PureCircle Launches Gourmet Ice Cream in Chicago. Zero-Added Sugar. Sweetened With Plant-Based Stevia.

Chicago, IL, Aug. 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Question: what could be sweeter than ice cream in summer?  Answer: a creamy delicious ice cream with zero added sugar, sweetened with the plant-based stevia sweetener and with no taste compromise.

Based in Chicago, PureCircle, the world’s leading producer and innovator of stevia sweeteners, is launching a zero-added-sugar ice cream in its hometown at the end of August.   The great-tasting branded gourmet ice cream is sweetened with the company’s next generation stevia leaf sweeteners.  It will initially be distributed around the city via PureCircle ice cream trucks

The launch of the new ice cream – with the company’s name on the labels -- demonstrates PureCircle’s confidence in the great taste of its next generation non-GMO stevia sweeteners.  They are an important break-through. The capabilities of these sweeteners and the company’s unique expertise in formulating with them are what make possible the delicious ‘PureCircle’ ice cream.

The new ice cream will be available in four flavors: vanilla, chocolate, coffee and salted caramel.  There will also be a vegan fruit-flavored frozen dessert.  These new stevia-sweetened treats have the rich, creamy taste characteristic of gourmet ice cream but with no sugar added.  The new ice cream offerings will be available in 5.3-oz mini-cups and pints at launch. And as it is sweetened with stevia, the ice cream contains no artificial sweeteners.

Several health organizations suggest consumers reduce added sugar in their diets.  For example, the U.S. Government, in its Dietary Guidelines, urges “an eating pattern low in added sugar.”  With no added sugar, PureCircle ice cream helps consumers adhere to that eating pattern.  It also helps with calorie reduction.  PureCircle’s vanilla ice cream, for example, contains less than half the calories of one of the leading full-calorie branded vanilla ice creams.

Commenting on the launch of PureCircle Ice Cream, PureCircle CEO Maga Malsagov said:

“We have worked hard to develop and commercialize our next generation stevia leaf sweeteners.  To demonstrate our confidence in their great taste, we are putting our name on this delicious ice cream.  We hope folks in Chicago will drop by a PureCircle Ice Cream truck to taste our new ice cream and to savor what our next generation stevia can do in food and beverage products.”

PureCircle Ice Cream trucks will be traveling across the city and will be at major events. To find the closest ice cream truck, when it will be there and to learn more about PureCircle Ice Cream and stevia, visit https://purecircleicecream.com  

In addition, the company plans to offer ice cream products for sale to restaurants, ice cream parlors, hotels and other foodservice outlets; plus the company will offer to sell stevia-based ingredient blends to producers of ice cream sold at retail and in foodservice. 

Stevia leaf sweeteners are used by global food and beverage companies as a plant-based, zero-calorie alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners.  PureCircle has overcome the challenges facing stevia leaf sweeteners in the past: taste, supply and cost.  The company’s next generation stevia sweeteners have a clean, sugar-like taste and work well across multiple consumer product categories.  And PureCircle has ramped up its ability to produce its next generation sweeteners in supplies that food and beverage companies require – and cost effectively to them.  That means food and beverage companies can offer consumers zero- and low-calorie products, sweetened with a plant-based, non-GMO sweetener.

The importance of stevia sweeteners to the beverage and food industries is growing, evidenced by its increased use.  Last year, the number of new products launched using stevia globally grew +31%, according to Mintel. That was roughly three times the growth rate in 2017.  Over the last decade, stevia has been used in more than 20,000 beverage and food launches.  Many large and small food and beverage companies globally utilize PureCircle stevia in their low- and zero-calorie products due to its great taste.

In connection with the launch of the new ice cream, PureCircle has partnered with the Illinois chapter of JDRF, which funds research, advocates for government action and provides support to fight type 1 diabetes.  Recognizing the healthy attributes of PureCircle’s zero-added sugar ice cream, JDRF will help PureCircle educate its members about this new product and will provide PureCircle opportunities to sample and sell the ice cream at certain JDRF events.  For example, JDRF is inviting the PureCircle ice cream trucks to provide product, coupons and promotional items at its One Walk Events in late September and early October. PureCircle will also be the “official dessert sponsor” at JDRF’s One Dream Gala in Chicago at the end of the year. PureCircle has pledged to help support JDRF’s work. 

In addition to the food trucks, PureCircle Ice Cream can be found this week:

• August 21^st at Federal Plaza Farmer’s Market from 12pm - 1:30pm – W. Adams St & S. Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60604.
• August 22^nd at Water Tower place from 11am – 2pm - 835 N. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611.
• August 22^nd at Avanti Caffé from 1:30pm - 2:30pm – 200 W. Jackson Blvd, Chicago 60606.
• August 22^nd at SoulCycle LOOP from 4pm – 5pm -111 W Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60601.
• August 23^rd outside of  Wrigley Field - 11am-1pm  - 1060 W Addison St, Chicago, IL 60613.
• August 25^th at El Hefe starting at 4pm - 15 W. Hubbard St, Chicago, IL 60654.

For information on the new PureCircle Ice Cream on the internet, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, please use the following links:

Internet: https://www.purecircleicecream.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PureCircleIceCream

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/purecircleicecream/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/pcicecream

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Media may direct inquiries to:

Jackson Pillow, Media Relations Manager

Email: jackson.pillow@purecircle.com  Phone: +1 (630) 256 8394

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

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