SweetLeaf

Continued from PAGE 1 technologies,” he said “What we can do with natural sweeteners couldn’t be done 20 or 30 years ago But even with new science, we have to stay true to who we are

“When I was a kid, when I grew up, you could taste sugar in ever ything People who are now in their 20s and 30s grew up with artificial sweeteners trying to match the sugar sweetening taste profile,” he said

“When my father introduced stevia into the marketplace, he did it with the best during the period 2018 to 2022

“Post-pandemic has been a very volatile time for the food manufacturing industry due to labor shortages, supply chain issues and inflationary costs In general, though, workplace injuries were down in 2020, 2021 and 2022 compared to 2019,” said Matt Zender, SVP, workers compensation product manager

The most common injuries – and the most expensive injuries to treat – are strains More than one quarter (28 percent) of all injuries were caused by strains the leaves As other companies cropped up to mass produce stevia, they often used chemicals to extract the sweetness, leading to the bitter taste many associate with stevia as a sweetener

“We make sure we ’ re offering the ver y best stevia to consumers with premium taste,” May said

The Mays realized early on that they couldn’t help wean people off sugar and improve their lives by sacrificing taste

As a company now in its fifth decade, SweetLeaf didn’t have to change its business model to incorporate transparency, sustainability and corporate responsibility

“We were sustainable before sustainability was a thing,” May said “Before SweetLeaf Stevia was established, my father sold a lot of different herbal and natural products, so we were sustainable and transparent before people talked about doing that and almost a third (31 percent) of the most expensive workers compensation claims were for strains according to AmTrust’s claims analysis

Lower back injuries were the third most common and second most expensive claims

AmTrust recommends workplace safety measures for food manufacturers to address those common injuries, including guard rails around elevated platforms and non-slip closed-toe shoes

“Food manufacturing involves various and people who were our sources around the world, helping all of those delivering raw materials to us and giving back to them ”

SweetLeaf continues to innovate, with five products launched in July, including the new Indulge line of zero-calorie, allpurpose sweetener that blends stevia and monk fruit

“Consumers want zero-calorie baking products to use every day, in cakes, in beverages, whatever,” May said “Monk fruit browns like sugar, tastes like sugar and acts like sugar ” forms of manual material handling which could involve lifting and moving objects, and pushing and pulling equipment – all actions that could lead to musculoskeletal disorders and strain/sprain injuries,” said Woody Dwyer, director of Loss Control for AmTrust and a certified professional ergonomist

“We are working with food companies who are testing occupational exoskeletons which could take the strain off the body, and we ’ re pleased to see the progress in that area, ” Dwyer said GN cludes Monk Fruit Organic Sweetener in a variety of flavors

SweetLeaf does have a private label division and welcomes opportunities for B2B, the core of the company is in the consumer marketplace

“My goal as head of the company is to engage consumers at the best level that we can, ” May said technology at the time,” May said “But it’s still an all-natural process ”

From the beginning, SweetLeaf used water to extract the steviol glycosides from

“He brought jobs and manufacturing to Paraguay, brought the products here and put it back into the economy there,” May said “He did it because it was the good thing, the right thing to do and the right thing for the business

“My father always wanted to make sure we were helping all of the communities

Combining the sharper sweetness of stevia with the mellower sweetness of monk fruit proved to be a winner, May said

“It hits all the notes ”

Monk fruit is not new to SweetLeaf, either

“We actually developed one of the first, if not the first, monk fruit sweetener 20 years ago,” May said

Those early monk fruit products were discontinued, but SweetLeaf ’ s portfolio in-

One of May’s favorite things to do as CEO is hear from consumers about products they’d like SweetLeaf to develop, to make their lives better

“We can continue on that promise created 40 years ago to help people live better quality lives,” he said

“It’s ver y much all about choice,” May said “Consumers need to have choices They need to see options out there You don’t have to do sugar You don’t have to do artificial sweeteners There’s something natural, something better for you that tastes great ” GN