KEY INTERVIEW: A Future Bright and Full of Natural Color

Consumers across the globe are increasingly demanding natural alternatives to carmine and artificial food colorings, which has been nothing but good news for coloring ingredients specialist, LycoRed. FoodIngredientsFirst talks to Business Unit Manager of Colour, Roee Nir, to find out more about the company’s plans for the future:

Reports showed that back in 2011, sales of natural colors overtook sales of synthetic and artificial colors for the first time. The market for natural colors has continued to grow, so much so that it now accounts for at least 60% of product launches using food colorings, according to Roee Nir, LycoRed’s Global Commercial Manager for Color.

“Most of the major brands are now launching with natural colorings rather than artificial ones,” he explains. “It’s all being driven by increasing consumer awareness globally. It’s costly for manufacturers to switch over to natural colorings but consumers are really reading the labels on food a lot more and they desire all natural ingredients now.”

Nir notes that there has been a strong trend to remove carmine particularly in the US, and this trend then spilled over into Europe. The move away from carmine has particularly affected applications such as dairy, prepared foods and meats, and “all applications where carmine and synthetic colors are seen extensively,” he says.

Planning ahead:
Some years back LycoRed predicted a resulting growth in natural food colorings, he explains, and the company invested heavily in expansion two to three years ago.

“We expanded our production of Lycopene and we now have two different manufacturing sites and we also grow our non-GMO tomatoes – and process them – in two different places, Israel and the US. We acquired a manufacturing site for beta-carotene biomass and extended our extraction facilities,” he says. “If growth continues at this rate then at some point we will have to look into expanding further. We have been seeing double digit sales growth in recent years.”

Nir explains that its red ingredients range is stable in application – compared to some of the other natural offerings out there. “The reds we can offer are very stable in high temperatures and all other parameters where other red ingredients have some difficulties.”

For the company, innovation is of great importance, and it aims to continue to be a leader in its field. Most recently, LycoRed has developed new formulations of vegetarian red colorants as part of its Tomat-O-Red line of tomato lycopene color, to be used in various food and beverage applications. The new formulations – which are available in liquid forms – aim to provide deeper red lycopene color with blue backgrounds, similar to the shades from carmine.

“The increased demand from customers seeking to replace carmine encouraged us to extend our natural red colorants line and develop new formulations suitable for additional food applications, such as confectionery, dairy and beverages,” he says.

Another recent launch has been new beta-carotene colorant formulations, which deliver “high-intensity color,” according to the company. Lyc-O-Beta Intense and BetaCote Intense have increased color intensity which allows for lower colorant usage and is easier to use. The ingredient is considered to be ideal for ready-to-drink beverages.

“Manufacturers, especially makers of beverages, consider higher color intensity and stability their top priorities when it comes to natural colorants,” he explains. “Another critical parameter for decision makers is color solubility.”

Growth areas:
Beverages are one of many key markets for the company, but there are other growth markets, Nir explains.

One area which offers a lot of opportunity is the meat sector, as increased levels of lycopene has recently been approved for processed meats in the US.

“It’s a very big opportunity for us as traditionally sausages have been colored either with synthetic colors or with carmine,” Nir explains. “We can offer a natural coloring solution from tomato lycopene and we see this as a big growth area. One benefit we can offer is that our colorants are protected from the high fat content of the meat and can therefore hold color very well. Our colors are also halal and kosher certified.”

LycoRed also continues to expand its portfolio offering of other emulsions in yellow and orange, derived from beta-carotene.

“We have some very stable ones designed for food applications such as bakery and dairy products. We can also offer some competitive solutions for beverages.”

And for the future, LycoRed will also continue to invest in the area of functional foods, which it sees as a natural fit for its products and skillset.

“We are active in two key markets – dietary supplements and food,” says Nir. “We invest in lots of clinical research and we certainly use these ingredients dietary supplements and also food and beverages.”

At present the company is working on studies focusing on its tomato extract, which it is formulating to be suitable for beverages. “It will have a nice color and also the science behind it.” It is also running studies on heart health, women’s health and sports nutrition.

Recently it introduced a new line of natural beta-carotene colorants and new application concepts for vitamin and mineral pre-mixes, designed for use in healthy and functional beverages – including progressive concepts for energy and sports drinks. The company managed to formulate pre-mix applications without the accompanying negative vitamin flavour notes, which is often a problem when formulating these drinks.  The colorants are four times more intense in color than existing colorant formulations.

Working in the functional foods field is just one area of continued development. There are plenty of areas LycoRed is looking at in terms of innovation. Meanwhile, new customers keep flocking to its shores, proving that the decision a few years back to extend capacity was worthwhile. In addition, new geographical markets are likely to keep emerging.

“South America, for example, is still consuming largely synthetic food colourings but over the next few years it is likely to catch up with the global trends.”

For LycoRed the future certainly looks bright, and full of color.

by Sonya Hook