Natural colouring foods hit consumer ‘sweet spot’: GNT boss

In this exclusive interview with Food Manufacture​, GNT managing director Frederik Hoeck suggested that his company’s story was “a natural story, a plant-based story”​, and a story that consumers would “love”​.

“In a nutshell, it’s about consumers wanting to know increasingly what they eat, where it comes from, and whether it is good for them, personally, and also, it is good for others,”​ he said. “And I would say GNT is in the sweet spot of these trends.”​

Headquartered in the Dutch town of Meirlo, family-owned GNT was founded in 1978 and has customers in 75 countries.

Vertically-integrated company​

Its vertically-integrated approach means around four-fifths of the vegetables, fruits and edible plants used to make the Exberry range are cultivated in an area close to the company’s production plants. Crops grown include orange and black carrots, pumpkins and radishes.

After harvesting, crops travel to GNT’s facility in Heinsberg, Germany, where they are processed into semi-finished ingredients using physical methods that include pressing, chopping, filtering and concentrating. Chemical solvents are never used.

“We have the widest portfolio of colouring foods in the market, with the deepest vertical integration,” ​Hoeck said. “And we always say, the more you know, the more you see, the better for us it is to really understand our products.”​

Victim of its success ​

Hoeck conceded, however, that GNT’s success at having created so many vivid colours from natural shades meant it sometimes had to tone down the colours. In June, it unveiled a range of blue powders, derived from the algae spirulina, that offered a “significantly higher”​ colour intensity.

“We have such vibrant colours that our customers and consumers would think they are artificial,”​ Hoeck explained. “We sometimes have to tone them down a little bit. But seeing is believing – it’s important for us that our customers visit us and see our operations, and we would even invite consumers to see our operations.”​

Hoeck also used the video interview to announce that GNT would reveal its leading colour trends for 2020 at next month’s Food Ingredients Europe show, which takes place in Paris (2–4 December).

To read an in-depth profile of how GNT converts crops into colouring foods, pick up a copy of the December issue​ ​of Food Manufacture​.