PureCircle Granted Key Stevia Reb M Patent in China

Chicago, IL, Sept. 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PureCircle (LSE: PURE), the world's leading producer and innovator of great-tasting stevia sweeteners for the global beverage and food industries, was recently granted a Chinese patent directed to its proprietary process for scaling up production of its flagship, next generation Reb M stevia leaf sweetener.

The company's proprietary process has enabled it to produce its next generation sweeteners in the significant and reliable quantities beverage and food companies require ? and to supply these ingredients cost effectively for its customers. These sweeteners work well in a broad range of no- and low-sugar added beverages and foods.

The Chinese patent is aligned with the Company's other global IP on Reb M production, and serves to further strengthen the company's position as the world's leading supplier of innovative stevia ingredients.

PureCircle has 194 patents granted, and approximately 350 patents pending, globally. Beyond patents, and further enhancing its broad-based intellectual property, the company has extensive trade secrets and know-how resulting from years of leading edge R&D and process optimization in the area of stevia ingredients.

Commenting on PureCircle's Innovation, CEO Magomet Malsagov noted:

"This new patent is a valuable addition to our intellectual property portfolio.  Our IP, including the hundreds of patents we hold and have applied for globally -- and the additional patents for which we shall apply -- reflect the strength and depth of our work with the stevia plant and our commitment to getting the most out of the stevia leaf."

All of PureCircle's stevia products begin with the stevia plant.  The Company works with farmers in Asia, Africa, Latin America and North America to grow and source its stevia plants. Noted one farmer in Africa who grows PureCircle stevia, "We support many family members, and they are all going to benefit from stevia."  In the U.S., PureCircle is working with farmers in North Carolina who formerly grew tobacco.  Planting stevia provides these farmers with a valuable new crop.

For more information about PureCircle and our ingredients, please visit: www.purecircle.com.

About PureCircle

• PureCircle is the only company that combines advanced R&D with full vertical integration from farm to high-quality, great-tasting innovative stevia sweeteners.
• The Company collaborates with farmers who grow the stevia plants and with food and beverage companies which seek to improve their low- and no-calorie formulations using a sweetener from plants.
• PureCircle will continue to: lead in research, development and innovation; produce a growing supply of multiple varieties of stevia sweeteners with sugar-like taste, using all necessary and appropriate methods of production; and be a resource and innovation partner for food and beverage companies.
• PureCircle stevia flavor modifiers work in synergy with sweeteners to improve the taste, mouthfeel and calorie profile, and enhance the cost effectiveness, of beverage and food products.
• Founded in 2002, PureCircle is continually investing in breakthrough research and development and it has been granted over 130 stevia-related patents with more than 250 applied for patents pending.
• PureCircle has offices around the world with the global headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.
• To meet growing demand for stevia sweeteners, PureCircle is rapidly ramping up its supply capability. It completed expansion of its Malaysian stevia extract facility in March 2017, increasing its capacity to rapidly supply the newer and great-tasting specialty stevia sweeteners and helping provide ever-increasing value to its customers.
• PureCircle's shares are listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
• For more information, visit: www.purecircle.com

About stevia

• Given the growing global concerns about obesity and diabetes, beverage and food companies are working responsibly to reduce sugar and calories in their products, responding to both consumers and health and wellness advocates. Sweeteners from the stevia plant offer sugar-like taste and are becoming an increasingly important tool for these companies.
• Like sugar, stevia sweeteners are from plants. But unlike sugar, they enable low-calorie and zero-calorie formulations of beverages and foods.
• Stevia leaf extract is a natural-based, zero calorie, high-intensity sweetener, used by global food and beverage companies as a great-tasting zero-calorie alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners.
• Stevia is a naturally sweet plant native to South America; today, it is grown around the world, notably in Kenya, China and the US.
• The sweet-tasting parts of the stevia leaf are up to 350 times sweeter than sugar: stevia's high-intensity sweetness means it requires far less water and land than sugar.
• Research has shown that the molecules of the stevia leaf are present and unchanged in the dried stevia leaf, through the commercial extraction and purification process, and in the final stevia leaf extract product. All major global regulatory organisations, across 65 countries, have approved the use of high-purity stevia leaf extracts in food and beverages.
• For more information on the science of stevia, please visit https://www.purecirclesteviainstitute.com/

Attachment

• _64A6619