On October 30th, 2006, we sent to different bodies of press a communiqué announcing the opening of La Maison du Stevia.

Here is the text :

Stevia : underestimated plant... miracle plant ?

La Maison du Stevia has just opened its doors; it is about the first French Internet site completely dedicated to the sale of stevia under different forms.

This company is launched by an ancient of L'Oréal, chemist and ESSEC, amateur of plants and natural products. In a fortuitous way, he got interested in the stevia and decided to dedicate himself to it. To make a success his bet, he left in summer, 2006 his suit of Parisian frame to dress grower's apron.

But what what is that  stevia? Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni, more usually called stevia, is a South American plant, still underestimated in Europe - while it has already conquered Japan with more than 2000 tons of dried leaves a year consummated - of which history is singular.

The action takes place a little more than hundred years ago, in Paraguay. A botanist of the name of Bertoni, native of Switzerland, is interested in this plant about which he heard by local chemists.

His first report: " a scrap of leaf is sufficient to sweeten the mouth more than one hour "... This essential testimony is going to put in emotion the international scientific community for more than a century, engendering multiple publications and international colloquiums.

But why such a scientific interest? A part of the answer lies in the assertion " to sweeten the mouth more than one hour " of Bertoni; indeed stevia is recognized by scientists' great majority as being a sweetener 200 - 300 times as sweetening as sugar, totally healthy, without any calorie contribution and 100 % natural.

The researches go henceforth beyond this gustative property. Virtues such as the control of the appetite, the improvement of the oral hygiene or nasal, the decrease of the blood pressure, the regulation of the rate of sugar in the blood, the cure accelerated of small cuts and the skincare are also advanced, widening considerably the impact which will have the stevia on foodstuffs, cosmetic or pharmaceutical of tomorrow.

Hardly of all these discoveries, what is the current position of stevia in the world ?

On one side, numerous countries, which Japan in pioneer, dashed into the industrialization of the stevia. It is henceforth a part of the Japanese landscape, appearing in the compositions of numerous food such as the soy sauce,  the energy drinks, the yoghourts, the rice and the flavored tea, even in the soaps, the mouthwashes, the lotions and the creams for the face...

On the other hand, this plant being often considered as a new food, notably in Europe, it has to prove that it is not toxic to be able to be consumed - unlike all the plants which surround us for centuries and the security of which was admitted for ages.

La Maison du Stevia, establishment pioneer in marketing of stevia in Europe, decided to propose at first the stevia in decorative purposes for the private individuals and the by-products of stevia to companies for the settling of the products of tomorrow.

This quite young company already knows a very promising starting up and invites the persons interested in this plant to connect on its www.lamaisondustevia.com