LISLE, ILL. — SWT Stevia opened a new applications center in the Chicago area. The facility has the capability to create a range of beverage, bakery and snack products for customers developing natural, sugar-free and reduced-sugar products, according to the company.

The vertically integrated stevia extract producer farms its own stevia plants in North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as in Mexico. With nearly two decades in the market and experience in sugar substitution formulation in South America, Asia and Europe, the company uses an extraction and purification process that is 100% water-based and does not use any alcohol, solvents or enzymatic modifications.

“Our goal was to create a space that will be a destination for our clients to partner and co-develop products with natural and organic sweetness profiles to meet consumer expectations,” said Mark Robertson, vice president of sales at SWT Stevia.