NEW DELHI, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PureCircle, the
world's leading producer of high-purity stevia ingredients for the
global food and beverage industry, announced plans today to invest
in India's stevia infrastructure
over the next five years. The company plans to partner with
thousands of Indian farmers to plant 5,000 hectares of stevia and
eventually build a stevia processing facility in India.
Video - https://youtu.be/ukMsEvetSyE
"Our investment in India
signals the huge potential we see in this market for stevia as a
sweetener and as an agricultural commodity," said Jason Hecker, PureCircle's President of Group
Sales and Marketing. "We believe this plant can not only help
farmers in the region earn extra income, but also help to naturally
reduce calories for Indian consumers while maintaining the sweet
tastes they want."
India is the last major market
to approve stevia leaf extract as a sweetener, opening the doors
for PureCircle investment. This highlights PureCircle's ongoing
commitment to the PureCircle Stevia Agronomy Program and to working
directly with farmers.
The agronomy program provides farmers with a contract that
states a fixed priced for the stevia they produce and teaches them
how to grow the plant sustainably. Indian farmers that grow
PureCircle stevia on one hectare of land can expect to yield an
income of about 400,000 Rupees per
year. Early agricultural trials are already underway in Punjab,
Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.
"Stevia, also called Meethi Tulsi and Meethi Patti by Indian
farmers, is the perfect ingredient for India due to its natural and herbal origins,"
said Ajay Chandran, Senior Director
for South Asia Region. "Across the globe, PureCircle's portfolio of
innovative stevia sweeteners and flavors has enabled major brands
to reformulate full sugar products with this natural, zero-calorie
solution to address consumer demands. We feel confident that
stevia's approval in India will lead to new, lower calorie
taste innovation for this market and help consumers significantly
reduce their sweet calorie intake."
PureCircle will be hosting a customer event in Gurgaon tomorrow
to further showcase their plans for the market.
About PureCircle
PureCircle is the world's leading
producer of high-purity stevia ingredients for the global food and
beverage industry. Its mission is to encourage healthier diets
around the world through the supply of natural ingredients to the
global food and beverage industry. Its vision is to lead the global
expansion of stevia as the next mass volume, natural-origin
sweetener. PureCircle has offices around the world with the global
headquarters in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. It was founded in 2002 and was incorporated into
PureCircle Limited in 2007. PureCircle's shares are listed on the
main market of the London Stock Exchange and trade under the ticker
symbol PURE. For more information,
visit: www.purecircle.com.
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