September 1/Carol Stream, Ill./PureCircle USA Press Release -- PureCircle announced a new distribution agreement with Premium Ingredients International, an ingredient distributor for food, health and wellness and feed/pet food manufacturers.

Effective September 15, 2010, Premium Ingredients became the new distributor for PureCircle’s stevia-derived products within the United States. This strategic partnership allows Premium Ingredients to sell a range of stevia products to emerging customers.

For PureCircle, the agreement extends its distribution reach within the U.S. by over 1,000 customers, while providing them an additional technical resource.

“We are pleased to make this official announcement today,” said Jordi Ferre, corporate vice president Sales and Marketing for PureCircle. “This new partnership enhances PureCircle’s ability to service customers in the U.S. with a value-added ingredient distributor that brings a strong technical sales force and distribution network to supplement our own market leading customer support.”

“We are extremely excited to add PureCircle to the outstanding portfolio of fine products and ingredients that we represent,” said Don Thorp, president of Premium Ingredients International. “Our emphasis is to continue to expand our portfolio of good-for-you ingredients, and the Supply Side West show is an excellent venue to announce our new commitment with this partnership.”

From the September 20, 2010, Prepared Foods E-dition