Marine Blue Colouring Solutions in Confectionery

Consumer interests have evolved with trends like “Sense of the Intense” and “Childhood Nostalgia” to desire for products that provide powerful and emotional experiences. In today’s hyper-connected online world, experiences gain value if they are sharable and present the ability to go viral. For illustration, more than half of Chinese consumers share food and drink visuals on social media. These could be photos and videos of their own cooking, recipes, or foods they consume. Social media has become a part of everyday life, with the highest penetration in Malaysia and South Korea of 91% each (Statista, 2022). Being unique and/or colourful is a perfect enabler to become “share-worthy” and it creates further consumer interest.

The colours in nature are diverse and abundant, coming in all facets of reds, oranges, yellows, or greens. Blue, however, has been historically challenging to achieve with natural formulations – even blueberries have more of a deep purple shade coming from anthocyanins! Yet, in the world of manufactured foods, blue is a colour that certainly attracts attention. Most confectionary manufacturers have turned to artificial colouring solutions, for example Blue #1, namely Brilliant Blue.

With the consistent global trend favouring naturalness, Spirulina is an impressive ingredient for manufacturers looking to go blue naturally! Packed with nutrients and nutraceutical benefits, this blue-green algae also has a “superfoods” status amongst consumers. Phycocyanins, its main colouring compound, are said to have antioxidant- and anti-inflammatory properties. This perfectly meets consumers’ desire for more beneficial ingredients from natural origins in food and beverage.

Spirulina-based food colouring can provide bright sky-blue shades, but it poses two challenges: heat stability and low-pH environments. Both parameters in combination ‘double the trouble’ and formulators would see undesired effects like poor colour stability or precipitation:

This example demonstrates what could happen with spirulina-based colouring solutions in low pH environments: the blue turns into a more turquoise colour shade.

With Sensient’s consistent focus on delivering high-performance colouring solutions combined with innovative formulations that perfectly work in food and beverage products, the R&D team is proud to present an extension to the portfolio of Marine Blue options that are spirulina-algae based. This newly developed Marine Blue developed by technologists with decades of expertise work perfectly in jellies, gummy sweets and hard-boiled candy with neutral pH. Think of concepts such as cool mint, blue raspberry, ice cream soda, and more… With excellent colouring performance and high ease of handling, these Marine Blue solutions achieve vibrant and deep blue colour shades to enable customers’ confectionery products to stand out:

Are you interested in cloudy solutions for jellies, gummy sweets and high-boiled candies? As the titanium dioxide ban in the EU rolls out, therein lies opportunities for those in Asia, Australia and New Zealand to take action and stay on top of regulations. We welcome you to test and use solutions from our global Avalanche™ portfolio.

Sensient’s Avalanche™ MB is a mineral based alternative to titanium dioxide with enhanced stability compared to other industry options highly suitable for jelly, gummy sweets and hard candy. It is compliant in many regions across the globe, and Sensient’s regulatory team is glad to support with further guidance for specific markets to cater to customers’ individual needs. If you would like to receive further guidance and support, you can request a consult here.

For more flexibility, Sensient’s Marine Blue can be used in custom blends to cover a broader colour spectrum. Food manufacturers can achieve custom blues, greens, and purple shades in either transparent or cloudy forms, with natural solutions that can impart colour into food and beverage products.