Future-proofing colours to meet consumer needs [Interview]

Dr Raja Chouket is the category technical leader for Givaudan Sense Colour, where she leads innovation projects designed to fill market gaps and future proof natural colours. At Fi Europe, Dr Chouket will be exploring some of the key concerns related to natural colours and explaining how traditional manufacturing technologies such as fermentation are being adapted to clean label and sustainability needs.

Above all, she will be there to explain how Givaudan is working with manufacturers to ensure that consumer demands are being met.

“Right now, consumers are really concerned with rising grocery costs and rising inflation,” she says. “They are being more selective on what they buy or splurge on because they have tighter budgets to work with. But they are also concerned with the ingredients that go into their products – consumers want natural, recognisable ingredients and sustainably or responsibly sourced ingredients in the face of climate change and concern for their wellbeing.”

Chouket notes that consumers, especially Millennials and Gen Z, also want exciting, memorable, surprising, and visually captivating food experiences that they can share on Instagram and TikTok. This, she says, is a great opportunity for manufacturers to use natural colours in different or creative ways.

A challenge for manufacturers, however, is that there are not natural colours on the market that can meet every consumer demand. Similarly, some colours might be sustainably made and label friendly but are not stable enough.

Targeting cost, stability, and sustainability

“This is the space that Givaudan is actively innovating in,” explains Chouket. “Our goal is to help manufacturers meet consumer demands as well as their own stability goals. This includes things like acid stable blue, or more sustainably made browns. And we’re always looking for process and manufacturing improvements that can help contain costs.”

One of the main things that Chouket will be talking about at Fi Europe is how traditional technologies – like cooking and fermentation – can be adapted to create solutions that meet some of these needs.

“I mentioned previously about more sustainably made browns,” Chouket continues. “The cooking process for things like caramel colours and burnt sugars might take a lot of energy, water consumption, etc. We are finding ways to adapt how we cook these products to reduce our carbon footprint, improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions. Optimising the stability of caramel also means extending shelf life, thus helping to reduce waste.”

Chouket will also touch on how fermentation can be used to develop stable colours in a sustainable way. The method gives manufacturers more control over production, enabling them to reduce water and energy use and to better manage waste. “Beyond this, we can benefit as well from the metabolic capabilities of some species to produce colours from renewable carbon sources,” she adds.

Innovative food experiences at FI Europe

Givaudan Sense Colour will also showcase how it is working with manufacturers to create food experiences. “For example, if a formulator is hoping to give their customers a feeling of excitement or surprise, we can develop mismatched flavour and colour pairings or create a colour changing effect,” explains Chouket. “Or for a more nostalgic experience, we can give applications an unconventional pink shade, to tie into the ‘90s trend.”

Givaudan Sense Colour will also be featuring its recently launched Endure Red Beet in FI Europe’s new product zone. “This is a red beet that we’ve stabilised so that it performs well in bakery applications like red velvet cakes,” says Dr Chouket. “It’s suitable for kosher and vegan applications and provides a rich red shade after baking. We have an entire portfolio of natural colours and colouring foods that we are currently innovating as well.”

Moving forward, Givaudan Sense Colour is eagerly awaiting approval of its Everzure Galdieria product by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). “This is an acid stable blue we are working on with our partner Fermentalg, which will provide a vibrant blue option in low pH applications where spirulina isn’t stable,” says Chouket. “We will continue our exploration journey to deliver highly performing colours, which take into account environmental footprint and provide consumers with share-worthy food experiences.”