Originally from South America, the popularity of stevia’s properties and health benefits has spurred its growth and cultivation around the world.

In recent decades, stevia has been cultivated and used in its raw leaf form as well as commercially processed into sweeteners. Today, the stevia plant can be found growing in many countries including China, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, India and South Korea.

Stevia’s growth and farming requires intensive manual labour and care, along with precipitation and sunlight, which are also critical to its agriculture.

Harvested three to four times a year, stems of the stevia plant are cut 5cm from the ground. After the stems and leaves are cleaned, the stevia leaves are then dried either in the sun or in hot air dryers before Steviol glycosides are extracted and purified to make PureVia™.