Ingredion, a leading global provider of specialty ingredients to the food and beverage industry, announces the expansion of PureCircle by Ingredion’s stevia production facility in Malaysia, further extending its position as the largest scale operator for stevia ingredients from bioconversion.

This expansion grows PureCircle’s bioconversion technology capacity, supporting four times the current capacity for these ingredients. The investment significantly increases the scale and supply of the best-tasting stevia leaf ingredients for replacing sugar and artificial sweeteners across food and beverage categories.

“Food and beverage brands are prioritizing the removal of sugar and artificial sweeteners in product reformulation,” said Nate Yates, global platform lead for sugar reduction at Ingredion. “Historically, brands have had limited access to the best-tasting stevia leaf solutions at scale. This significant investment in the production capacity to produce stevia ingredients, like Reb M and other better-tasting steviol glycosides, unlocks deeper sugar reduction possibilities and optimized taste performance for companies of all sizes.”

Earlier this year, Ingredion announced the launch of its PureCircle Clean Taste Solutions which provides clean-tasting sweetness across several categories including beverages, dairy, tea, coffee, sports nutrition, bakery, confectionery, savory, sauces and dressings. The expansion of the PureCircle Malaysia facility will further accelerate the brands’ formulation efforts by increasing the amount of finished stevia ingredients, which makes Clean Taste Solutions possible.

PureCircle offers the industry’s broadest portfolio of non-GMO sweeteners from the stevia plant. This, combined with Ingredion’s complete Sugar Reduction toolkit of functional build-back ingredients and flavorings with modifying properties, brings tailored taste and texture performance and new sugar reduction possibilities in food and beverage products consumers are asking for.

Ingredion research shows 76% of consumers find limiting sugar important for their health, and two-thirds of consumers are willing to pay more for food and beverage products, which help them achieve their goals related to sugar intake.