Steviva Ingredients Inc., a global ingredient supplier with a focus on all-natural, high-intensity sweeteners and custom sweetening solutions for manufacturers, will open its new, expanded, headquarters, 16 miles east of Portland, in Gresham, Oregon.

Adjacent to a 138-acre wetland, the new facility, located in the Southshore Corporate Park at 19250 NE Portal Way in Gresham, Oregon, features a 2,000-square-foot fitness center, yoga studio, boxing gym and a half-acre garden for employees and their families.

In addition to an expansive production area, office space and warehouse, the new location will feature a 4,000-square-foot registered laboratory and a research and development kitchen, designed specifically to help manufacturers reformulate with clean-label sugar reduction.

According to company officials, “in less than a year, Steviva has outgrown its headquarters in Portland. On July 1, 2017, the company will relocate to a location twice as large as its previous space.”

“With the onslaught of new business driven by the FDA label guidelines from major, and mid-size manufacturers, we have been forced to increase our research and development capabilities tenfold and the production capacity of our clean-label sweetener systems by a multiple of four,” said Thom King, CEO & President of Steviva Ingredients.

Steviva is also installing a dozen bat houses to support the local bat habitat and reduce pest insects on the property. Steviva said it expects to ramp up its staff in all areas including: research and development, sales, food safety, logistics, production and warehouse.

To meet growing global demands for all-natural, clean-label sweetening systems, Steviva Ingredients also opened a manufacturing and distribution center in Salinas, Spain.

“The EMEA region is facing obesity issues in countries such as the UK and Germany, and at the same time, obesity in UAE is rising to a dangerous level, zero-calorie sweeteners have become a necessity,” said King.