GLG Life Tech, a Canada-based firm engaged in agricultural and commercial development of stevia products, has launched a new product range, GLG Naturals+, with support from China National Cereals, Oils, and Foodstuff Corporation (COFCO).
GLG Naturals+ is focused on sourcing natural and functional food ingredients from China through a certification program designed to address the concerns of international food and beverage companies.
GLG Life Tech stated that its China-based GLG Naturals+ team leverages relationships to rate and certify suppliers categorized under the R8 program.
The R8 program elements include verified quality through independent testing, competitive pricing, confirmed capacity and consistent supply of ingredients, factory site audits and routine facility visits, international customer service standards, recognized international certifications from reputable third parties, commitment to environmental and safety practices and verification of manufacturer's assets and financial credit checks.
GLG Life Tech CEO Dr. Luke Zhang said that the challenge for international food and beverage companies has been to perform the required due diligence to identify dependable suppliers without a local team on the ground.
"GLG Naturals+ provides them the comfort they require in sourcing ingredients by providing a localized procurement and quality as surance team in China at significantly reduced expense," Zhang added.
The company's ingredients portfolio includes crystalline fructose, erythritol, inositol, inulin, lohan guo, and lycopene which are interdependent on its existing stevia products.
