PureCircle Wins Respected Sustainability Award

OAK BROOK, Ill., Oct. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- PureCircle, the leading global producer and marketer of high-quality stevia products, wins the Sustainability Commercialized Award from Ethical Corporation, a global publication dedicated to corporate social responsibility.

Honored among Fortune 500 companies from around the world, PureCircle's pioneering approach integrates sustainability directly into the business model, driving significant impacts on the ecosystem, environment and public health.

"From the outset, we've been very thoughtful about how we integrate sustainability directly into the way we run our business," said PureCircle's Commercial Division President Jason Hecker. "Because our supply chain is vertically integrated from the farm to finished product, we have been able to take a holistic approach to the stevia industry while doing good for the world."

The accolade recognizes many of PureCircle's sustainability actions including:

Ecosystem Impacts

• Supporting 25,000 farmers across three continents through sustainable agricultural policies and procedures with a team of more than 200 PureCircle Agronomists.
• Providing free seedlings, cuttings, materials and micro-financing support to farmers.
• Enabling 1,000 farmers to adopt stevia to improve incomes and livelihood.

Environmental Impacts

• Achieving a 15 percent reduction in the company's carbon footprint over the previous year of assessment.

Public Health Impacts

• Enabling the food and beverage industry to reduce 500 billion calories in fiscal year 2013.

"Stevia has had a tremendous, positive impact on the sweetener industry and the environment too," said Ajay Chandran, Corporate Sustainability Director for PureCircle. "We are so proud that this little plant can not only provide the chance for people to reduce calories in their lives, but also be an incredible, sustainable crop for farming communities and the planet."

PureCircle is committed to reducing carbon intensity by 20 percent by 2020 from its 2011 baseline. This will enable a cumulative reduction of 1 million metric tons of carbon, 2 trillion liters of water and 13 trillion calories in the global diet.

About Ethical Corporation
Ethical Corporation is a monthly, global publication dedicating to providing corporate social, environmental, and financial responsibility news, advice, and examples. Their mission is to help businesses around the globe do the right thing by their customers and the world. They provide business intelligence to more than 3,000 multinational companies every year and are a part of FC Business Intelligence Ltd, an independently owned company based in London. 

About PureCircle
PureCircle is the world's leading producer of high-purity stevia ingredients for the global food and beverage industry. The company is a driving force behind moving stevia from a niche ingredient to mainstream, global acceptance, and is changing the conversation around sweet. 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 as Stevian Biotechnology and in 2007 was incorporated into PureCircle Limited. PureCircle's shares are traded on the LSE AIM index. For more information, visit: www.purecircle.com.

Contact: Rachel Quenzer
PureCircle
Global Communications Manager
Email: [email protected] 
Phone: +1-630-378-2191      

SOURCE PureCircle