Everything stevia

2014 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT PROVING OUR COMMITMENT TO SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

CONTENTS Our Approach to Sustainability i 01 02 03

CEO Statement Sustainability Strategy & Goals Stakeholders Materiality

About PureCircle 06 07 08 09

Company Basics Governance & Compliance Sustainability Management Membership & Associations

Environmental Impacts 11 13 14 16 18 19 21

Environmental Management Energy Management Climate Change Water Conservation & Efficiency Waste & Effluents Land Use & Biodiversity Transportation & Logistics

Workplace Impacts 23 26 27

Human Capital Labor Practices & Diversity Health & Safety

Community Impacts 30 31

Philanthropy & Charitable Giving Food Security

Product Impacts 33 35

Food Safety & Quality Health & Nutrition

36 37

Product Life Cycle Impacts Customer Communications

Supply Chain Impacts 39 41

Suppliers Relations Working with Farmers

About This Report 44

Report Information

GRI Content Index 45

Index

OUR APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY

i

CEO STATEMENT This report is just one of the steps we are taking to ensure that we fulfill our responsibilities to stakeholders with transparency, honesty, and proactive management. PureCircle’s commitment to sustainability has been embedded in our corporate practices since the beginning. We have extensive policies, management systems, and performance data that attests to our ongoing efforts, much of which is included in the following pages. I am particularly proud that we are taking a life-cycle approach to environmental management—examining and mitigating our impacts, beginning at the farm, all the way through processing and ultimately ending with the customer. By carefully measuring impacts at each stage of the supply chain, we are able to focus our resources where they can do the most good. That work is paying off: in 2013, our stevia products had a 29% - 79% smaller carbon footprint and a 92% - 96% lower water footprint than other sweeteners on the market. We know that along with ensuring consistent supply of leaf, it is important to extract, purify and blend desired stevia extracts at a scale, safety and consistency expected by our customers. We have in place the world’s largest stevia extraction and purification plants, and as a responsible corporate citizen, we are conscious of our impacts. Extensive labor and human rights programs are in place, including third party auditing, at our production facilities. Ongoing training, and our commitment to transparency will ensure that our commitment to our people does not waver.

I AM PROUD TO PRESENT PURECIRCLE’S FIRST SUSTAINABILITY REPORT, WHICH OUTLINES OUR ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL COMMITMENTS AND TRACKS PROGRESS AGAINST THOSE GOALS. Some of the most exciting sustainability initiatives are happening in our supply chain as we engage with small-scale farmers that grow the stevia plants. We are working with them on issues ranging from food security to waste reduction, biodiversity to fertilizer application. Our sustainable agriculture policies and on-the-ground training are making a huge difference and we have aggressive plans to do even more in the coming years. Finally, a word about obesity, one of the toughest challenges facing food and beverage companies today. In 2013 alone, we supplied enough stevia to enable a reduction of 500 billion calories from global diets. We are proud to be part of the effort to address the obesity crisis, and we are working with our customers to find new and exciting ways to provide consumers with delicious options that meet lower-calorie goals. Looking ahead, we see opportunity in many areas of sustainability, but also challenges. Scaling up our sustainability efforts as our business grows will require significant attention and resources. This is particularly true at the farm level, where our goal is to engage 100,000 farmers by 2020 in our sustainable agriculture programs. I look forward to reporting back next year on our progress. In the meantime, please feel free to provide us feedback on our sustainability performance through our website, or any of our communication channels. Open and transparent engagement is at the heart of our sustainability strategy and I hope that you will be part of our journey.

Sincerely, Magomet Malsagov Chief Executive Officer

01

Sustainability Strategy & Goals It is our mission to scale stevia as the next natural mainstream sustainable sweetener. Our sustainability strategy is based on three important pillars:

Ecosystem Our goal is to provide a net positive benefit to the people and the communities in which we operate, from the land where thousands of our farmers live to the regions in which we operate the world’s largest purification and extraction plants.

Environment We strive to minimize our impact on the environment through strong procedures and practices throughout the supply chain. Our stevia is grown, processed, and distributed in a manner that has a dramatically lower carbon and water footprint than other sweeteners.

Public Health We offer a great tasting, natural, no calorie sweetener that can effectively reduce calories for a wide variety of products. Our focus on innovative product development will help transform the marketplace so that consumers have better access to reducedcalorie food and beverage options.

2020 Sustainability Intensity Goals (against 2011 baseline) Goal

2013 Progress To Date

Status

Reduce carbon intensity across the product life cycle

20 percent reduction

4 percent reduction

On course

Reduce energy intensity across the product life cycle

20 percent reduction

42 percent reduction

Exceeded

Reduce water intensity across the product life cycle

20 percent reduction

24 percent reduction in direct operations

On course

Eliminate waste across our farming and processing operations

Zero waste to landfill

99.3% diversion rate at our processing facilities

On course

Support small-scale farmers with our sustainable agriculture policy

100,000 farmers supported

18,000 farmers supported

On course

Ensure traceability from gate to individual farm

100% traceability

Significant traceability to region and farm exists

On course

Focus Area

02

Stakeholders We take pride in creating shared value with our stakeholders. From working with small-scale farmers to delighting consumers with the next generation of stevia ingredients, we are committed to understanding and responding to stakeholder needs and opinions.

Stakeholders Stakeholder

Description

Supply Chain Partners

Our most critical supply chain partners are the farmers who grow the stevia used in all of our products. Other key suppliers include packaging, logistics, and processing ingredient providers.

Communication Channels

What They Expect

What We Expect

Face-to-face and electronic collaboration, contracting and procurement.

Our suppliers look for honest and ethical treatment, and our farmers in particular seek long-term partnerships that will allow them to develop additional capacity.

We need suppliers that meet our quality, environmental, health and nutrition, food safety, and labor and human rights expectations.

Employees

Our employees span the globe and provide manpower, innovation, and inspiration.

Daily communication, training and skills development, performance reviews.

Employees want a fair paycheck, skills development opportunities, and effective leadership.

We seek the best and the brightest employees, especially those that thrive in a fast-paced and innovative environment.

Customers and Consumers

We sell our products to other food companies, who use our stevia formulations to create lower-calorie options for consumers to enjoy.

Face-to-face and electronic communication, trade associations and learning laboratories.

Customers look to us for innovative products that meet consumers’ evolving well-being and taste preferences.

We are particularly keen to work with customers that share our commitment to sustainability, innovation, and health and wellness.

Investors

We are traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol: PURE.

Public filings, investor conference calls, annual general meetings.

Investors want a good return on their investment, a clear trajectory for continued growth, and good governance.

We seek investors who see the potential that stevia has to transform the food industry and provide social and environmental benefits.

We are involved with trade associations and we regularly participate in food and beverage sustainability conferences and working groups.

Trade associations, working groups, social media, individual meetings.

Non-profit and advocacy organizations are primarily concerned that we act responsibly on social and environmental issues.

We prioritize engagement with groups that are solution-oriented and have a strong grounding in credible science and local context.

Public Interest Groups

03

Materiality

PureCircle is involved in every stage of the stevia supply chain: breeding, cultivating and harvesting stevia leaf, extracting and purifying the glycosides and create great tasting, zero calorie sweeteners and flavors. Our integrated supply chain not only enables us to ensure a reliable source of stevia leaf and a safe, high quality product, but it also allows us to provide our customers a level of transparency and accountability across all sourcing regions that is unmatched by any other stevia manufacturer.

Value Chain

Plant Breeding

We strive to optimize stevia yield in all aspects of our operations. Our

Breeding proprietary stevia varieties with higher sweet glycoside content

unique extraction and purification processes allow us to make use of each glycoside. We extract up to 95% of the targeted glycosides from

Harvesting

the leaf and convert them into a range of high quality final products.

Working directly with local farmers across four continents

We are committed to measuring and reporting on our key environmental impacts and social benefits along the entire supply chain. We completed

Extraction

our first carbon and water footprint in 2011 and have updated our

Producing our own extract to ensure quality standards are met

calculations each year, spanning farm to extraction, purification and distribution. In addition, we have assessed water impacts of stevia as a crop in various growing regions, implemented the stevia industry’s most robust sustainable agriculture policies, and continue to modify our practices to mitigate environmental impact across our supply chain. The results of these efforts can be found throughout this report.

Purification Purifying steviol glycosides with an unmatched scale and consistency

Application Providing formulation expertise to deliver great tasting products

Finished Product Supporting consumer communications with the Stevia PureCircle Trustmark equity.

Materiality

04

How We Determine Materiality In early 2014, we undertook a materiality assessment to identify and prioritize sustainability issues for the company. While we had many policies and initiatives already underway—including ambitious goals for energy, waste, water, traceability, and supplier engagement—we realized that we had not yet formally assessed what issues mattered most to us and to our stakeholders. For this process, we engaged a sustainability strategy consulting firm to help us review key social and environmental topics. We looked at the following: • Number of times that this issue arises in our product life cycle. For example, product traceability is an issue at every stage of stevia production. • Number and type of stakeholders most likely to be affected by the issue. For example, the small-scale farmers who grow our stevia are highly impacted by our sustainability decisions. • The importance of the issue to PureCircle’s business success.

The below matrix is the result of our materiality assessment, which attempts to quantify the relative importance of key sustainability issues. We recognize that sustainability is a dynamic landscape and expect to update this analysis on an annual basis to keep up with emerging trends and changing expectations.

FOOD SAFETY

BIODIVERSITY COMPLIANCE

HEALTH AND SAFETY

WASTE FOOD SECURITY

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

IMPORTANCE FOR STAKEHOLDERS

PHILANTHROPY

SUPPLIER ENGAGEMENT LABOR RIGHTS

GENETIC ENGINEERING

NUTRITION PACKAGING

SUSTAINABILITY AGRICULTURE

PRIVACY

WATER LABELING

MIGRANT LABOR TRANSPORTATION

ENERGY COMPLIANCE

PESTICIDES

CLIMATE CHANGES

IMPORTANCE FOR PURECIRCLE

The results of the materiality assessment were also used to guide the development of this sustainability report. While we have addressed every issue on the chart, we have chosen to provide more detailed information about the issues in the top right quadrant—those identified as being most important to both PureCircle and our stakeholders.

ABOUT PURECIRCLE

06

Company Basics PureCircle is the world’s leading producer of high purity stevia—a natural, no calorie

Location of Operations in 2013

sweetener that provides a great tasting way to reduce calories. Stevia is the perfect sustainable sweetener to help meet consumers’ growing demand for natural and healthy food and beverage products. We are leading the global expansion of stevia as a mainstream natural sweetener that is grown, processed and delivered in a way that respects people and the planet. PureCircle’s stevia is not just a no-calorie sweetener, but also a more sustainable one that integrates environmental and social responsibility throughout our supply chain. From improving the livelihoods and skill sets of small-scale farmers to minimizing our carbon and water footprints at our facilities, sustainability is part of who we are and how we operate.

2013 Product Highlights

Our Vision and Mission It is our vision to lead the global expansion of stevia as the next mass volume natural sweetener and encourage healthier diets through the supply of natural, zero calorie ingredients to the global food and beverage industry. PureCircle is committed to this vision and has deeply invested in all aspects of stevia from farming, extraction and purification to R&D, innovation, application support, consumer communication and advocacy. It is our

Since 2011, we have launched 4 new products and grown our innovation pipeline to over 20+ new products to address customer application needs. We sold stevia products to more than 300 customers around the world, a dramatic increase in our customer base.

mission to scale stevia as the next natural mainstream sustainable sweetener.

Our Economic Impacts Additional information about our economic impacts and performance can be found on the London Stock Exchange website and in our annual reports.

2013 Sustainability Highlights • PureCircle offers farmers in Paraguay opportunity to improve income

• PureCircle is a finalist for Fi Europe Excellence Awards Sustainability Initiative of the Year

• PureCircle announces ambitious 2020 sustainability goals

• PureCircle helps cut 1.8 trillion calories from global diet

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Governance & Compliance Anti-Corruption Employees are guided by our gifts and entertainment policy, which is structured to set clear expectations about legal and ethical business practices. To date, we have had no reported instances of non-compliance on this issue.

Political Contributions, Lobbying, and Public Policy Typically, PureCircle does not engage in any direct support for political issues, parties, or candidates. However, in 2014, we donated $2,000 for the “Chicago for Rahm Emanuel” mayoral campaign. While we do not have a formal policy on these issues, it is something we are considering for the future.

Grievance Mechanisms Employees are guided by our Employee Code of Conduct and Employee Handbook, which provides detailed information about whistle-blowing and grievance processes.

For More Information Detailed information on our corporate governance policies and practices can be found on our Investors Page, including:

• Board of Directors Biographies • Board Responsibilities and Committees

• • • • •

Capital Structure and Locations Significant Shareholders Shareholder Rights Listings and Platforms Restrictions on Transfer

• Investor Events In our 2013 Annual Report, detailed corporate governance information can be found on pages 28 through 37, including:

• Board committee’s roles and 2013 meeting attendance

Non-Compliance To date, PureCircle has not been subject to any formal allegations, complaints, lawsuits, or other findings of noncompliance with environmental, community, product, or governance issues. In 2013, we had two labor-related grievances; both were investigated and resolved.

• Executive Directors’ remuneration packages

• Directors’ report

08

Sustainability Management We are committed to strengthening our sustainability programs as we grow and expand our offerings and market position. We believe the following five pillars make PureCircle’s stevia the sustainable sweetener for the 21st century:

Promote Healthy Choices We inspire healthier diets around the world.

Source Responsibly We work directly with tens of thousands of local farmers to ensure a reliable supply of ethically and sustainability sourced stevia that positively contributes to the livelihood of farmers.

Reduce Our Environmental Footprint We have implemented measures to conserve water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimize waste at our extraction and processing facilities. Currently, our top priority is to continue assessments of the carbon and water footprints of our products and our facilities to help us pinpoint strategic opportunities to further reduce energy and water use.

Deliver Transparency and Accountability Our direct management of the supply chain enables us to provide traceability back to the community of origin and measure our environmental footprints.

Provide Industry Leadership We are leading the way in developing improved stevia varieties and elevating knowledge and expertise across the industry.

External Auditing and Oversight We are active members of Sedex, and our extraction and purification facilities are regularly audited against the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) framework, which includes:

• • • •

Labor Standards Health and Safety Environmental Practices Business Practices

The auditors tour the factory, interview workers individually and in groups, and review documentation. At the end of each audit, PureCircle receives a copy of the audit findings. When the report documents areas of concern, we are able to quickly develop corrective action plans and get to the root of the issue so that it does not happen again.

Learn More Interview and podcast with PureCircle’s Global Director of Sustainability. PureCircle CEO discusses sustainability at the Responsible Business Summit.

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Membership & Associations PureCircle leads the global expansion of stevia as a mainstream natural sweetener. We have been conducting research and development aimed at increasing the plant yield through selective breeding of high yield varieties, improved plant propagation techniques and production practices. We are involved in a number of associations—ranging from memberships to joint programs. Below, we explain a few of our most important partners.

Memberships and Associations Global Stevia Institute

PureCircle was the driving force behind the Global Stevia Institute (GSI) whose mission is to provide leadership in stevia education and support other industry educational initiatives. The GSI Advisory Board is comprised of internationally recognized professionals and represents nutritionists, medical doctors and health educators to ensure that stevia information is accurate and credible.

Michigan State University

PureCircle has teamed up with MSU, one of the world’s premier horticulture research institutions, to further research stevia plant breeding. The goal of the research is to accelerate the creation of proprietary varieties of stevia that contain dramatically higher levels of sweetness in the leaf, as well as other improved agricultural properties. This new research and varietal development are focused on the next generation of steviol glycosides. The joint breeding efforts between PureCircle and MSU leverage the most modern science for natural, conventional stevia plant breeding.

S&W Seed of California

PureCircle’s partnership with S&W, experts in breeding and developing proprietary seed varieties and efficient harvesting mechanization, is another example of the company’s leadership within the industry. S&W partners with MSU by testing new seed varieties in the field to assess the viability of large-scale production.

International Stevia Council

PureCircle is a member of the International Stevia Council, a global trade association, whose vision is to be the authoritative voice for the stevia industry in promoting the use of naturally-sourced stevia sweetened products.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

11

Environmental Management We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint by focusing efforts on the highest sources of carbon emissions, pursuing energy conservation opportunities, and continuing to adopt sustainable agricultural policies across our diversifying agricultural base. We recognize that our environmental activities must span our entire value chain, which is why we have identified key activities at each stage of the product life cycle.

1) Farming • Continued R&D investment to improve leaf yield output and quality. • Conduct research and field trials to determine the optimal amount of agricultural inputs including inorganic fertilizers, the main sources of emission in each region. • Partner with our farmers to optimize the efficiency of all irrigation systems. • Actively support our farmer partners by facilitating equitable and flexible financing, providing quality seedlings/cuttings and inputs, and offering training and agronomic expertise.

2) Extraction • To achieve our objectives, our focus will be on accelerating adoption and demand of PureCircle stevia. As demand increases, our capacity utilization and fixed emissions allocated over a larger volume will help us drive down intensity of emissions and energy. • During the extraction process, heat is required for boilers to facilitate extraction of glycosides from leaves steeped in water. Along with electricity needed for equipment, the boiler plant is the biggest source of GHG. We are identifying ways to capture heat to reduce the need for energy. • In the next few years, we plan to implement a smart mechanism that will measure electricity consumption of our equipment in order to further drive down consumption from inefficient equipment and/or processes. • We will continue to invest in water and energy efficiency technologies like our continuous backflow extraction technology that helped us decrease our water use by 33%.

3) Purification • We are in the process of installing a new energy management system based on ISO 5000 standards, in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). • We are aggressively moving towards zero waste. In 2012, we installed a new waste water treatment plant at our purification facility that will bring all effluents to the highest local standards. With this process, we expect that all the water from purification will be treated before it is released. • We are also moving aggressively to reduce landfill waste and plan to have zero untreated waste sent to landfills by 2014.

Environmental Management

12

Environmental Policy PureCircle is committed to environmental compliance and conducive facilities for our employees, contractors as well as to the general public who are affected by our business operations. Senior management shall ensure PureCircle business strategies and operations are aligned with environmental policy and commit to: • Conduct operations in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and other requirements. • Anticipate environmental issues as far as practicable and promote appropriate initiatives that support this policy. • Strive for an incident-free workplace through a high level of employees’ participation and an effective environmental program. • Eliminate or minimize the harmful environmental impacts to our facilities and the communities in which we operate. • Continuously improve environmental performances by utilizing practices that protect facilities and the communities. • Strive for pollution prevention, energy conservation and efficient utilization of resources. • Provide appropriate environmental related training and motivate employees to conduct their activities in a environmentally responsible manner. • Review environmental performances, including setting and reviewing of environmental objectives and targets used to promote continuous improvement, on a periodic basis.

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Energy Management We are very cognizant of our energy use—both from an environmental and a financial perspective and we continuously seek out ways to maximize our energy efficiency. As a part of our 2020 sustainability goals, we want to reduce energy intensity across the product life cycle by 20% (against the 2011 baseline). By the end of 2013, we have already exceeded this goal by reducing energy intensity by 42%. Our most ambitious energy management project to date involved converting bio waste to energy. In 2012, we began construction on a new biogas facility, which would convert stevia leaf residue from our China processing facilities into energy. Initial projections had indicated that when the facility was fully operational, it would convert up to 31,000 metric tons of leaves residue into approximately 6 million Kwh of energy each year. Unfortunately, a dispute between the biogas company and local utility

Our biogas facility, currently pending final approval by local authorities.

companies has kept the plant from opening. In the meantime, we are making good use of bio waste by converting it into organic fertilizer for our farmers. Other energy conservation initiatives include process improvements, optimizing machine efficiency and eliminating energy waste.

Energy Consumption Within the Organization (Scope 1 and 2) Units

2011

2012

2013

Coal

Tons

8,459

7,352

12,530

Diesel

Liters

1,953,583

1,370,968

1,452,007

Electricity

KWH

15,212,707

11,267,876

18,210,538

This chart provides a summary of our key energy use over the last three years. It calculated facility-specific data for our extraction plant in China and our purification plant in Malaysia. We do not currently track energy use at our support facilities, such as our corporate offices or sales offices. We do track energy use at our farms, but do not disclose farm-specific energy use.

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Climate Change We conduct an annual greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory that covers our entire supply chain—from farm to distribution. This process helps us spot trends in energy use and identify areas to focus our carbon-reduction activities. In 2013, we were responsible for 68,722 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2012, we set an ambitious goal to reduce the intensity of our carbon emissions by 20% on a sweetness equivalence by 2020 based on our 2011 baseline numbers. We are on schedule: by the end of 2013, we had reduced the carbon footprint of our product by 4%.

Climate-Related Risks and Opportunities We report annually to the Carbon Disclosure Project about our GHG emissions and our approach to climate change. For more detailed information about our assessment of climate risk and opportunities, see our most recent CDP report.

Note: While our farms are technically considered Scope 3 (upstream emissions), we are considering farm-related emissions to be under PureCircle’s direct control because of our extensive oversight. We have therefore included farm-related emissions in our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions as if we owned the operations.

GHG Data Sources Stage of Supply Chain

GHG Emissions Calculated

Farming

GHG associated with the manufacture of all materials used on-farm (fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides), energy consumption on-farm and N2O emission from fertilizer application.

Materials

GHG emissions associated with the manufacture of materials used in the extraction and purification facilities (excluding stevia leaf, which is accounted for under farming).

Transport

GHG emissions arising from the transportation of all materials to both manufacturing facilities (including transportation of leaf to the extraction facility and stevia extract to the purification facility).

Processing

GHG emissions arising from energy consumption, water consumption, refrigerant gas loss and waste disposal at the extraction and purification facilities.

Packaging

GHG emissions associated with the manufacturing of packaging materials.

Distribution

GHG emissions arising from the transportation of the product to the destination country.

Climate Change

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Direct (Scope 1) Emissions tCo2-e

‘000 tC02 -e Annual Carbon Footprint Farm-to-Gate

Facility

2011

2012

2013

Farms

5,264

2,618

6,882

Extraction

12,595

10,914

19,016

Purification

5,080

3,703

3,866

Total

22,938

17,236

29,764

Indirect (Scope 2) Emissions tCo2-e Facility

2011

2012

2013

Farms

45

57

207

Extraction

6,591

3,755

7,703

Purification

4,600

4,300

5,935

Total

11,236

8,112

13,846

2013 Carbon Footprint

Supply Chain (Scope 3) Emissions tCo2-e Facility

2011

2012

2013

Farms

6,938

2,360

6,285

Extraction

12,336

6,161

15,109

Purification

2,597

2,062

3,631

Final Distribution

124

161

146

Total

21,996

10,743

25,172

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Water Conservation & Efficiency Even though the water footprint of PureCircle high purity stevia products is already lower than other mainstream natural sweeteners, it is PureCircle’s endeavor to continuously reduce water impacts across its supply chain from farm to extraction and purification. It is our policy to comply with all applicable water withdrawal and discharge laws including obtaining required permits, and to assess water impacts prior to developing new farming and production regions.

Managing Efficient Irrigation and Crop Residue When working with our farming partners, we employ the following policies and procedures: • Management practices should be adopted to ensure that water extraction does not cause adverse effects on groundwater or water bodies. • Farms should have a water conservation program that ensures the rational use of water resources and protection of water resources. • The farm must not deposit any organic or inorganic solids, including domestic or industrial waste, construction debris or rubble, soil and stones from excavations, rubbish from cleaning land, or other materials into natural water bodies. • To irrigate effectively, the right amount of water has to reach the right place at the right time. Irrigation water can be optimized by using more efficient irrigation systems or by improving the scheduling of irrigation. • Producers should use sprinkler and micro-irrigation systems over gravity systems whenever possible. • Farmers should rely on rainwater to the extent possible. Supplemental irrigation should only be scheduled as needed. Use of soil or plant measurement systems to assess the need for supplemental irrigation is recommended. • Crop residue management conserves some of the remains of a previous crop on a field and helps reduce soil erosion, captures and retains rainwater, and reduces runoff. Conservation tillage complements crop residue management efforts and reduces the intensity of soil-disturbing operations. Farmers should implement these practices in tandem to reduce irrigation needs, soil erosion, and runoff. • Irrigation systems should be inspected on a regular basis. Any leaks should be repaired as soon as practical.

Benefit of PureCircle’s patented extraction system Typical water consumption for every metric ton of leaf with traditional extraction technology is around 20 metric tons (20:1). PureCircle’s patented backflow extraction technology uses only 7-8 metric tons of water for every metric ton of leaves (7-8:1). The estimated savings or water use is almost a third of traditional extraction methods. In 2012, PureCircle completed the industry first farm-to-gate water footprint. The results showed that the footprint is up to 96% lower than that of traditional mainstream natural sweeteners.

Water Conservation & Efficiency

Protecting Water Rights We have instituted policies to protect water rights and reduce impacts. Prior to developing a new region for stevia crop or high purity stevia production, an assessment of the water rights and resources within the area’s watershed is conducted. The assessment includes consultation with government officials, water or watershed experts and local stakeholders, mapping of proposed site, list and location of receiving bodies of water, legal and cultural water rights within the watershed, required permit, and description of recommended precautionary measures and practices. If any water related concerns are identified on or adjacent to the new planting areas: • Recommended measures and practices are integrated into the development and operation plans. • PureCircle employees and contractors are trained on the precautions that should be taken during site development and operations. • Management ensures that any legal requirements relating to the use or protection of water bodies are met.

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In 2013, The Coca Cola Company and PureCircle concluded a comprehensive water footprint sustainability impact study of stevia crop growing around Purecircle’s growing regions in Kenya, Paraguay and China. The findings have been used to understand the water stress and provided additional information about the implications of stevia as part of PureCircle and TCCC’s supply chain. It has enabled both companies to identify hotspots, create best practices, and detect potential improvement areas.

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Waste & Effluents PureCircle aims to minimize waste from its operations to the maximum extent possible. This objective will be achieved by minimizing unnecessary packaging from incoming materials and reusing, recycling, or otherwise diverting waste from landfills.

Waste Minimization Strategies To the extent possible, we work with suppliers and shippers to minimize packaging or use recyclable packaging (e.g. corrugate) on incoming materials. Shipping pallets are reused when possible. We are in the process of setting up recycling programs at all of our facilities. Where appropriate, we work with waste haulers, recyclers, or service providers to collect and transport recyclables to a legitimate recycler. Common materials recycled include corrugate, paper, metal, plastic or glass containers, and ink cartridges. We divert waste materials from landfills by using service providers that provide composting, energy recovery, or other processes that use agriculture or other wastes as raw material. The use of open waste dumps and open-air burning of waste is not permitted.

Wastewater Management We operate our own wastewater treatment facilities to ensure the effluent meets international standards to preserve the quality of the receiving water bodies. In

Focus on Green Waste It is PureCircle’s endeavor to reduce waste in all parts of our supply chain. In 2009, we worked with a third party utility supplier to build a biogas plant on our property. The idea was to convert spent leaf into energy after the requisite glycosides were extracted from the leaf. Due diligence was performed and expectation was to convert energy equivalent to 75% of our extraction plants, energy needs. However, in 2012, the biogas plant company and the grid utility got into a dispute that has left the plant unoperational for the time being. In the meantime, we have decided to convert leaf waste into organic fertilizer. Whatever biomass could not be converted to fertilizer was converted to animal feed, maximizing the sustainable value of the entire leaf starting from the farm.

Water Discharged (m3) Treated to local standard

addition, we will soon install a reverse osmosis system to purify our wastewater, recycling an estimated 45% of water used at our China facility. Together, these system upgrades will result in a total annual water savings of more than 500,000 liters.

Waste Generated (tCo2-e) 2011

2012

2013

Landfilled

61

61

80

Recycled

13,010

1,995

10,996

Total

13,071

2,055

11,076

The Waste Generation chart provides a summary of waste generated for our extraction plant in China and our purification plant in Malaysia. The Organic Waste chart reflects green waste that has been captured and transformed into fertilizer from our farms and extraction facilities. We do not currently track waste at our support facilities, such as our corporate offices or sales office.

2011

214,738,040

2012

50,170,560

2013

218,791,647

Organic Waste converted to fertilizer (tCo2-e) 2011

4,343

2012

429

2013

3,502

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Land Use & Biodiversity PureCircle supports the protection of land that has high conservation value or is critical habitat for protected species. We do not use stevia that has been grown on land that has been converted from forestry or conservation land. In Kenya and Paraguay, we encourage farmers to use pasture-land (as dairy is a less profitable product) or land that is currently used to produce food, respectively. Stevia is a high value crop that can be grown on small plots of land, eliminating the need to do large scale land clearing. In addition, stevia’s high yield per acre and strong sweetening potential makes stevia more productive for every acre cultivated.

2013 Farming Impacts Location

# of farms

Hectares under Cultivation

Average farm size

Total

17,427

4,750

0.28 Ha

Approach to Land Rights and Conservation It is PureCircle’s policy to avoid conversion of high conservation natural ecosystems and to protect riparian areas, wetlands, or other sensitive habitats and ecosystems. We have procedures in place to ensure land rights are respected and to prevent damaging expansion or new development into areas of critical biodiversity.

We follow the Forest Stewardship Council’s High Conservation Value Area (HCVA) categories when determining whether land has high biodiversity risk: • HCVA 1 — Areas containing globally, regionally or nationally significant concentrations of biodiversity values. • HCVA 2 — Globally, regionally or nationally significant large landscape level areas. • HCVA 3 — Areas that are in or contain rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems. • HCVA 4 — Watershed protection or erosion control areas.

Land Assessments When non-agricultural land is converted to stevia production, proper assessment should be made to identify HCVA and to develop a mitigation plan to minimize any negative impacts to these areas. Prior to any conversion of natural habitat to stevia production, an assessment of the land use rights and conservation value should be undertaken. The assessment should include consultation with government officials, relevant experts and local stakeholders, mapping of proposed site and adjacent properties, legal ownership and rights of the subject and adjacent lands, description of the conservation values, impacts of stevia production on these conservation values, and description of recommended precautionary measures and practices, including buffer zones or otherwise restricted areas.

Land Use & Biodiversity

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Land Rights and Water Rights PureCircle should not develop or otherwise impact land that would violate another entity’s land rights or where dispute of water rights exist. Management should ensure that any legal requirements relating to the protection of the HCVA are met.

Land Development Prioritization Areas that contain identified conservation values of global, regional or local importance should not be converted, and the use of areas that pose the lowest risk to conservation values should be given preference. The location and status of HCVA located in existing plantations or that could be affected by plantations should be documented and communicated to PureCircle employees and contractors.

Training PureCircle employees and contractors are trained annually on the location and status of HCVA that exist in the plantation. They also receive training on appropriate practices to minimize direct or indirect impacts on the HCVA.

Protection of Threatened or Endangered Species and Wild Animals It is PureCircle’s policy to provide habitat corridors and protection to threatened or endangered plant and animal species found on or adjacent to our operations. It is also PureCircle’s policy to prohibit the capturing, removing or trafficking of wild animals. Prior to any conversion of natural habitat to stevia production, an assessment of the animal and plant species should be undertaken. If any threatened or endangered species are identified on or adjacent to the new planting areas: • Recommended measures and practices should be integrated into the development and operation plans. • PureCircle employees and contractors should be trained on the precautions that are necessary during site development and operations. • Management should ensure that any legal requirements relating to the protection of the threatened or endangered species are met. • PureCircle employees and contractors should be trained annually on restricted access areas (if applicable) and on appropriate practices to minimize direct or indirect impacts on the species. The training should be documented.​

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Transportation & Logistics

While transportation impacts account for only a small fraction of our overall environmental footprint, we are committed to tracking and minimizing our logistics impact.​We expect that as our operations continue to scale and we ship raw materials and finished goods to several points, we will have to increasingly focus on enhancing efficiencies by working with our transportation vendors in the future to minimize our impacts.

Transporting Raw Materials and Packaging Material

Discussion

Packaging Materials

We used 169 tons of packaging materials, including paper cartons, plastic bags, foilbags, plastic drums, and plastic pallets.

Raw Materials

We used 23,742 metric tons of raw materials, the vast majority of which was stevia leaf. Other raw materials included starch, activated carbon, ethanol, and other processing aid stabilizers.

In 2013, the transportation-related emissions associated with raw materials and packaging was 161 tCO2-e and 7.8tCO2-e, respectively.

Transporting the Finished Product Transit Mode

Discussion

Truck

We use trucks to move our final product from the purification and packaging facility to the nearest seaport for shipping to its final destination.

Sea Freighter

We send our product around the world in shipping containers with distances ranging from 1,700 miles to almost 24,000 miles.

In 2013, emissions associated with the final distribution of our products (from final processing to the country of destination) were 147 tCO2-e.

WORKPLACE IMPACTS

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Human Capital Effective management of our workforce is key to our company’s success and a foundation for good stakeholder relationships. We have extensive policies and programs in place to ensure that our people understand and are able to meet our expectations around social and environmental responsibility. While each location has the freedom to create its own policies, we abide by a common set of standards that ensure all employees are treated fairly and equitably. For example, the employee handbook from the Kenya location provides more detailed examples on specific workplace policies and guidance on topics including:

Recruitment Orientation, medical examinations, probation and confirmation, promotion, transfer, working hours, and dress code

Separation Retirement, retrenchment, termination, and expiration of contracts

Compensation and Benefits Salary, retirement funds, social security, holidays, vacation and sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, other leave scenarios, medical benefits, reimbursements, loans, overtime, and telephone/internet usage

Training and Development Performance management, job classification, staff development and training, study leave, higher education, and professional associations

Discipline and Grievance Issues Grievance resolution, corrective action guidelines, documentation, grounds for termination, and harassment

Health and Safety Accidents and incidents, safety gear, and lockers/changing rooms

The PureCircle Kenya location Employee Code of Conduct sets expectations for responsible workplace practices. It recognizes workers’ rights and responsibilities and outlines the company’s disciplinary process in the event of non-compliance. The Code includes provisions on:

• • • • • • • • • • •

Business practices Working conduct Conflict of interest Gifts and entertainment Worker rights Personal conduct outside work Harassment Misuse of company assets Drug-free workplace Serious illness and disability Whistle-blowing

Human Capital Management of Labor-Related Grievances Workers in our processing facilities are allowed and encouraged to report any problems or concerns to their immediate supervisor, manager or Human Resources department personnel. In 2013, we had two labor-related grievances filed at our supplier farms through our grievance mechanism. Both were addressed and resolved.

Third Party Audits Our facilities are regularly audited by third parties on labor practices and human rights issues. As with all audits, it is not uncommon to find opportunities for improvement and we work relentlessly to address issues as they are identified. Fortunately, the issue of non-conformance when determined by an auditor can often be resolved very quickly and efficiently. For example: • In 2013, an audit found that there were insufficient pharmaceutical products in the first aid kit located in the loading department. We added the necessary products to the first aid kit, and the next audit determined that the issue was resolved. • In 2013, an audit found that emergency contact numbers were not available and posted. We immediately rectified the situation and the next audit deemed the issue closed.

Other findings are more challenging and require that we change a process or system, or work with another organization. For example:

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Issues Identified During 3rd Party Audits Topic

2013

Management systems and code implementation

1

Employment freely chosen

0

Freedom of association

0

Safety and hygienic conditions

9

Child labor

0

Wages and benefits

8

Working hours

4

Discrimination

0

Regular employment

1

• In 2013, one of our audits found that several foreign workers, hired through an outsourcing agency, were not receiving complete payslips. We worked with the outsourcing agency to ensure that proper documentation was provided to these workers, and in 2014 the auditor determined that appropriate action had been taken.

Sub-contacting and homeworking

0

Harsh or inhumane treatment

0

We continue to develop processes and systems to ensure that good labor practices are

Entitlement to work

0

upheld in every instance, for every worker, in every area of the company.

Focus on Third-Party Audit Interviews “The management was cooperative throughout the process of the audit. All requested documents were provided in a timely manner, all necessary areas were allowed access for tour and a private room was arranged for employee interviews. In the closing meeting, the management appeared receptive to the audit result and did not raise any negative feedback.” – 3rd party audit of our Chinese operations, July 2013

Human Capital

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Unionization and Collective Bargaining Our extraction operations in China are the only area of our company with unionized employees (100% of non-management workers belong to the union). We have a union committee with seven members that engages regularly on issues related to pay and benefits, working conditions, and health and safety issues.

Overtime Challenges At our extraction facility in China, we follow the local laws and regulations on overtime hours. However, some of our customers’ social standards have a lower threshold for overtime, limiting further the number of hours that a person can work in a given week. We can meet our customer requirements by adding another shift, but that will negatively impact workers’ salaries by reducing the total numbers they are allowed to work—something they have told us they do not want to do. Adding another shift while also increasing salaries to maintain current payments would dramatically increase our labor costs—something that our customers do not want. Finding the right balance between meeting customer expectations and worker expectations is an ongoing effort, and we look forward to further engagement with both groups of stakeholders to better address these issues.

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Labor Practices & Diversity It is PureCircle’s policy to comply with all labor laws and to promote International Labor Organization (ILO) Decent Work Core Labor Standards. The core labor standards are drawn from the most fundamental of the ILO’s labor conventions. Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected. The right to organize and form employers’ and workers’ organizations is the prerequisite for sound collective bargaining and social dialogue. Sound collective bargaining practices ensure that employers and workers have an equal voice in negotiations and that the

Keeping Women in the Workforce We offer paid maternity leave for women and encourage them to return to us when they are ready to rejoin the workforce. At our extraction facilities in China, 18 women have taken advantage of parental leave between 2011 and 2014:

outcome will be fair and equitable.

• 3 women are currently on leave

No forced labor is permitted. Forced labor is defined as “all work or service that is

• 14 women returned to work after leave

exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.” This includes prison labor, indentured

(12 of whom were still employed with us a year after their return)

• 1 woman did not return

labor, and bonded labor. Child labor shall not be used. Processing facility workers should be no less than 15 years the compulsory age to be in school. Farms cannot employ children to the extent that

Workforce by Region and Gender

employment would interfere with the child’s schooling. Moreover, children should not

Female

Male

Asia Pacific Region (APAC)

138

542

Europe, Middle East, and Americas (EMEA)

13

17

Total

151

559

of age (or the legal minimum age if different) and, where laws require, not younger than

conduct hazardous work. No discrimination is practiced. Freedom from discrimination is a fundamental human right. Workers should not be discriminated against based on their gender, age, race, religion, or any other characteristics that do not pertain directly to their work performance.

Migrant Labor

Workforce by Age

At PureCircle, we understand that poor treatment of migrant labor can be an issue

30 Under to 30 50

in the agriculture industry, and we are doing our best to make sure that this problem does not arise at PureCircle. In our own manufacturing operations, migrant workers are employed at our Chinese extraction facility (15 personnel) and our Malaysian purification facility (11 personnel). We make sure that migrant workers receive the same benefits as the other employees, and are subject to the same rules, responsibilities, and privileges. In addition, we provide housing and transportation benefits to migrant workers above and beyond what local employees receive.

Over 50

Asia Pacific Region (APAC)

212

445

47

Europe, Middle East, and Americas (EMEA)

4

19

8

Total

216

464

55

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Health & Safety

Health and Safety Policy PureCircle is committed to provide healthy, safe and conducive facilities for our employees, contractors as well as to the general public who are affected by our business operations. Senior management shall ensure PureCircle business strategies and operations are aligned with our health and safety policy and commit to: • Conduct operations in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and other requirements. • Anticipate health and safety issues as far as practicable and promote appropriate initiatives that support this policy. • Strive for an incident-free workplace through a high level of employees’ participation and an effective health and safety program. • Eliminate or minimize the health and safety harmful impacts to our employees, contractors, general public and facilities in which we do businesses. • Continuously improve health and safety performances by utilizing practicable practices that protect employees, contractors, general public and facilities. • Provide appropriate health and safety related training and motivate employees to conduct their activities in a healthy, safe and responsible manner. • Review health, and safety performances, including setting and reviewing of health and safety objectives and targets used to promote continuous improvement, on a periodic basis.

Focus on Health and Safety Committees Each of our sites has a health and safety committee made up of employer and employee representatives, and chaired by a senior manager at the facility. In our Malaysian processing facility, for example, the committee is headed by the General Manager, with seven employer representatives and eight employee representatives. The committee members come from all areas of the facility, including health, safety, environment and community (HSE&C), sales, loading, quality assurance, maintenance, warehouse operations, engineering, purchasing, logistics, and human resources.

Health & Safety

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Safety Training Each of our processing facilities has dedicated health and safety managers and support staff. These personnel receive ongoing training and provide oversight to ensure that appropriate measures are taken on the facility floor to keep workers safe and healthy. At our production facilities, new employees go through three levels of safety training: company level, workshop level, and team level. This process ensures that each employee understands the breadth and scope of our commitment to health and safety, but also the very specific safety risks and practices of his or her job duties. We conduct regular emergency drills to test and improve workforce readiness to respond to safety incidents.

Ongoing Monitoring Since the beginning of 2013, all workers at our production facilities are required to take an annual occupational health examination, which helps us to detect and resolve any health and safety concerns efficiently.

Safety Factors 2011

2012

2013

Fatalities

0

0

0

Lost time incidents

13

9

13

Lost time/men days

160

136

531

Near Misses (Incidents with no lost time)

1

1

4

Key Safety Concerns Location

Farms

Extraction

Purification

Concerns

Steps Taken

At our farms, the key safety concerns are related to the risk of injury in the warehouse when working near the baling machines. The facilities can be dusty and noisy, and the fields can be slippery during wet weather.

We emphasize the use of protective gear for all employees working in potentially risky areas. We have first aid stations at all major operations in the fields, warehouses, and offices. Spot checks are done by department heads to ensure compliance with all health and safety policies and expectations. First aid training is provided to department representatives, and standard operating procedures are in place for all machinery, with training provided as needed.

At the extraction phase, the key safety risks are related to dust and noise.

Employees must wear personal protective equipment when exposed to safety risks. Since early 2013, dust and noise detection are performed and evaluated. We have also taken steps to improve the working environment through upgraded ventilation, better sound insulation and noise reduction measures.

During purification, the key safety concern is related to the use of processing aids.

We carefully monitor safety guidance for all processing aids entering our facility, to ensure that we take appropriate precautions. Employees are trained on safe handling procedures and receive ongoing reinforcement to keep safety front of mind. We are regularly audited for health and safety and work quickly to resolve any issues that occur.

COMMUNITY IMPACTS

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Philanthropy & Charitable Giving

While our primary focus is on strategic investment in our farming communities, we also support a variety of national and international charitable programs. In 2013, we contributed $10,000 to the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, a program that awards college financial assistance to exceptional high school seniors with outstanding academic records and demonstrated service to the community. PureCircle was a proud member of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation in 2013. This foundation helps to reduce obesity, especially childhood obesity, by inspiring people to become more active and healthy.

Support for Local Communities in Paraguay PureCircle is a supporter of the Amigos de las Américas (AMIGOS), a program that supports sustainable community development projects and youth leadership in Paraguay, the home of stevia. Since 2009, our involvement with AMIGOS has helped the program support 37 rural communities. The projects led to the development of reforestation and healthy living programs in 5 communities, development of healthier and sanitary living environments in 11 rural communities, construction of community gardens and support of education activities that benefited 7,500 children and adults across all rural communities.

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Food Security

It is PureCircle’s policy to avoid competition for local food security. This policy aims to support a household’s ability to provide physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food in the future. In addition, such households and countries should have access to food that fulfills the dietary needs and food preferences for living an active and healthy lifestyle.

Our Approach to Food Security When agricultural land is converted from primary food crops to stevia production, an assessment of the risk of negative impacts on food security among the farming community should be conducted. If an instance of the conversion from agricultural land to stevia production is identified as negatively impacting food security, PureCircle should develop a mitigation plan to minimize any negative impacts to the farmer’s family and the community’s access to adequate amounts of nutritious food. For example, setting aside land to carry out household-level food production or sponsoring agricultural support programs and activities could help mitigate the impacts. The results of the food security assessment and mitigation recommendations should be communicated to PureCircle’s farm workers, farmer partners, and buyers. Each site should maintain a copy of the food security assessment report as long as the facility is in operation.

PRODUCT IMPACTS

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Food Safety & Quality

Food Safety Management Systems We take our product responsibility obligations very seriously. At each stage of the stevia process—from growing the seedlings to harvest, extraction and purification, to final packaging and delivery—our first and foremost commitment is to quality and safety. We have extensive production process control mechanisms in place to ensure that we meet international standards of product quality and safety. Our management systems are extensive and updated regularly, and our facilities are HACCP, ISO9001, ISO22000, Halal and Kosher certified. Our processes are guided by a Food Safety Procedures Manual and inspected by internal audits biannually and external audits annually. In addition, Hazard Control Plans have been established to measure the safety and quality of each process, and Critical Control Points are identified and monitored in order to ensure the product’s quality and safety. Quality Assurance monitors all regulatory requirements and updates the systems where necessary. Any changes in the systems are subject to verification and approval, and will be notified to our customers accordingly. Thus far the systems are implemented effectively and recognized by internal auditors, external auditors and customer spot auditors.

Traceability It is PureCircle’s policy to trace stevia leaf production from the farming community to the final product. This policy aims to maintain traceability of all stevia leaf from farming community to extraction facility. Efforts are also made to maintain traceability to final product on a batch basis.

Food Safety & Quality Our Approach to Traceability In order to ensure our ability to trace stevia leaf production from cradle to gate, we have instituted the following practices: • Develop a chain of custody program that establishes documentation requirements and segregation and data transfer practices. • Track leaf during transit from a farm/village to PureCircle’s extraction facility. Reconfirm weight of leaf upon delivery to PureCircle’s extraction facility. • Segregate leaf during storage at PureCircle’s extraction facility. Track the leaf and its extract throughout all processes in the extraction and purification facilities. • Establish a system to document these steps in a credible and audit-able manner.

Appropriate PureCircle employees and contractors are trained annually on traceability processes and protocols. The trainings are documented, along with leaf and extract transport, transaction, and inventory documents.

Genetic Modification The key sweetening agents in the stevia leaf are steviol glycosides, which can be 300 times sweeter than sugar. The extraction of high purity glycosides from stevia leaf is a natural water-based process and does not in any way alter the product that nature has provided in the leaf of the plant. No genetically modified plants are used in the production of PureCircle’s range of sweeteners or flavors.

Our Approach to GMOs It is PureCircle’s policy to avoid the use of transgenic materials in our stevia crops and to prevent accidental introduction of any transgenic materials at the farm. If transgenic seed or seedlings are being used in nearby farms, we take the following steps: • Selection of growing area is to be done based on careful evaluation to prevent accidental introduction of transgenic materials. • Cooperate with neighbors and regulatory or conservation authorities to ensure stevia is not grown adjacent to any non- GMO crops if possible. • In case of identification of any GMO crops in region that cannot prevent harmful introductions, identify immediate steps to migrate out of region if possible and prevent any mixing.

PureCircle employees and contractors/farmers are trained annually on the migration risks and risk minimization plan, with documentation of training records and a Biosafety Clearinghouse as established under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (as applicable).

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Focus on Product Innovation In the 2013 year, we greatly expanded our lab infrastructure in the United States, China and the UK. It has enabled us to expand our execution of PureCircle stevia 3.0™ which offers tailored sweetening solutions blended to fit any application. Rather than providing ‘one-size-fits all’ stevia sweetening, we have learned that to get the best stevia-sweetened product, a blended approach can be the answer. Knowing the particular stevia ingredients that work best in specific food and beverage matrices, allows our product developers achieve deeper calorie reductions with better taste profiles than ever before. We are delivering this new approach through an extensive side by side development program with our customers called PureCircle University. In 2013 we held over 70 PureCircle University programs around the world, partnering with our customers to develop the right concepts and formulations to bring to market.

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Health & Nutrition

With obesity and diabetes growing at alarming rates globally, consumers are looking to reduce calories and sugar in their foods. Consumers are also looking to eat more natural foods. In the past, it has been extremely difficult to create a product that caters to both of these consumer needs without compromising taste. A fundamental part of PureCircle’s mission is to encourage healthier diets around the world through the supply of natural, healthy, zero calorie sweetening ingredients to the global food and beverage industry. Stevia is a safe way to produce high-quality, lowcalorie food and beverages without sacrificing the joy of sweet.

Caloric Impact Since high purity stevia sweeteners are metabolized by the human body in a way that has almost no caloric impact, even partial replacement of caloric sweeteners with stevia can have a significant caloric reduction benefit. Since we started monitoring in 2006, we have supplied enough stevia to help the industry achieve a reduction of approximately two trillion calories in food and beverage products. In 2013 alone, we supplied enough stevia to enable a reduction of 500 billion calories from global diets. The pace at which we are helping the food and beverage industry moderate calories is increasing at a significantly faster rate than we anticipated. As a result, we now have the capability to help the food and beverage industry reduce up to two trillion calories per year. This positions us well to achieve our cumulative calorie footprint reduction goal by 2020.

Did you know? Sugar contributes up to 55% of the nonpackaging GHG impact of a carbonated soft drink in Europe and up to 32% in the United States. A 30% reduced calorie drink sweetened with PureCircle stevia can help achieve a 22% reduction of the GHG from added sugars. If the entire carbonated soft drink market replaced 15% of its added sugar with PureCircle stevia, we could save 616,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases each year. But that's not all—it would also save 730 billion liters of water.

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Product Life Cycle Impacts Stevia is a natural, no-calorie sweetener that provides a great tasting, mainstream replacement for caloric sweeteners. The key sweetening agents in the stevia leaf are steviol glycosides, which can be 200 to 350 times sweeter than sugar and have the potential to greatly lower environmental impacts of food and beverage products. PureCircle is pioneering the next generation of stevia with its improved taste profiles, greater customer acceptance, and positive environmental and social ecosystem impacts, which will allow stevia to be the sustainable mass scale sweetener of choice in the 21st Century. Did

Stevia’s Carbon Footprint PureCircle stevia has a lower carbon and water footprint than other natural mainstream sweeteners. In fact, the carbon footprint of PureCircle sweeteners is estimated to be: • 60% lower than other stevia sweeteners, • 55% lower than beet sugar, • 79% lower than high fructose corn syrup and • 29% lower than cane sugar

Stevia’s Water Footprint Not only does PureCircle stevia have a lower carbon footprint than comparative sweeteners, it also has a lower water footprint:

KgCo2-e/kg SE* Comparative Carbon Footprints

• 92% lower than beet sugar • 94% lower than high fructose corn syrup

1,410

1,410

1,258

What’s Behind Our Claim?

other Stevia estimated

• 96% lower than cane sugar

We undertook a product life cycle assessment (LCA) study to better understand

968 785

and calculate the energy, water, and carbon footprint of our stevia products in FY2011. We published the results, including a comparison to industry data on comparative sweeteners. We conducted a second carbon footprint in 2012 and our most recent results from 2013 shows improvement from our 2012 data for purecircle stevia (2012)

Liters/kg SE* Comparative Water Footprints

energy, water, and carbon footprints. The study was conducted by independent LCA experts, who used internationally-recognized standards to conduct the research and make product category comparisons. The result? We are confident in our claims that our stevia products are an eco-friendly alternative for consumers to enjoy. Read the full report here.

*Sweetness Equivalence

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Customer Communications Communicating about Stevia Our company has supported the development of the Global Stevia Institute (GSI), the industry’s leading stevia advocacy body. GSI’s goal is to provide consumers and other stakeholders with science-based information about the safety, quality, and market for stevia products.

Communicating about PureCircle We own or control vast portions of our supply chain from the farm to product delivery. This vertical integration allows PureCircle to measure and communicate the impact on ecosystem, environment and consumer health. We will continue to enhance processes across our integrated supply chain to communicate our sustainability progress to all our stakeholders including disclosure through: • Our annual sustainability reporting • Sedex sustainability audits • Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) reporting

Product Labeling We carefully monitor rules and regulations around product labeling and are in compliance with all relevant guidance. Approval of stevia for use as a sweetener in food and beverage products has continued to expand into new markets around the globe and the stevia PureCircle Trustmark program has also expanded over the past year. The stevia PureCircle Trustmark continues to provide a strong base of trust and source of consumer communication around stevia for PureCircle customers as part of their brand launches. Harnessing new market insight studies and continued market intelligence, the stevia PureCircle Trustmark program not only supports customers in communicating key consumer messages but also helps ensure they understand the correct way to label stevia and describe it in key markets with specific, local regulatory guidelines.

Privacy and Confidentiality We do not collect personal information about consumers other than data that is provided to us through social media statistics—such as Facebook “likes”—or information that is voluntarily disclosed by individuals who contact us directly for support or questions. We do not have a formal data privacy policy, although we do have strict controls on access to customer information within our facilities. To date, we have had no data privacy or confidentiality complaints.

SUPPLY CHAIN IMPACTS

39

Suppliers Relations Having an integrated supply chain provides many benefits. It allows us to continually innovate at all stages of our supply chain to ensure we bring the best tasting stevia extracts to consumers. And it helps us drive down inefficiencies, reduce our overall environmental impacts, enhance benefits to the wider socioeconomic system and maximize our potential benefits to public health.

Good Labor Practices in the Supply Chain PureCircle recognizes the challenges involved in detecting and correcting violations of applicable laws and labor standards where the company does not have direct control, especially in a small holder farm setting. We also recognize that we have an obligation to address any issues that may arise and that steps can be taken to promote lawful and ethical labor conditions. To this end, on an annual basis, PureCircle field teams should clearly communicate PureCircle’s policy and procedures to all PureCircle employees, contractors, and suppliers. This communication should include adequate description of decent work standards, labor laws, and the process for reporting confirmed or suspected violations. Buyers who purchase stevia leaf from producers should convey PureCircle’s policy to the producers. Any confirmed or suspected violations of these procedures should be reported to an HR Manager as soon as practical. All reported violations shall be investigated, and corrective actions taken, as appropriate.

Focus on Women We recognize the powerful impact that we can have by working with women entrepreneurs, business owners, and farmers. That’s why we place priority on cultivating relationship with woman-owned suppliers. Most of the independent small holding farmers that we work with are family run with both women and men contributing equally.

% of Female Farmers estimated in 2013 % of Women

Women in #’s

China

45

6,615

Kenya

60

1,202

Paragauy

50

700

Suppliers Relations

40

41

Working with Farmers Helping farmers become more successful by increasing yields and incomes is at the core of our business strategy. Close to 18,000 farmers across four continents were part of our supply chain in 2013. We place great importance on working very closely with them to ensure their success. This focus ranges from providing them quality seedling or cuttings, as well as materials and agronomic know-how to successfully cultivate stevia plants. We also, in many regions, guarantee incomes for farmers at the end of season to help them continue to invest and grow stevia successfully. Because we work so closely with individual farmers, we understand the need for financing and support them with access to quality materials, resources and micro financing. We support farmers’ ability to remain food self-sufficient and, thus, encourage them to limit stevia production to a third of their land area.

In China We are pioneering a unique program in which we provide close to RMB 22 Million (US$3.2 million) through building of free nursery greenhouses, free cuttings, training to co-operatives and a guaranteed minimum price to protect farmers’ interests.

In Kenya We promote the self-reliance of farmers by providing them with their first stevia cuttings and training on how to breed and grow seedlings to meet their future needs. Over 300 farmer-owned nurseries have been so successful that they now sell seedlings to other farmers.

In Paraguay We operate two major nurseries and provide all seedlings to the farmers—at discounted rates to be paid after their crop is harvested. PureCircle’s investment in the nurseries, and continued interaction with the local farmers, provides the farmers assurance that we are investing in—and committed to—a local stevia supply.

Working With Farmers

Financing We work with a micro-financing company in Paraguay to provide farmers access to loans at discounted rates with flexible payments to accommodate agricultural cycles. Dozens of individual farmers have started building their own irrigation systems, often resulting in a 30-40% higher yield of stevia. This is significant considering a family can increase its income as much as 44% by installing irrigation—and up to 66% when farmers use higher quality seedlings such as those PureCircle provides. Our Kenya team has partnered with two micro-finance organizations to facilitate the recruitment of farmers who meet a minimum set of skills and to establish financing mechanisms. Through PureCircle’s partnership and guidance, the micro-finance organizations have developed terms that enable successful repayment, such as a twoyear payback period, low interest rates and a guarantee that the financial organization does not deduct more than 30% of gross proceeds from any one payment. PureCircle Kenya has organized just short of $1 million of micro financing where the microfinance companies provide the loans for 2,200 farmers.

Farmer Health and Safety It is PureCircle’s policy to promote the use of personal protective equipment when applying processing aids. PureCircle also encourages the proper use, storage, and disposal of processing aids. Potable water and hand washing facilities should also be made available. This policy aims to protect farmer partners and the environment from overexposure to hazardous processing aids. Use of pesticides and other processing aids should be avoided or minimized. Only pesticides that are registered nationally for the crop being treated should be used. Pesticides that are WHO Class I or listed in the Stockholm Convention or Rotterdam Convention should not be used. Any exceptions should be phased out, and their use justified, until they are phased out.

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Increasing Incomes and Reducing Erosion in Kenya Through Micro-Dams Many rural regions suffer from heavy rains that cause soil erosion. Our Kenya team has trained farmers to build micro-dams by digging small structures that slow water movement at the areas prone to erosion. These micro-dams help reduce soil erosion and they have been so successful that local farmers are now training other farmers how to build micro-dams, independent of PureCircle’s assistance.

ABOUT THIS REPORT

44

About This Report This document is PureCircle’s first sustainability report, completed in December 2014. It includes data from across our supply chain and operations, including farms, processing facilities, and distribution channels. Our most comprehensive data is from our directly owned and operated extraction and purification plants, where we have aggressively tracked and managed sustainability issues. Robust environmental and social data is also collected from our 18,000 small-scale farmers. Data is less available (and often based on estimates and assumptions) for our distribution networks and our administrative offices, where our impacts are less significant. We anticipate improving data coverage in the coming years, based on each facility’s relative significance to the company’s overall impact. Please note: the sustainability reporting cycle is aligned with the company’s year for consistency. For example, when the report discusses information from 2012, the data underlying the statement is actually from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012.

Reporting Methodology We used the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Guidelines (and specifically the guidance on reporting principles and boundaries) when determining what to include in this report. The report focuses primarily on our farming and processing facilities, which have the most significant social and environmental impact. We are considering adding additional information about our corporate and sales offices in future years.

External Assurance We have engaged Strategic Sustainability Consulting (SSC), an independent party to support our sustainability reporting efforts. We believe that this report contains information that is accurate, timely and balanced. While the report and the data within have not been formally assured, we have completed an internal assessment process in conjunction with SSC to review the contents for clarity and materiality.

Data Methodology We use internationally recognized standards for calculating our sustainability impacts. For example: • Our product life cycle impacts were calculated by an independent third party using the PAS2050 life cycle assessment standard. • Our corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were calculated using the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. • Our employee numbers and labor-related indicators, as well as selected environmental practices, have been assessed and reviewed by independent third-party auditors under the Sedex SMETA 4-Pillar Audit.

Opportunity for Feedback We welcome your feedback on this report. Please contact Ajay Chandran, PureCircle’s Corporate Sustainability Director, at [email protected] or at 1.630.824.3641.

INDEX We have used the Global Reporting Initiative’s G4 Guidelines in the creation of this report. This report contains Standard Disclosures from the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. Use the chart below to quickly find information contained in the report.

General Standard Disclosures

G4-31 Contact point for questions regarding the report. 44

Strategy and Analysis

G4-33 External assurance. 44

G4-1

Foreword from the CEO. i

G4-2

Key sustainability risks, opportunities and impacts. 1,2

G4-32 Reporting option chosen for the report. 44

Governance G4-34 Governance structure. 7

Organizational Profile

G4-36 Responsibility for economic, environmental and social topics. 7

G4-3

Name of the organization. 6

G4-38 Composition of highest governance body. 7

G4-4

Primary brands, products and services. 6, 36

G4-39 Function of highest governance body. 7

G4-5

Location of the organization’s headquarters. 7

G4-40 Nomination and selection processes for highest governance body. 7

G4-6

Number of countries where the organization operates. 6

G4-7

Nature of ownership. 7

G4-41 Processes for the highest governance body to ensure avoidance of conflict of interests. 7

G4-8

Markets served. 6

G4-9

Scale of the organization. 6

G4-42 Highest governance body’s role in development of organization’s strategies related to economic, environmental and social impacts. 7

G4-10

Total workforce. 26

G4-48 Highest position that formally reviews and approval of organization’s sustainability report. i

G4-11

Bargaining agreements. 25

G4-50 Nature and total number of critical concerns. 7

G4-12

Organization’s supply chain. i

G4-51 Remuneration policies. 7

G4-15

Support for external initiatives. 17, 30

G4-52 Process for determining remuneration. 7

G4-16

Memberships in associations/interest groups. 9

Ethics and Integrity Identified Material Aspects and Boundaries

G4-56 Code of Conduct. 7, 23

G4-17

Entities included in the report. 3

G4-18

Definition of report content and boundaries. 4

G4-57 Internal and external mechanisms for seeking advice on ethical or lawful behavior. 24

G4-19

Material aspects. 4

G4-20

Material aspects and report boundaries within the organization. 4

G4-21

Material aspects and report boundaries outside the organization. 4

Stakeholder Engagement G4-24

Stakeholders engaged by the organization. 2

G4-25

Identification and selection of stakeholder groups. 2

G4-26

Engagement of stakeholder groups. 2

G4-27

Key topics raised through stakeholder engagement. 2

G4-58 Internal and external mechanisms for reporting unethical or unlawful behavior. 24

Specific Standard Disclosures Economic Economic G4-EC1 Direct economic value generated and distributed. 6 G4-EC9 Proportion of spending on local suppliers. 42

Report Profile G4-28

Reporting period. 44

G4-29

Date of most recent previous report. 44

G4-30

Reporting cycle. 44

Environmental Materials DMA 11 G4-EN1 Materials used.

Index

46

Energy G4-EN3

Energy consumption within the organization. 13

G4-EN5

Energy intensity. 1, 13

G4-EN6

Reduction of energy consumption. 11, 13

G4-EN7

Reductions in energy requirements of products and services. 36

Water G4-EN8

G4-LA2

Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not provided to temporary or part-time employees. 23

G4-LA3

Return to work and retention rates after parental leave. 26

Occupational Health & Safety G4-LA6

Type of injury and injury rates, occupational diseases, lost days, and total number of work-related fatalities. 28

G4-LA7

Workers with high incidence or high risk of diseases related to their occupation. 28

G4-LA8

Health and safety topics covered in formal agreements with trade unions. 25

Total water withdrawal 16

Emissions G4-EN15

Direct GHG emissions (Scope 1). 15

G4-EN16

Energy indirect GHG emissions (Scope 2). 15

G4-EN17

Other indirect GHG emissions (Scope 3). 15

G4-EN18

GHG emission intensity. 16, 36

G4-EN19

Reduction of GHG emissions. 15, 36

Training & Education G4-LA10

Supplier Assessment for Labor Practices G4-LA15

Effluents and Waste G4-EN22

Total water discharge. 18

G4-EN23

Total weight of waste. 18

G4-LA16

Extent of impact mitigation of environmental impacts of products and services. 36

Significant fines and non-monetary sanctions. 7

Investment DMA

Transport G4-EN30

Significant environmental impacts of transporting products for the organization’s operations. 21

Significant actual and potential negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken. 42

23

Non-Discrimination G4-HR3

Supplier Environmental Assessment G4-EN33

Total number of grievances about labor practices filed through formal grievance mechanisms during the reporting period. 24

Human Rights

Compliance G4-EN29

Significant actual and potential negative impacts for labor practices in the supply chain and actions taken. 28, 39

Labor Practices Mechanisms

Products and Services G4-EN27

Programs for skills management and lifelong learning that support the continued employability of employees. 23

Total number of incidents of discrimination during the reporting period. 7, 24

Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining G4-HR7

Operations and suppliers in which employee rights to exercise freedom of association or collective bargaining may be violated or at significant risk.

Environmental Grievance Mechanisms G4-EN34

Total number of grievances about environmental impacts filed through formal grievance mechanisms during the reporting period. 7

Social: Labor Practices and Decent Work

Indigenous Rights G4-HR8

Supplier Human Rights Assessment G4-HR11

Employment DMA G4-LA1

23 Total number and rate of new employee hires during the reporting period. 26

Total number of identified incidents of violations involving the rights of indigenous peoples and actions taken. 7

Significant actual and potential negative human rights impacts in the supply chain and actions taken. 35

Human Rights Grievance Mechanisms G4-HR12

Total number of grievances about human rights impacts filed through formal grievance mechanisms. 7

Index

47

Society

Marketing Communications G4-PR7

Local Communities DMA G4-SO2

30 Operations with significant actual and potential negative impacts on local communities. 30

Customer Privacy G4-PR8

Anti-corruption G4-SO4

Communication and training on anti-corruption policies and procedures. 7

G4-SO5

Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken. 7

Public Policy G4-SO6

Total value of political contributions by country and recipient/ beneficiary. 7

Anti-Competitive Behavior G4-SO7

Total number of legal actions for anti-competitive behavior, antitrust, and monopoly practices and their outcomes. 7

G4-SO8

Monetary value of significant fines and total number of non-monetary sanctions for non-compliance with laws and regulations. 7

Compliance

Supplier Assessment for Impacts on Society G4-SO10

Significant actual and potential negative impacts on society in the supply chain and actions taken. 31

Grievance Mechanisms for Impacts on Society G4-SO11

Number of grievances about impacts on society filed, addressed and resolved through formal grievance mechanisms. 7

Product Responsibility Customer Health and Safety DMA

33

G4-PR1

Percentage of significant product and service categories for which health and safety impacts are assessed for improvement. 35

G4-PR2

Total number of incidents of non-compliance with regulations and voluntary codes concerning the health and safety impacts on products and services during their life cycle. 7

Product and Service Labeling G4-PR3

Type of product and service information required by the organization’s procedures for product service information labeling, and percentage of significant product and service categories subject to such information requirements. 37

G4-PR4

Total number of incidents of non-compliance with regulations and voluntary codes concerning product and service information and labeling. 7

Total number of incidents of non-compliance with regulations and voluntary codes concerning marketing communications, including advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.B151. 7

Total number of substantiated complaints received concerning breaches of customer privacy and losses of customer data. 7, 37

Compliance G4-PR9

FP5

Total monetary value of significant fines for non-compliance with laws and regulations concerning the provision and use of products and services. 7 Percentage of production volume manufactured in sites certified by an independent third party. 33