Food Colors Market

The food colors market is projected to reach USD 6.0 billion by 2028 growing at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2023 to 2028. The most popular food colors include natural and synthetic food colors. With the advent of food technology, a wide range of synthetic food colors as available for use in processed food & beverage products. Synthetic food colors impart vibrant hues to processed food & beverage products and make them look more appetizing. Some of the common synthetic food colors are blue, red, green, yellow, amaranth, and carmoisine among others.

Synthetic colors are usually preferred by food & beverage manufacturers as they are less expensive and are also effective in giving an intense and uniform color to the final processed product. They can also be blended easily to give a variety of hues to manufacture a wide range of bakery, confectionery, and beverage products. However, due to increasing consumer concerns around synthetic dyes, there is a shift toward the promotion of natural colors. As consumer shift from synthetic to plant-based colors, the demand for natural food colors is growing. The technological enhancement to process natural colors is also evolving rapidly to improve the performance of natural colors. The increasing popularity of plant-based products also serves as a great opportunity for natural food colors.

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Food Colors Market Dynamics

Need to enhance product appeal among manufacturers

The major purpose of adding colorants to food products is to develop the finished products in a way that is appealing to consumers and creates a perception of colors that matches the flavor during consumption. The purpose of food coloring is to replace the color lost during food processing, as well as to enhance the inherent color, minimize variations, and color uncolored food. Most companies follow the principle of linking colors with taste as a strategy to market their food products. For instance, the color of the orange fades away after subsequent processing of orange fruit juice. The orange coloring is added to this juice to provide it with inherent color and make it more relatable to buyers. WILD Flavors and Specialty Ingredients of ADM (US) introduced red radish and purple carrot colors to make its beverage products more appealing to consumers.

Low stability and high cost of natural colors drive the demand for synthetic food colors

Conventionally, natural food colors are unstable when processing, handling, and storage compared to synthetic colors. The stability of colors changes with changes in atmospheric or processing conditions, such as pH, temperature, and light. Some natural colors start decolorizing after some time, whereas some natural colors can impart off-tones to the final product during processing. Due to this reason, synthetic colors are preferred by manufacturers of food & beverage products as they impart vibrant hues to the final food & beverage products at an affordable cost. Natural colors are often derived from expensive and, at times, scarcely available raw materials, and the raw material may require complicated processing. Natural food colors are very expensive and are as high as six times the cost of synthetic food colors. Moreover, the easy availability of synthetic colors supports their high-volume usage by the manufacturers of processed food & beverage products.

Launching of advanced products by manufacturers

Launching advanced food colors, such as innovative and vibrant color shades, inducing fortification in food colors, colors for sensory impact, and floral colors offer significant growth opportunities for the market growth. The consumption of purple foods, i.e., anthocyanin-based food products, is observed as an industry trend due to the antioxidant benefits. Hence, launching anthocyanin-based food colors market offers significant market opportunities. Additionally, due to the growing demand for protein intake, consumers prefer products with added pulses & grains. Hence, there is a scope to launch food colors to render an authentic appearance to products that contain grains & pulses.

Increasing awareness of health hazards of synthetic colorants

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that synthetic colors (Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6) show signs of causing cancer in lab animals. Artificial colors, such as yellow 5, yellow 6, and red 40, have been founded to contain carcinogens. Caffeine is widely used as a colorant in soft drinks that may cause heart palpitations and heart defects. These adverse effects caused by synthetic food colors on the health of consumers are threatening the growth of the synthetic food colors market in the coming years.

Europe: food colors Market Snapshot

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Europe dominated the food colors market in 2023, and the market is projected to grow with a CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period (2023-2028)

The European region accounted for the largest share of the market and is estimated to be valued at USD 1,559.1 million in 2023. Development in the food processing market, significant investment in research & development, and increased demand for attractive and vibrant processed food & beverage items are the key factors projected to drive the growth of the food colors market. The UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain have the largest processed food & beverage market in Europe and are estimated to be the leading markets for food colors in Europe. On the other hand, Denmark and the Netherlands are significant markets for raw materials of food colors.

Key Market Players

The key players in the food colors market include Key players in this market include ADM (US), Sensient Technologies Corporation (US), DDW (US), DSM (Netherlands), and International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. (US).

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Scope of the Report

Report Scope:

Food Colors Market:

This research report categorizes the food colors market, based on type, source, application, form, solubility, and region.

By Type

• Natural Colors
• Carmine
• Anthocyanins
• Caramel
• Annatto
• Carotenoids
• Chlorophyll
• Spirulina
• Other Natural Colors
• Synthetic Colors
• Blue
• Red
• Yellow
• Green
• Amaranth
• Carmoisine
• Other Synthetic Colors
• Nature-Identical

By Source

• Plants & Animals
• Minerals & Chemicals
• Microorganisms

By Form

• Liquid
• Powder
• Gel

By Solubility

• Dyes
• Lakes

By Application

• Food Products
• Processed Food Products
• Bakery & Confectionery Products
• Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Products
• Oils & Fats
• Dairy Products
• Other Food Products
• Beverages
• Juice & Juice Concentrates
• Functional Drinks
• Carbonated Soft Drinks
• Alcoholic Beverages

By Region

• North America
• Europe
• Asia Pacific
• South America
• Row (Africa and Middle East)

Target Audience

• Food color producers, suppliers, distributors, importers, and exporters
• Large-scale food and beverage ingredient manufacturers, processed food manufacturers, and research organizations
• Related government authorities, commercial research & development (R&D) institutions, FDA, EFSA, USDA, FSANZ, EUFIC government agencies & NGOs, and other regulatory bodies
• Food product consumers
• Regulatory bodies, including government agencies and NGOs
• Commercial research & development (R&D) institutions and financial institutions
• Government and research organizations

Recent Developments

• In October 2022, IFF opened a new innovation center in Singapore with an investment of USD 30 million to integrate the technologies, capabilities, and expertise of all four business divisions, such as nourish, health & biosciences, scent, and pharma solutions. This investment aimed to strengthen its business and enhance accessibility to customers in greater Asia.
• In June 2022, Sensient Technologies Corp. acquired Endemix Doal Maddeler AS, an Istanbul-based vertically integrated color and extracts firm that serves the food and beverage industry, in 2021. Endemix collaborates with international corporations in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe and employs extraction technology to get colors from agricultural sources in the form of natural pigments. Sensient could thus extend its reach to important botanical growth regions owing to the acquisition. Sensient's position as a top provider of natural color solutions was further strengthened by the acquisition of Endemix, which allowed the company to further develop its vertical integration for key natural colors and increase extraction and refining capacity.
• In December 2021, Givaudan strategically completed the acquisition of DDW, a US-based natural color company, to expand its taste & well-being business portfolio. The acquisition enabled Givaudan to become a leading supplier of natural colors globally.
• In July 2021, Lycored had more than doubled its production tfulfillil an unprecedented demand for lycopene. Following a multi-million dollar investment in new machinery and supply optimization techniques, the company anticipated harvesting record amounts of tomatoes. The firm’s new facility in Branchburg, New Jersey, US, would likewise expand capacity.
• In April 2019, Archer Daniels Midland Company launched micronized color powders made from coloring foodstuffs to its existing product line. The new, clean-labeled micronized color powders had smaller particle sizes than traditional color pigments, giving the powders a more expansive surface and greater opacity. They consequently provided food with intense and distinctive coloration. All typical colors would be available in the micronized color powders. Safflower, curcumin, red radish, and spirulina were among the ingredients used to create the new line of color solutions. The products could be used in confectionery, chewing gum, powder mixtures, instant beverages, and concentrates.
• In April 2019, ADM launched the new, clean-label, heat-stable paprika extract created for all pH levels. When heated, the paprika extract did not lose its original orange hue and instead turned more yellow, in contrast to the orange hue of the carrot. Paprika could provide a vibrant orange hue to various foods, including confectionery, snacks, ice cream, baked goods, breakfast cereals, and chewing gum. It may be described as an original color rather than a combination of two different hues (red and yellow).
• In April 2019, San-Ei Gen F.F.I., Inc. launched a new ingredient named “Red radish food coloring” to remove the off flavor with its special purification method. This new coloring would be available in both liquid and powder forms and could produce a yellowish-red color at low pH.
• In March 2019, Naturex introduced its new extraction line for spirulina production. The newly introduced line triples spirulina production capacity. This expansion of Naturex’s manufacturing capacity was designed to meet the growing global demand for clean-label blues and greens.

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