Cost-Effective Natural Red Coloring for Beverages and More
Developing Cost-Effective Natural Colors
The ideal food color maximizes visual impact in a cost-effective manner. As a vertically-integrated natural color supplier, delivering on that goal can be achieved a few ways:
Increase efficiency at every stage down to the farm level, enabling cost reduction throughout the process
Increase pigment concentration in botanicals through natural breeding to reduce cost-in-use
A key focus of Sensient’s agronomy program is to improve cost-in-use over time by increasing pigment levels in key color crops like black carrot. “Together, our vertical integration and Seed-to-Shelf initiative enable us to provide leading food and beverage manufacturers with increased cost stability and a secure supply of colors from natural sources,” notes Paul Manning, President and CEO of Sensient Technologies.
While site and varietal selection help to improve our color botanical’s yield and crop productivity, our agronomists are additionally naturally breeding varietals for improved crop resistance and increased pigment concentration. For black carrots, this means the darkest color with optimized root volume for anthocyanin pigment content. One example is Sensient’s patent-pending Purple Royale, a highly concentrated black carrot natural red food coloring source—a product resulting from our non-GMO botanical selective seed breeding program.
Lower Usage Rates for Product Developers
Improved Cost-in-Use
Black Carrot in Beverages
According to Mintel, Berry is one of the fastest growing flavors in the Asia Pacific carbonated soft drink launches during recent years. Since 2015, the number of carbonated soft drinks and flavored water launches containing black carrot grew more than 50%, most likely due to its vibrant and appealing range of natural red shade. As an anthocyanin, it thrives in low pH, high water activity systems in a wide range of beverages from sports drinks and carbonated soft drinks to kombuchas (fermented teas) and syrups. Color is an extremely valuable ingredient in beverages, as it enhances the overall flavor perception immediately. According to a Sensient consumer research study, more vibrant and brighter color could increase consumer purchase intent by up to 6%, a potentially substantial financial impact.
Black carrots are a naturally versatile and bright option for beverages, as they can provide a range of shade options from bright reds to magentas to fuchsia purples with comparable usage rates.
However, black carrot is a very versatile natural color ingredient, its application is not limited to only beverages: water ices, frozen novelties, yoghurts, confectioneries can all also benefit from this cost-effective red anthocyanin colorant.
As Sensient consistently strives to innovate, discover the portfolio of black carrot options. A recent coloring food addition for low pH applications provides unique shades of red with a darker blueish or purple twist for brands to truly stand out:
Sensient’s experts recommend Sensient’s black carrot options because they provide cost-effective natural red shade options across a range of beverages and other applications.
If you have a project that would benefit from a red or purple-red hue, request a sample!
Need help getting started or have questions about black carrot’s performance in a particular application? Schedule a consultation with me or one of our other expert color technologists.
