Florham Park, N.J. (January 14, 2009) PureCircle (LSE:PURE), the world’s leading developer, producer and marketer of high-purity Rebaudioside A (Reb A) announces a major addition to its senior management team and U.S. business with the appointment of former Tate & Lyle sales and marketing vice president, Jordi Ferre. Jordi will be vice president and general manager, PureCircle USA.
Jordi will be responsible for spearheading the commercial development of Reb A in the United States. His appointment follows the FDA’s issuance of a no objection letter in December, which gave high-purity Reb A Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status, allowing high-purity Reb A to be adopted as a key ingredient in mainstream food and beverage production and across entire product ranges. Food and drink manufacturers in the United States are already using high-purity Reb A as a sweetener ingredient.
Jordi, who has an MBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona, has more than 20 years experience in the global food and beverage industry.
He joins PureCircle from Tate & Lyle where he was most recently vice president, sales & marketing for the group’s Splenda® Sucralose division worldwide.
Prior to joining Tate & Lyle, Jordi held a number of senior sales and marketing positions at a range of food companies in both the United States and Europe and, during this time, received the prestigious “Marketer of the New Generation” award from U.S. magazine BrandWeek.
Commenting on the Jordi’s appointment, Magomet Malsagov, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“GRAS status has opened up the United States, the world’s largest market for high-purity Reb A, and as the world’s leading producer of this all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener, we are determined to fully exploit our leadership position.
We are delighted that Jordi is joining PureCircle. The fact that we are able to attract someone of his caliber to spearhead our growth in the U.S. highlights both the size of the market opportunity and the recognition that PureCircle has already secured itself as the clear leader in our fast growing industry.
With Jordi’s arrival, we have added further to what was already one the most experienced management teams in the business. We will continue to invest in our global market leadership and expect to announce further senior appointments in due course.”
Inquiries
PureCircle
Magomet Malsagov, Chief Executive Officer +601 2 388 8049
Peter Milsted, Director: Marketing & Sales +33 6 2184 5356
William Mitchell, Chief Financial Officer +44 7974 005 163
Quiet Light Communications +1 815 398 6860
Kitty Kevin
NOTES TO EDITORS
Senior Management
The senior management team comprises:
- Magomet Malsagov, Chief Executive Officer
- William Mitchell, Chief Financial Officer
- Peter Milsted, Director: Marketing & Sales
- Varuzhan Abelyan, Corporate Vice President: R&D and Process Innovation
- Dorn Wenninger, Corporate Vice President: Supply Chain
- Tat Seng Koh, Corporate Vice President: Business Development
- Arne Lugeon, Corporate Vice President: Human Resources
and, Jordi Ferre, Vice President & General Manager, PureCircle USA
About high-purity Reb A
High-purity Reb A is the world’s first all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener derived from the Stevia Rebaudiana plant. For more on Reb A, visit www.Reb-A.com
About PureCircle
PureCircle (LSE:PURE) is the world’s leading producer of high-purity Rebaudioside A (Reb A), with a vertically integrated supply chain operating in three continents. PureCircle markets a range of natural sweeteners internationally. Activities range from the sourcing of dry stevia leaves and extraction, refining of high-purity Reb A into sweeteners and marketing of these sweeteners to food and beverage manufacturers worldwide.
PureCircle’s extraction plant can produce 1,000 MT of stevia extract annually which is currently the world’s largest extraction facility. This is set to increase to 4,000 MT in March 2009. The company has built the world’s largest state-of-the-art refining plant in Malaysia. This currently produces 1,000 MT of high-purity Reb A and work has started to double this capacity to 2,000 MT. The company’s production facilities operate in compliance with cGMP, HACCP and ISO standards.
During 2008, PureCircle announced contract extensions with Cargill and major new contracts with PepsiCo and Whole Earth Sweetener Company for the supply of high-purity Reb A in beverages, food and tabletop sweeteners worldwide, including the exclusive license to market PureViaTM Reb A as an ingredient (PureVia™ is a trademark of PepsiCo Inc. and Whole Earth Sweetener Company LLC: see www.purevia.com).
In December 2008, PureCircle announced that the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) had issued a no objection letter with respect to high-purity Reb A, formally giving high-purity Reb A Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status for use in mainstream beverages, food and tabletop sweeteners, either as a complement to sugar or as a healthy substitute for synthetic sweeteners. Other stevia extract ingredients do not have GRAS status in the United States.
PureCircle’s investment in research and development has given it a leadership position in the manufacture of high-purity Reb A, and its scientists are globally recognized experts in their field.
The company works with independent farmers in Thailand, China, Paraguay, Laos and Kenya to grow the best quality stevia leaf. PureCircle works closely with communities in each of these countries and endeavors to maximize the social, economic and environmental benefits of its operations.
PureCircle’s corporate offices are located in New Jersey, USA; Asuncion, Paraguay; Geneva, Switzerland; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Ganzhou, China; and Kericho, Kenya.
PureCircle is listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market under the ticker symbol: PURE.
For more information on PureCircle, visit: www.purecircle.com.