What happens when colors from natural sources are not enough to satisfy discerning consumers? You develop a new source.

Chr. Hansen has commercialized a new vegetable variety—the Hansen sweet potato™ Ipomoea batatas—using traditional breeding methods to create the long-sought after vibrant, natural red alternative to carmine. 

“For the first time, we’ve created a whole new variety of vegetable to create the natural color our customers are asking for,” says Jakob Dalmose Rasmussen, vice president, Commercial Development at Chr. Hansen Natural Colors. 

“We call it the Hansen sweet potato™. Over 10 years ago, we discovered a promising pigment in a root vegetable’s tuber, but the plant’s pigment content was on the low side. We took this plant and embarked on a process of selective breeding using traditional, non-GMO methods. The result is a plant-based, brilliant red that gives our customers a natural alternative to carmine and synthetic colors,” adds Dalmose Rasmussen.

Raw Material Sourcing

Chr. Hansen has a team of experienced experts to develop new and refined raw materials using selective breeding. To do it they collaborate with colleagues, growers and scientists around the world.

“It all starts with the right raw material. Our plant scientists spent years cultivating and selecting generation after generation of seedlings,” explains Luc Ganivet, vice president, Innovation and Application at Chr. Hansen Natural Colors. “We partnered with growers to learn the best ways to plant, nurture and harvest the Hansen sweet potato™. And we perfected methods of handling, transportation and extraction. The result is the Hansen sweet potato™ with its unique combination of high yield, brilliant color and high per-plant pigment load.” 

Bright Red Carmine Alternative

The Hansen sweet potato™ is the basis for Chr. Hansen’s recently launched FruitMax® line of bright-red solutions that solve some of the biggest challenges of previously available natural red colors.

“Strawberry red is a popular shade for food products—from cakes to confectionary to milkshakes. But until now it has been nearly impossible to make a fire-engine red color with no risk of off-taste without using carmine,” notes Dalmose Rasmussen. “And as consumers move towards vegetarian and vegan food choices, the need for a carmine alternative has become more pressing. Our new FruitMax® red juice concentrates are 100% plant based and provide a new solution to our customers looking to respond to this consumer trend.” 

Chr. Hansen’s new FruitMax™ Orange and recently launched FruitMax® reds are based on Hansen sweet potato™ blends, are minimally processed and meet the EU requirements for Coloring Foodstuffs.

About Chr. Hansen

Chr. Hansen is a leading, global bioscience company that develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. We develop and produce cultures, enzymes, probiotics and natural colors for a rich variety of foods, confectionery, beverages, dietary supplements and even animal feed and plant protection. Our product innovation is based on more than 30,000 microbial strains – we like to refer to them as ‘good bacteria’. 

Our solutions enable food manufacturers to produce more with less – while also reducing the use of chemicals and other synthetic additives – which make our products highly relevant in today’s world. We have been delivering value to our partners – and, ultimately, end consumers worldwide – for over 140 years. We are proud that more than one billion people consume products containing our natural ingredients every day. Revenue in the 2017/18 financial year was EUR 1,097 million. Chr. Hansen was founded in 1874 and is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen.