The U.S. food and beverage industry has entered a defining moment.
Consumers have long demanded natural, sustainable, and clean-label foods and beverages, and the natural coloring industry has grown to help meet this demand. But early last year, the pace of change for food and beverage manufacturers accelerated significantly.
Last April, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expressed their desire to phase out synthetic food dyes by the end of 2026. This, along with actual and proposed bans in several U.S. states, suddenly presents manufacturers with new challenges to face and decisions to make in a relatively short period of time.
Interest in nature is increasing
It’s not just the U.S. regulatory environment that is changing. Latin America is also showing a similar trend, especially among companies exporting to the United States. Several countries in the region are reviewing their laws and considering measures to accommodate these changes. And this trend is being repeated in other regions, especially those exporting to the United States.
Michael Kreutzer, President of Oterra US, is in daily contact with manufacturers transitioning to natural materials and has very clear advice for those who have questions about the practicality of the transition.
“Large multinationals with experience in natural colors will want to switch as quickly as possible and will have a first-mover advantage in terms of access to supply and the expertise needed to make the switch,” says Kreutzer.
“While some customers are leveraging our expertise to reformulate their products, others are delaying product reservations and finally taking a ‘wait and see’ attitude. All three strategies are valid, but it is clear that the later you start the transition, the greater the risk, higher costs, and likely more limited supply.”
Kreutzer says there are three basic questions food manufacturers should ask suppliers like Oterra. Do you have expertise? Do you have access to supplies? And do you have access to the innovation you need to keep moving forward?
Reduce complexity and easily transition to natural colors
“Our customers trust us to reduce the complexity of their natural supply chain, color selection and application. We do this through a network of application centers in every region of the world. At the heart of that network are our scientists with decades of experience supporting the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers.”
Oterra, a company with long experience in the natural color industry, has been preparing for change by investing in expanding its portfolio and global presence with the recent opening of a state-of-the-art innovation, collaboration and production hub in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
Flexibility through diversification
To convert to a natural color, you first need to make sure you have an adequate supply. This means combining global scale with local sourcing expertise. Demand growth in the US will be faster than in Europe. This will create huge demand for producers looking to make the switch and the companies that supply them.
Because natural colors are grown rather than manufactured, the challenge for companies making the switch is to order early so they can secure supply by planting more crops or sourcing from existing or new locations.
Finding a supplier with a broad pigment portfolio and diverse sourcing footprint means ingredients can be grown in multiple countries and regions, reducing risk. Supply security is further enhanced by contracting directly with farmers rather than third-party suppliers.
Natural colors to replace FD&C colors in a variety of applications
Permission granted by Oterra
next wave of color
Pigment innovation is the third pillar of our successful partnership. As demand grows rapidly, it is important to find new plant-based raw materials, improve existing raw materials, and find new innovative processes to create color.
The FDA has approved two new blue and one white for 2025, but it can take a long time to get new pigments approved. Developing existing plant varieties with higher pigment yields can reduce costs and increase efficiency while keeping the sourcing process sustainable and safe.
Examples of these innovations might be materials such as Oterra’s Arctic Blue spirulina, which uses pioneering production methods to grow spirulina 24/7 in bioreactors, or better raw material varieties such as Hansen sweet potatoes, developed to produce more units of color per kilo.
Ready for change
The need to change artificial colors to natural colors feels like an unnecessary annoyance to many food and beverage manufacturers. However, natural pigments have been with us as an industry for a long time. Oterra first sold its products in the United States in 1876. There are many experienced suppliers who can help, source, reformulate and innovate to meet the public’s needs and the federal government’s desires for a world without artificial colors.R.S.
