China's Sunwin Stevia International venturing to South America

Sunwin Stevia International, Inc., makers of stevia extracts such as Rebaudioside A 98 and Rebaudioside A99, said this week that the company will expand into the South American market.

"We have been increasing our market efforts for our stevia extracts in North America and Europe,” Sunwin Stevia CEO Dongdon Lin said. “This is our first time to expand our marketing efforts to South America. We believe South America offers another potential huge market for our stevia extracts."

Lin said that stevia leaves have been used for thousands of years in South American cooking. It is added to food as a zero calorie, all natural sweetener as well as used as a natural treatment for high blood pressure, heartburn, gout and Type 2 diabetes. 

Headquartered in China, Sunwin Stevia management explored investment opportunities in the area during this week's Expo of Food Ingredients South America conference in San Paulo, Brazil.

The conference drew a mix of multinational food companies along with major local players dominating the Brazilian agribusiness sector, including Nestlé, Unilever, Parmalat, Kraft, Danone, Brasil Foods, Friboi, Itambé, Citrosuco and Garoto.