Stevia First Corp. Announces Pilot-Scale Production of California-Grown Organic Stevia Extract

06 Dec 2013 --- Stevia First Corp., an early-stage agribusiness based in California's Central Valley growing region and focused on the industrial scale production of stevia, the all-natural zero-calorie sweetener that is rapidly transforming the food and beverage industry, is pleased to announce initial pilot project results in support of organic stevia extract production in the United States.

The Company has successfully produced commercially relevant quantities of USDA and California Certified Organic Farms organic stevia leaf in Northern California as feedstock for its extraction system development. This defines the Company as one of the few, if not the only entity, spearheading the expansion of organic stevia leaf and extract production in the United States.

Stevia First will continue to increase the availability of California-grown organic stevia through catalyzing a grower network. The Company is providing interested growers with the resources and knowledge to grow stevia at all phases of leaf production, and aims to provide significant domestic leaf extraction and processing capabilities. Currently, worldwide stevia cultivation may approach 50,000 acres with a minute fraction occurring in the United States. Stevia First intends to help convert a portion of the estimated 2 million acres of the irrigated land in California available for forage crop production, in addition to converting under-producing vegetable and tree crop acreage to commercial stevia leaf production.

Company CEO Robert Brooke comments, "We are continuously adapting modern mechanization and processing technologies for use within an integrated domestic stevia production system. Our work enables the improvement of production economics across a variety of desirable stevia products, including California-grown organic stevia extract."