Chicago – PureCircle, a producer of stevia sweeteners for the beverage and food industries, will increase the amount of proprietary StarLeaf stevia it plants in 2018 by about 200 per cent over 2017 production.
PureCircle will plant nearly 16,000 tons in 2018 to meet consumer demand, the company said in a news release, adding that those plans are subject to various conditions such as weather.
With the planned increases in planting, the company estimates that 80 per cent of the stevia plants it uses this year will be StarLeaf. The company said it is expanding the planting and use of its proprietary stevia leaf to meet increasing demand of food and beverage industries for the zero-calorie sweeteners.
The company said it sources its stevia supply from several countries around the world. Part of the dramatic increase in the planting of StarLeaf this year, it added, is the result of new partnerships with North Carolina farmers, some of whom are starting to use land that once grew tobacco to grow the proprietary plants.
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