The challenge PureCircle predominantly sources stevia leaf from China. PureCircle's goals were to strengthen relationships with farmers of their proprietary leaf, support farmers' cash flow and encourage further ESG transformation of farming practices through a sustainable supply chain finance (SCF) program. These objectives were challenging given the farmers typically operate on a small scale, dispersed over China and often have manual finance and payment processes. PureCircle already undertakes Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX) audits, and is on track to meet the ISO 26000 social responsibility standards by 2023. To address the specific challenges of farmers, PureCircle worked with Bureau Veritas, an independent inspection and certification provider, to create an evaluation schedule for its farmers based on the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative's Farm Sustainability Assessment.