How America’s Fastest Growing Independent Organic Sweetener Was Born
Growing up, Ben Fleischer was a normal child who spent his days having fun with his friends. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for one of his close friends who had diabetes. Each day, Ben watched his friend take life-saving injections and saw how the disease interfered with his ability to lead a normal childhood. These images remained ingrained in Ben’s head and were the impetus to lead a healthy lifestyle of clean food choices and exercise.
Upon graduating, Ben began working for his family’s business in which he developed the first low-carb bagel for the Atkins brand. In doing so, he realized he could make a difference in the world and help those suffering from diabetes. This further compelled him to create an energy drink without sugar or artificial sweeteners. In doing the research, Ben came upon Stevia, a natural sweetener extracted from the leaves of a plant.
Though Ben was excited by the healthy alternative, he knew it wasn’t the perfect solution as he thought it tasted awful. To rectify the issue, he began formulating a Stevia that would not only be pleasing to the taste, but would make an indelible change in the sweetener industry. With that, the impetus for the Pyure brand was born.
Laser focused, Ben set out to achieve his goal. He moved back home with his parents in order to save money for his new enterprise, amassing $250,000 without investors. He believed so strongly in his brand that he sacrificed all of his time, relationships and even mental health. Ben worked 16-hour days, seven days a week to manifest his vision.
Established in 2008, Pyure was the first-to-market USDA-Certified, non-GMO Project Verified Stevia. It has since become one of the largest and fastest growing independent stevia companies in America.
But when Ben was working toward his goal of turning Pyure into a reality he hit somewhat of a wall when he came up against the Sweetener Goliaths who all turned their backs on him and refused to work with him on his new concept. Initially, Ben went to some of the biggest sweetener companies in the country to see if they would like to work together on the brand that he was creating. Ben figured he would formulate and create something that would change the world and the Sweetener Goliaths could swap out the sugar in their products with Pyure and start working toward a healthier lifestyle for them and the consumers, but they wanted nothing to do with Ben or Pyure for that matter. So he continued to formulate and establish Pyure as an all-natural, non-GMO sugar substitute on his own.
While the sugar companies continue to make money from their items packed with sugar they have now entered the Stevia space, but not all sugar substitutes are created equal. These stevia products that these companies are creating are loaded with artificial ingredients and in some cases actual sugar, but Ben continues to grow Pyure as the organic brand that is helping to make people’s lives better. As Pyure continues to grow, it also continues to fill in gaps in the sugar industry by offering a wide range of items including honey, syrups and liquid sweeteners that people can truly enjoy knowing they are not eating something that is loaded with sugar or artificial ingredients.
Pyure has perfected a process that isolates only the sweetest part of the Stevia plant, producing superior taste without any lingering bitterness or licorice flavors. It has grown rapidly and spread across the country partnering with retail stores such as Whole Foods, Costco, Wegmans, Amazon and Walgreens online. Ben and his team have not only made it their mission to set out and make a change within the food industry, but they have also made the change to live the Pyure lifestyle themselves. This truly is what sets the brand apart from any other within the Stevia space. Led by a passionate team that truly believes in the cause allows them to continue to grow and create solutions the one of the biggest health problems the country faces today – sugar intake and obesity.
Today is just the beginning of the sugar revolution and Ben and the Pyure brand are at the forefront of it all.
