Stevia leaves are dried. Malaysian firm PureCircle, which exports the sweetener stevia, has raised Sh3.87 billion part of which will be used to expand its Kenyan operations. PHOTO | FILE
Malaysian firm PureCircle, which exports the sweetener stevia, has raised Sh3.87 billion part of which will be used to expand its Kenyan operations.
The firm, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), raised the funds through a private placement share offer completed last week.
The company, however, did not give a breakdown of how the funds would be allocated to the regions where it operates.
“The total proceeds will enable the company to expand the supply chain capacity in the China and Malaysia facilities, expand plantations in Kenya and Paraguay, invest in the development of new sweetener technology and build finished goods inventory in anticipation of increasing sales demand,” said regulatory filings by the firm.
PureCircle said that global demand for stevia is expected to increase as large beverage manufacturers such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola opt for the natural sweetener for certain brands.
“Taken together, the carbonated soft drink launches in 2014 represent a step change in market adoption of stevia and numerous other carbonated soft drinks using stevia are already in development pipelines for launch,” said the firm in its 2014 annual report.
PureCircle Kenya general manager Priyanko Chatterjee said the company was expanding gradually and had contracted some 4,000 farmers to supply it with 20,000 tonnes of stevia for export per month.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
