“This acquisition, as part of our ‘seed to shelf’ initiative, will enable us to provide leading food and beverage manufacturers with greater supply and cost stability while also enabling us to reach our goals for sustainable and socially responsible sourcing,” said Paul Manning, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sensient Technologies.
“Combined with our industry leading agronomy and natural color technologies, Sensient’s vertical integration puts us in an excellent position to meet the growing global demand for colors from natural sources.”
According to the company, the acquisition will significant expand Sensient’s carmine and annatto production capacity. It will also expand the range of anthocyanin color sources in the Sensient's product portfolio.
Growth segment
The global natural food colors market is growing with a compound annual growth rate of 6.2% by revenue, according to Technavio.
Similar growth numbers were quoted by Grand View Research, Inc., which valued the global food colors (natural and synthetic) market size at US$ 1.79 billion in 2016. Natural colors were expected to hit US$ 2.50 billion by 2025.
“Natural food color is estimated to be the largest product segment accounting for over 80% of the total market revenue,” stated Grand View Research’s recent report. “The demand for this product is increasing substantially worldwide owing to the growing awareness among consumers regarding the health benefits associated with natural food colors.
“CSDs and non-alcoholic beverages is estimated to be the fastest growing application [for all food colorings – natural and synthetic] with a growth rate of 6.4% over the forecast period, on the account of rising demand for juices, soft drinks, and carbonated soft drinks in emerging economies.”