Tate & Lyle PLC, a leading global provider of speciality food ingredients and solutions, and Sweet Green Fields, one of the largest privately held, fully integrated global stevia ingredient companies, announced that they have entered into an exclusive partnership to deliver innovative stevia ingredients and solutions to customers around the world. The partnership combines Tate & Lyle’s decades of sweetener expertise and global sales and distribution network, with Sweet Green Fields’ leading portfolio of stevia-based ingredients and supply chain. The exclusive distribution partnership begins on 3 April 2017.

“This is an exciting new partnership bringing together a collective passion for food, science and sweeteners,” said Joan Braca, president, Speciality Food Ingredients, Tate & Lyle. “Together, we will offer customers an extensive range of stevia-based ingredients and solutions to help them meet growing global consumer demand for healthier food and beverages with natural ingredients and fewer calories or less sugar. Tate & Lyle’s broad portfolio of sweeteners, applications expertise and strong innovation pipeline, combined with Sweet Green Fields’ expertise in the science of stevia, from seed to sale, will create significant opportunities for new product innovation.”

“We are delighted that Sweet Green Fields is combining its leading range of stevia products and knowledge with Tate & Lyle’s global scale and capabilities in sales, quality assurance, and applications development,” said Dean Francis, CEO at Sweet Green Fields. “We look forward to introducing our extraordinary stevia solutions to customers worldwide.”

Through this partnership, Tate & Lyle will provide customers with access to Sweet Green Fields’ exceptional line of steviol glycosides including its established ‘Project Non-GMO Verified’ stevia offerings, certified organic stevias, the breakthrough sugar-like proprietary stevia extract INTESSE, and the cost-competitive Optimizer stevia series. This unique range of stevia-based sweeteners will be supported by Tate & Lyle’s global network of application laboratories and scientists, to help customers accelerate product development and speed to market.

Founded in 2007, with its origins going back to 1999, Sweet Green Fields has extensive experience in stevia plant breeding and agriculture, in addition to deep expertise in stevia sweetening ingredients. Sweet Green Fields’ knowledge of stevia farming and manufacturing technology, combined with the global reach of Tate & Lyle, creates a sustainable, stevia sweetener business to meet the needs of food manufacturers across the world.