use of mechanized harvesting technology to improve harvesting efficiency for farmers and the recycling of stevia biomass into organic fertilizer for stevia fields. PureCircle also has formed relationships with Paraguayan farmers to plant more than 36 million seedlings to date.

The strategic growth of leaf development supports our long-term vision for a sustainable, consistent supply of high-quality stevia that can be scaled and localized to meet growing global market demand," said Fernando Chilavert, managing director of PureCircle South America Ltd.

In Kenya, ideal growing conditions for proprietary varieties of PureCircle stevia make it the perfect hub for the company's supply Europe, Middle East and African markets. The company has invested nearly $1 million in microfinancing for farmers, and its commercial operations now provide employment and steady income to more than 2,200 independent farmers.

PureCircle said its U.S. operations are focused on advancing stevia agricultural knowledge and improving processes in mass scale farming techniques for stevia cultivation. The company said this will be critical for its wide scale adoption and will improve the environmental footprint of their stevia ingredients.

PureCircle said developing these new regions should boost, which aims to breed diverse stevia varieties best suited for each region. The goal is to improve the quality and yield of steviol glycosides, the sweet components extracted from the stevia leaf. The company also expects the breeding program to offer customers greater diversification and localization of stevia sourcing.