Chr. Hansen spotlights color trends and innovations as COVID-19 redefines consumer behavior

05 Nov 2020 --- Chr. Hansen is monitoring how COVID-19 is changing consumer behavior, and helping brands navigate their way through the new reality, take advantage of new opportunities, and innovate with color.

As mass disruption caused by the pandemic continues to have a profound impact on our “new reality,” Chr. Hansen has been tracking trends and how they have evolved under COVID-19 as well as trends that have emerged under the crisis. 

In an upcoming webinar, company representatives Agata Pajak, global marketing and insight expert, and Erica Franco, marketing manager for Western Europe and Northwest Africa, will offer insights into the natural colors space. 

Accelerating trends are creating new opportunities 
Chr. Hansen’s representatives will discuss what is dominating in product themes this year and how brands are using natural colors to successfully innovate their product portfolio.

During the webinar, they will be looking at consumer behavior, new opportunities for product development and inspiration for applications.

Topics such as connecting color with nutrition, how storytelling helps brands win with words, authenticity and food safety, will also be under the spotlight. 

Consumer trends 
Millions of households around the world have experienced significant changes to their daily routines – and with them, shifts in mundane habits and decisions that shape life more holistically, over time.

While variation in restrictions remains across regions, most families are spending significantly more time in their homes as a new wave of lockdowns come into force worldwide.

Topics such as connecting color with nutrition will be under the spotlight in the  upcoming webinar.This impacts how people work, play, consume and spend leisure time, but perhaps no routine has been upended more than how families source, prepare and enjoy their meals. 

As the pandemic severely impacts the foodservice industry, the shift to the home as the primary location for mealtimes is a hallmark of new patterns that have emerged during this era. 

At-home eating is the new normal, with trends toward home baking, home brewing, and traveling through the tastebuds gaining traction.

Consumers also have an increased focus on health and healthy ingredients. 

Last month, Chr. Hansen announced it is ramping up pigment, formulation and application capabilities to keep pioneering the natural colors industry, with new facilities in Montpellier, France. 

These operations are part of a long-term investment strategy to focus on innovative and natural solutions that enable manufacturers to meet consumers’ growing awareness and demand for natural and easy-to-understand ingredients.

This move comes as Chr. Hansen Natural Colors awaits its acquisition next year – subject to regulatory clearance – by EQT, a global investment organization. The €800 million (US$943 million) deal is expected to complete in the first half of 2021.

You can register for “Colorful innovation: Navigating your brand through the new COVID-19 reality” here. 

For more pandemic-related headlines and guidance to navigate your business through this challenging period, readers can follow FoodIngredientsFirst’s COVID-19 updates.

By Gaynor Selby