Chr. Hansen will double the size of its main food colouring research and development facility, located in Montpellier, France.
The expansion and upgrade of the facilities will start as soon as September 2018, with the full new building and site upgrade finalised by November 2019.
The Danish company purchased the site 18 years ago and it has since grown to become the its main research and development centre for natural colours and colouring foodstuffs.
This latest expansion follows a recent announcement of a major investment in Milwaukee to create a new natural colours site in the US, including expanded laboratory and production capabilities.
Chr. Hansen vice president of innovation Luc Ganivet said: “The Global Expertise Center in Montpellier welcomes customers from around the world on a constant basis. At our facilities we work in partnership with our customers as we share our pigment and application expertise to find the solutions that meet the unique needs of their brands.
“Our team in Montpellier has grown significantly over the years. Today we have 40 employees and we will continue to grow in number as we accelerate our innovation strategy to respond to the increasing market demand.
“Now we will develop a more modern facility that will further improve our ability to work closely with customers and advance our R&D efforts, and create space for our growing team.”
Jacob Vishof Paulsen, Chr. Hansen interim executive vice president for natural colours, said: “Innovation has always been the backbone to our business. This investment is fully aligned with our ambitions to continue to deliver unique products to the market.
“We are constantly evaluating new sources of raw materials and innovative formulation technology to address an evolving market.”
He added: “In line with our nature’s no. 1 strategy, our continued investments into our innovation capabilities show our dedication to scientific excellence. We want to stay the undisputed leader in pioneering solutions within natural colours and colouring foods.”
Earlier this year Chr. Hansen named Mauricio Graber as its new CEO, taking over from Cees de Jong.
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