Key takeaways
- Consumer Preference Drives Demand: The shift towards natural food colorants is primarily fueled by consumer preferences for healthier and transparently labeled products. As consumers become more health-conscious, they seek clean-label options, driving the demand for natural color additives.
- Global Market Expansion: The natural food colorants market is expanding globally, with significant growth observed in regions like Asia-Pacific. Manufacturers are leveraging locally sourced ingredients and unique extraction processes to meet the diverse demands of regional cuisines and dietary preferences.
- Innovation in Extraction Technologies: Continuous innovation in extraction technologies is driving the development of new natural food colorants. Companies are investing in research and development to introduce innovative solutions that offer clean-label formulations and address consumer concerns about artificial additives.
- Regulatory Compliance and Labeling: Regulatory changes, such as redesigned nutritional labels and increased scrutiny on ingredient transparency, are shaping procurement decisions. Manufacturers are adapting their processes to comply with regulations and meet consumer expectations for clear and informative labeling.
Natural food colors are pigments derived from plants, fruits, vegetables, and other natural sources used to color foods and beverages without artificial additives. Examples include:
Carotenoids: Obtained from carrots and sweet potatoes, providing orange hues.
Chlorophyll: Derived from spinach and parsley, giving a green color.
Anthocyanins: Found in berries, grapes, and red cabbage, yielding red and blue shades.
Turmeric: A spice used for its yellow color.
Saffron: Providing a rich orange-yellow tint.
Even before people taste the food, they make their judgments on the taste based on appearance and aroma. Especially when the food is unknown, people are attracted by vibrant colors displayed by the food. Since certain foods are a mixture of different ingredients, it loses its color or may not exhibit attractive colors. As a result, players in the food industry use food colorants to achieve the desired color. As of today, artificial food colorants are more popular in the food & beverage industry. For instance, red lead and vermillion are used to color cheese and confectionery. However, concerns over food safety have led compelled the food authorities to impose numerous regulations throughout the world. Since manufacturers are only allowed to use permitted colors, a majority of them are exploring the use of natural food coloring agents. These natural colorants are derived from a variety of natural sources such as spices, fruits, vegetables, edible yeasts, herbs, barks, buds, roots, leaves, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. The procurement market intelligence report from SpendEdge highlights the fact that there is a high demand for healthier foods and beverages that contain natural ingredients, in developed countries such as the US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Canada.
What is natural food colorants procurement?
Food coloring, also known as color additives, refers to any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color to food or beverages when added. It is available in various forms, including liquids, powders, pastes, and gels, and is commonly used in both commercial and home cooking. Moreover, food coloring finds applications in non-food products such as cosmetics, household crafts, medications, and medical equipment.
Natural food colors are derived from foods and other edible materials through physical or chemical extraction processes, selectively extracting pigments from the nutritional or aromatic components. The increasing demand for natural food colorants in the market can be attributed to the growing popularity of superfoods and the consumer preference for “natural” products. This trend has prompted food producers to opt for natural food colors due to the clear and understandable labeling, as consumers show a strong interest in using products with transparent ingredients.
Trends in the natural food colorants procurement market
Rising popularity of antioxidant-rich colorants
Natural food coloring agents that are rich in anti-antioxidant reduces the need for additional ingredients, which are used to raise the levels of antioxidants. As a result, suppliers prefer natural food colorants such as carotenoids and anthocyanins due to increasing consumer demand. The demand is expected to grow in the coming years attributing to rising consumer awareness especially in developing countries such as India, China, Indonesia, and Brazil.
Demand for brown colorants
The popularity of alternative grains such as quinoa, millet, brown rice, buckwheat, amaranth, and kaniwa is on the rise due to its multiple health benefit. Consumers in the developed and developing parts of the world are preferring such alternative grains over the stable wheat and corn due to higher protein content, amino acids, and fibers. As a result, buyers are involved in the natural food coloring of such alternative grains to complement the visual appeal. The demand for brown and deep brown food colorants have been on the rise in recent time owing to such change in consumer preference.
Flavor localization
Each country and continent have their own unique kind of food and cuisines. The cuisines differ in every aspect from food type, ingredients, spices used to flavoring. Such vast cultural and regional differences have urged the players in the F&B industry to localize their products as per region. The act of localization creates demand for specific natural food coloring agents based on each region. For instance, the use of turmeric as a coloring agent by global F&B manufacturers is increasing in India.
New “nutrition facts” label in the US
In 2016, the US government and the FDA announced the redesign of the mandated nutritional facts label. The mandate requires F&B players to change some aspect of the layout, font, and size of the label. For instance, the font size of total calorie and sugar content should be increased. The new label will aid consumers in making a more informed food decision. As a result, they are likely to avoid food with high sugar content and caloric intake. This is expected to affect the natural food coloring process using caramel and similar colorants as they increase the overall sugar and calorie content. Many F&B manufacturers in light of such decisions are shifting towards non-sugar based natural food coloring.
Natural food colorants procurement – market trends
Food colors, in the form of coloring foodstuffs, have significantly changed the food industry, which is now driven by high-value products and ethical consumerism. Consumers are increasingly interested in food products that are not only healthy but also ethically sourced, with minimal impact on the environment. This has led to a growing demand for natural food colorants and has prompted extensive research and development to introduce innovative technologies to fully explore the commercial potential of the market. For example, in 2019, Naturex introduced Vegebrite® Ultimate Spirulina, a coloring foodstuff based on spirulina that uses a water-based extraction process to provide a 100% natural solution, delivering clean-label and trehalose-free formulations. It is available in various concentrations and formats. This shift in consumer behavior and market dynamics is urging food manufacturers to move away from using artificial additives in food products.
The Asia-Pacific region is the fastest-growing market for natural food colourants. Leading manufacturers in the region have a wide range of application technologies that they can use to assess the performance of colors in various food and beverage applications, including soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, confectionery, frozen desserts, yogurts, baked goods, and processed foods. Natural food colors are used in the Asian food and beverage industry for various purposes. They make food products more visually appealing and highlight or identify flavours typically associated with different applications. Due to the extensive cultivation of herbs and spices in the region, Asian ingredient companies have begun developing food coloring additives from various spices such as turmeric, red chilies, and hibiscus. These additives offer various shades of yellow, red, pink, and orange colors through combinations of paprika, curcumin, and hibiscus. These colorants are particularly popular in dessert and beverage applications.
Read more about the trends in the natural food coloring market along with procurement challenges, supply chain insights, and pricing models in SpendEdge’s upcoming report on the global natural food colorants market.
What’s next?
The natural food colorants market is rapidly evolving, driven by consumer demand for healthier and ethically sourced products. Natural food colors, derived through chemical extraction from nutritional and aromatic ingredients, are increasingly favored over artificial colorants. This shift is evident across various industries, including cosmetics, household crafts, medications, and medical equipment. The market’s growth is further fueled by sectors such as beverage, bakery, dairy-based products, and candy, where vibrant and natural pigments enhance visual appeal and align with clear color labeling requirements. The Natural Food Colors Association plays a crucial role in promoting these trends, ensuring that natural food colorants continue to replace artificial additives, thereby meeting the growing expectations for transparency and sustainability in food production.
