Chr. Hansen is the world leader in natural colors. We apply our deep knowledge and insights about pigments, applications, and regulatory requirements around the globe to help our customers – and consumers – bring safe and appetizing food to the table. Sourced from nature, our color portfolio is the largest and most vibrant in the food industry, and our active role in the industry spans 140 years. We are part of Chr. Hansen Holding, who develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Chr. Hansen employs over 3,000 people in 30 countries and is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen.

For inquiries, contact:
Jane Olsen Ballester
Business Development Manager
Phone: +33 499616101
Fax: +33 467594853
Email: [email protected]

Clean, simple and naturally sourced - A red color like no other

Chr. Hansen launches a vibrant, minimally processed red vegetable juice concentrate, with unique coloring properties based on the HANSEN SWEET POTATO. (Ipomea batatas)

Red is a key shade in many food products, but naturally-sourced red color solutions come with technical constraints for food and beverage manufacturers, being challenging to create a stable and vibrant color.

The new FruitMax Red are based on a blend of red vegetables, are minimally processed and meet the EU requirements for Coloring Foodstuffs. The unique properties of these vegetable juice concentrates based on the HANSEN SWEET POTATO (Ipomea batatas) solve some of the well-known challenges with Red Coloring Foods:

  1. Difficult to achieve, vibrant red or orange shades based on fruit and vegetable juice concentrates
  2. Available reds are not very stable and can deliver an off-flavor, like red radish concentrates, for example

The benefits of the FruitMax Red are:

  1. Unique shade: These blends produce unusually bright orange and red shades, popular but challenging to achieve with minimally
  2. No off-flavor: Our new colors have no off-taste and will not affect the flavor of the final product
  3. Stable: Most natural red color solutions have issues with stability or shade for ex. Heat stability of betanins and pH stability of anthocyanins. Paprika and some beta-carotenes are not available as Coloring Foods. Our new colors have the best combination of Heat stability, Light stability, Oxidation stability, and pH robustness
  4. Minimally processed: These juice blends are produced with gentle, traditional production methods, and are not considered an additive
  5. Plant-based: These orange and red coloring foods are excellent plant-based alternatives to Sunset yellow, Allura red and carmine
  6. Meet consumer demands for natural ingredients and clean labels, while also enabling food and beverage manufacturers to create exactly the shade of red that suits their brand – every time.

Applications:
The FruitMax Red solutions can create a vibrant red or a soft pink. Available globally, they can be used in Emulsified meat, Seasoning, Confectionery, Water-based Ice Cream, Bakery and bakery decorations, Breakfast cereals, Fermented milk products and Fruit Preparations

Specifications:
The FruitMax Red solutions can be based in the HANSEN SWEET POTATO and blends with other red vegetables and they are non-GMO, Kosher and Halal certified, being also suitable for vegetarians.

Meet the HANSEN SWEET POTATO
Chr Hansen developed and commercialized color solutions bases in a new variety of vegetable. We call it the HANSEN SWEET POTATO Ipomoea batatas, and it offers unique coloring properties. The new development is a result of our global presence and traditional, non-GMO breeding. It gives you a brilliant red alternative to carmine and synthetic reds that’s: Vibrant and stable, plant-based and free from off-taste.

The story of an exceptional vegetable
Discovery
Our sourcing team first heard of the tuber that “became” the HANSEN SWEET POTATO in our Agronomy fields in South America. Its pigment content wasn’t impressive. But its color was promising.

Breeding
The journey from newly discovered plant to useful products would be complex. So, we took charge of the entire breeding, sourcing and production processes. It was the best way to develop and commercialize an excellent, reliable product.

Sourcing
Our plant scientists spent years growing generations of sweet potatoes. They bred multiple varieties in each generation, searching for a unique combination of hardiness, high yield, brilliant color and high per-plant pigment load. Our crop scientists were out in the fields every day learning and sharing knowledge with our growers as they planted, grew, harvested and planted again. They learned the best ways to get the best pigment yield and quality. And they fed data back to the breeding team.

Application Expertise
Today, we have our own purpose-built factory with plenty of capacity. And our customers have access to a line of excellent, reliable, natural colors, concentrates, and juices. That just so happen to be the best plant-based alternatives to carmine on the market.

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