Research & Development
Turning our own stevia leaf into clean, high-purity sweetener — the process innovation behind Wostevia.
Process & product innovation
More than a farm — a stevia process programme
Alongside growing and exporting premium stevia leaf, our R&D programme is building the know-how to turn that leaf into clean, high-purity sweetener. Our most advanced result so far: a chemical-free, membrane-only pilot that purified extract to 85% total steviol glycosides — separating the sweetener purely by molecule size, and recovering its own process water for reuse.
Featured · Interactive explainer
Purifying stevia by membrane filtration
An animated, step-by-step look at how three progressively finer membranes sort a raw extract by molecule size — capturing the sweetener on its own and recovering clean water. Pilot-scale research, not yet a production process.
Explore the interactive processWhere our R&D is focused
Beyond purification, three strands of work carry the leaf all the way to a finished, food-grade ingredient.
Cultivation & agronomy
Refining varieties and growing practices across our KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga sites to lift leaf steviol-glycoside content (today 8–12%) and yield per hectare.
Powder & product development
Producing lab-scale stevia powder from our own leaf, building the consistency and food-grade quality needed for commercial supply.
Low-impact processing
Designing separation that avoids solvents and recovers its own process water — keeping the environmental footprint low as we move toward full-scale production.
Where we're headed
These pilots are the groundwork for a step change: moving Wostevia from premium dry-leaf exporter to an integrated producer of finished stevia ingredients.
- Scale the membrane process from pilot to demonstration volumes
- Move from premium dry-leaf export toward finished stevia ingredients
- Commission a full-scale processing facility, targeted for 2028
Let's talk stevia
Whether you're sourcing premium leaf, exploring finished-ingredient supply, or want the technical detail behind our process, our team is glad to help.
Talk to our team