USA – PureCircle, the world’s leading producer and innovator of stevia sweeteners, has announced that it has expanded its capacity to supply significantly more Reb M to global beverage and food companies.

Reb M is the variant of stevia sweetener which has the most sugar-like taste and which is most sought after by beverage and food companies.

According to the company, as it continues to build production capacity, it could supply enough Reb M to sweeten 1 billion cases of zero-calorie carbonated soft drinks or the equivalent in beverages and foods using Reb M as the sweetener.

Currently, PureCircle reported that it can supply enough Reb M to sweeten about 500 million cases of zero-calorie carbonated soft drinks.

PureCircle further estimated that, depending on amounts purchased and terms of purchase, companies buying Reb M from PureCircle will find the cost of using it to sweeten a beverage or food, equivalent to their cost of using sugar to achieve the same level of sweetening.

PureCircle had developed a proprietary strain of the Reb M stevia plant called Starleaf stevia, which contains greater amounts Reb M than conventional stevia plants, and is massively ramping up its planting of Starleaf stevia.

PureCircle produces Reb M both directly from the Starleaf stevia plant and from other stevia sweeteners in the plant.

A number of beverage and food companies are already using PureCircle’s Reb M in their products.

PureCircle said the expansion in production of Reb M will help beverage and food companies obtain supplies of an ingredient they need, as they continue to respond to their consumers’ desires for more zero- and low-calorie products using plant-based sweeteners.

As the result of its innovation, research and development work with stevia, PureCircle has been granted an array of stevia-related patents.

These patents – plus additional applied for patents — cover a wide range of stevia-related products and processes.

Beyond patents, and further enhancing its broad-based intellectual property, the company has extensive trade secrets and know-how.

PureCircle also works with food and beverage companies to make formulation with stevia simple and offers a number of specialized variants and blends of stevia sweeteners designed to work optimally in different consumer product categories.