PureCircle : Launch of Coca-Cola Stevia No Sugar in New Zealand

Launch of Coca-Cola Stevia No Sugar in New Zealand

PureCircle (LSE: PURE), the world's leading producer and innovator of stevia ingredients, today reports that Coca-Cola Stevia No Sugar was launched in New Zealand. It is the very first product from the world's leading beverage company sweetened solely with stevia.

PureCircle has worked closely with The Coca-Cola Company ('Coca-Cola') for years on stevia and innovated together to bring Coca-Cola Stevia No Sugar to market. In addition, PureCircle recently announced plans to significantly increase the planting of Starleaf^TMstevia, a proprietary non-GMO stevia plant that yields 20 times more of the best-tasting stevia leaf sweeteners versus current conventional varieties.

PureCircle CEO, Magomet Malsagov, said: 'The launch of Coca-Cola Stevia No Sugar is a very material development which further strengthens the long-term prospects of the stevia industry in general and PureCircle which has invested significant resources to produce the best tasting stevia leaf sweeteners. Having scaledStarleaf^TM plantations and established large scale production capacity, we have positioned PureCircle as the partner of choice for major brands around the world that are looking to roll out great-tasting products with less or no sugar and artificial sweeteners.'

The full text of the Cola-Cola announcement is shown below:

https://www.coca-colajourney.co.nz/stories/coca-cola-stevia-no-sugar-launches

8 May 2018

Enquiries:

Investors/Analysts

Magomet Malsagov, CEO

Email:[e-mail]

Rakesh Sinha, CFO

Email: [e-mail]

Media

Carolyn Clark, Director of Global Marketing

Email:[e-mail]: [phone]

Emma Kane (Redleaf), Media Relations

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Notes to Editors

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 currently has 72 stevia-related approved patents and 200 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 400 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 visithttps://www.purecirclesteviainstitute.com/