Layn Natural Ingredients, a global manufacturer of natural botanical ingredients, has achieved Gold-level certification for its monk fruit products through the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative’s (SAI) Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) program.

FSA is a globally recognized framework for evaluating and verifying sustainable agricultural practices. The program supports food and beverage companies in assessing, improving, and validating on-farm sustainability according to good agricultural practices, and how sustainability impacts people, the planet, and profit.

“We are honored to have our monk fruit ingredient receive the Gold level recognition on the Farm Sustainability Assessment from the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative,” said Frank Xie, president and CEO of Layn Natural Ingredients. “Sustainability has always been at the heart of Layn Natural Ingredients, and this achievement reflects our ongoing commitment to responsible sourcing, environmental stewardship, and supporting farming communities. As one of the world’s largest suppliers of monk fruit, we are proud to lead by example in driving sustainable practices across the industry.”

Stevia Supply Chain Achieves FSA Silver

In addition, Layn earned FSA Silver for its stevia ingredient supply chain. The company is actively advancing grower programs, agronomy innovation, and environmental stewardship initiatives with the goal of achieving FSA Gold for stevia as well.

Innovation and Partnerships for Climate Resiliency

To support a long-term, climate-resilient supply of monk fruit, Layn Natural Ingredients and dsm-firmenich are collaborating to evaluate soil and water resources across key growing regions. The companies monitored agricultural practices using the Path2Farm tool, and established pilot farms to test climate-resilient methods such as soil preservation and drought-management strategies.

These best practices identified through these pilots are now being rolled out across Layn’s monk fruit grower network, supporting more than 80,000 farmers and contributing significantly to the company’s FSA Gold certification.

Advancing Monk Fruit Agronomy Through Layn’s Botanical Research & Innovation Center

Since 2017, Layn’s Botanical Research & Innovation Center has led advances in monk fruit agronomy, including:

• High-yield, high-performing monk fruit plant varieties;
• Optimized cultivation models;
• Advanced breeding and field management techniques;
• Integrated waste management and upcycling practices.

To further support farmers, Layn’s price protection policy ensures that contracted farmers receive stable, predictable income each season.

Supporting the Supply Chain During Peak Harvest

Monk fruit season is in full swing, and brands can secure a stable supply through a multi-year monk fruit contract with Layn, which provides guaranteed pricing and long-term assurance as global demand for natural sweeteners grows.

“As the world’s largest producer and innovator of monk fruit and stevia, Layn’s vertically-integrated sourcing, from tissue culturing and seedling to farmer partnerships and quality control, we ensure our partners consistent quality, stable output, and sustainable agriculture,” said Xie.

Layn’s monk fruit portfolio includes monk fruit extract, monk fruit juice powder, and monk fruit juice concentrate, which can support a range of food, beverage, and nutritional applications.