Natural color expert

Victor Foo, general manager at GNT Singapore Pte Ltd

Demand for natural colors will prevail because consumers want healthy products. But what else do you see happening in the ASEAN market in 2017?

As the global market has not completely recovered from the slowdown of a few years back and the Chinese market is struggling to keep its pace, we might see a decrease in new product launches 2017. However, as the global trend “from clean to clear label” is actually here to stay, the NPDs will more and more contain a higher quality of and easier to understand ingredients. As GNT’s Coloring Foods are labeled as an ingredient in most ASEAN markets and not as an additive (e.g. fruit and vegetable concentrate for color (carrot, pumpkin, apple) we expect EXBERRY® Coloring Foods to be used in a continuously growing share of the NPDs. To offset slowdown in local markets, manufacturers will also increase their export activities to regional markets, hence increasing competition among manufacturers and aggravating the situation for smaller players.

GNT is also investing in R&D facilities in the Netherlands – what are the expectations when these are completed this year?

GNT is constantly looking to expand and innovate its portfolio. New techniques offer possibilities to get better and other results from our current and new raw materials. Additionally, we are investing heavily in more detailed solutions for specific applications our customers are looking for, such as the recently introduced EXBERRY® Micronized Powders. As a market leader, GNT continues to bring new innovations to the market. We are currently working on exciting new products we plan to introduce in the months to come.

EXBERRY® Micronized Powders

What has been the response particularly to the EXBERRY powders?

The recently introduced EXBERRY® Micronized Powders have a much smaller particle size of <20µm compared to our EXBERRY® standard powder line measuring 50µm. These new products are used for special applications such as instant beverages, spicy seasonings or colorful compressed tablets. The key benefits are that they have an improved mixing behavior, minimize separation and offer a maximized visually perceived color intensity. However, the most interesting quality is that all these micronized powders are coloring foods. They are the only micronized powders line in the market made exclusively from Coloring Foods, so truly natural colors made from fruit and vegetables. This gives new possibilities to manufacturers who require micronized powders and are looking for real natural solutions for their products to cater their customers’ needs. We have closed an existing market gap which is confirmed by the positive feedback of our clients.

Can you share with us what the Indonesia market has been like for your company over the years?

Indonesia has been a challenging market given its size and diversity but holds one of the biggest potentials now and for years to come, since the growing consumer skepticism towards additives is boosting the demand for natural color solutions. We have been searching for the right partner to even better support manufacturers in the region and I am pleased to say that we have recently nominated PT Wijayaputra as our exclusive distributor for Indonesia.