Naturex: Bringing Color Back to the Ingredients Market

12 Jun 2017 --- Synthetic colors and additives are not yet a thing of the past, but their popularity in the food industry is falling away. Consumer dissatisfaction, voiced by organizations all over the world, has also served to draw attention to the issue and push buyers to demand more natural ingredients in their food.

The public interest in transparency of origin, and in organic food, is also growing stronger by the day. Naturex, a pioneer in natural coloring agents, will present a timely new range of coloring solutions at this year’s IFT trade fair (26-28 June 2017).

“There is strong customer demand for organic products on all our product lines: botanical extracts, fruit powders and natural colors. As the leading natural specialty player, we think it is essential to participate positively in this consumer-driven trend for cleaner and healthier products in the food chain,” Timothée Olagne, Naturex Marketing Director for Nutrition & Health in North America tells NutritionInsight.

“We expect demand to keep growing at 10 percent plus for the next five years. More and more companies are now working on product line extensions through the organic lens.”

“Right now, the limiting factor is the supply. Consumer demand outpaces the capacity to sell organic certified ingredients. It takes time to get fields and a full supply chain certified,” he explains.

Earlier this year, Naturex announced the appointment of Reza Kamarei, Ph.D, to the role of global Nutrition & Health R&D Vice President for Naturex.

Speaking to NutritionInsight, Kamarei says: “The ingredients market will naturally go where the products market will go and the products market will go where there is a strong consumer demand for them. The most important consumer demand these days are around health.”

“In this respect, one clear trend is: shift from synthetic ingredients to natural ingredients. This is where the ingredients market is going and where market opportunity is. The challenges are associated with offering quality, authentic and traceable natural plant ingredients to satisfy customer and consumer needs,” he says.

A Rainbow of Color with Curcumin
Curcumin extract is ideal for adding a yellow color to a huge range of applications, varying the intensity as required. Naturex is expanding its existing range of solutions to satisfy new demand from customers.

A 100% traceable, organic compliant and intense yellow color: Naturex’s agronomy experts have a wealth of botanical knowledge, allowing us to develop a high-quality production system in the heart of India which meets all relevant requirements in terms of transparency, traceability and sustainable development. Once the turmeric has been harvested, the color is gently processed to get an organic-compliant status. Light-resistant and flavor-neutral, miChroma Turmeric OC LWD contains 10% pigment for an intense yellow color. Extremely easy to use, this extract can be added to a wide array of applications, from sauces and snacks to sweets, ice creams and baked goods. The extract will soon be available in a 100% organic version.

Alexis Manfre, Naturex spoke to NutritionInsight at VitaFoods, he said: “Today the turmeric and curcumin market is blooming, it is the botanical superstar on the planet. The recent growth is more than 30-40 percent. Due to these demands, we are launching a new extract to answer two major concerns, tractability and organic certified. The product curcumin is very efficient for digestive health and as an anti-inflammatory.”

Responding to market demands, Naturex have introduced Turmipure, an organic turmeric extract for joint health. The most common application will be caps or tablets for the supplement industry and products containing Turmipure are expected to be launched in the next few months, according to Manfre.

Spirulina Blue
The number of new food products in the USA using spirulina as a coloring agent tripled between November 2015 and November 2016. This form of micro-algae is a natural alternative to synthetic blue colors. Its success continues to grow, and Naturex has developed a number of highly effective solutions for a range of food applications. Visitors to the company’s booth at IFT will have the opportunity to sample ice pops containing Vegebrite Ice Blue LWS and enriched with acerola for its antioxidant properties. The booth will also be stocked with a range of ice creams colored with plant concentrates or turmeric extract, giving visitors a glimpse of the broad range of natural color solutions now available from Naturex (all derived from fruits, vegetables, roots, algae, etc.).

by Elizabeth Green

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