LONDON – Soft drink launches throughout the globe and the first full year of sales in the European market helped lift fiscal-year sales 57% for PureCircle Ltd., a supplier of stevia-based ingredients, according to a Sept. 16 filing with the London Stock Exchange. Sales of $71,206,000 in the fiscal year ended June 30 compared with $45,412,000 in the previous fiscal year.

“FY ‘13 saw encouraging growth in usage of PureCircle’s high purity stevia in all major markets and the first tangible market indications of stevia developing into a mainstream ingredient,” said Paul Selway-Swift, chairman of PureCircle, which is based in Malaysia and has a U.S. office in Oak Brook, Ill.

Several carbonated soft drink launches in the fiscal year used blends of proprietary ingredients developed by PureCircle, the company said. The reformulation of Sprite extended to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Benelux and Switzerland. Pepsi Next was launched in Australia and France. Sprite and Fanta Select underwent test markets in the United States. Coca-Cola Life was launched in Argentina.

In the European Union, sales of joint ventures involving PureCircle grew by more than 130% in the fiscal year. PureCircle said almost 1.6 billion people were given regulatory access to stevia in fiscal year 2013 following approvals published in the Philippines, Thailand, South Africa and Canada.