Could you provide an overview of Sensient and its history?
Kenneth Manning: The company dates back to 1882 when it was primarily a manufacturer of gin. This was when gin was a ‘working man’s drink’. This taught the company fermentation techniques so it entered the yeast business when prohibition was enacted.
When I became CEO in 1996, we sold the commodities businesses of bulk cheese, frozen potatoes and yeast and moved into fragrance, flavour and colour.
Today, Sensient is a completely new company. Almost all that’s left of the old company is the original capital that we used to buy new businesses. We now emphasise high-growth, technology oriented businesses with an international flavour.
Expansion is our byword and I’m proud to say that in the past 10 years, we haven’t had to lay off any members of our workforce. Our business is a solutions business. We tell people how to accomplish what they need. As they say, you need to ‘build a better mousetrap’ otherwise you become a commodity. We’re a global solutions house in both flavour and colour, and every product we work on is a customised product.
What is the company’s market position in colours, flavours and fragrances?
Manning: Overall, looking at both natural and synthetic areas, we’re the largest manufacturer worldwide of colour for food and beverages and the largest in cosmetic colours. We rank second in colour for pharmaceuticals and natural colours, and in flavours we’re in the top five or six players on a global basis. The company prides itself in having the broadest product portfolio – or range of natural colours – to offer our customers.
Which colour and flavour companies has Sensient acquired over the past few years?
Manning: Since 1997, I’ve made over 20 acquisitions all over the world. Most recently we bought out our partners in cosmetic colour and the ingredient businesses in Brazil and Poland. The cosmetic market in Brazil is huge – bigger even than France.
In Poland, as in Eastern Europe, we’re seeing surprising demand for natural colour and flavour. Natural colours and flavours are also gathering momentum in Eastern China and South Africa.
China is really three countries in one, with the emerging middle class in Eastern China, the Central section still in the process of industrialisation and the Western agrarian area. We’re predicting significant growth for the first two sectors.
Europe is now the largest in terms of demand for natural colour, and in the US we expect to see greater gains. We supply European companies that are working to convert their US products to natural colours.
Sensient Colors provides dyes, pigments and natural colours for the beverage industry. What are the latest developments here?
Manning: In terms of technology, the latest development is that of microfine powders, since natural colours are increasingly in high demand. Retailers and manufacturers want product without preservatives, and that’s clean label and wholesome.
Microfine powders are the results of a new natural colour technology that allows Sensient to deliver dry colour development, commonly found in synthetic pigments, in a natural colour powder. Our customers are buying shades, not colours, when they buy our natural colours.
Our preservative-free natural colours align with consumer demand for wholesome, clean label declarations for food and beverage products. However, the elimination of preservatives from natural colour systems significantly reduces shelf life. With our new aseptic packaging system, we’re able to offer customers preservative-free natural colours that have a shelf life comparable to a preserved colour.
We’re just completing the largest natural colour plant in North America. We made a $16m investment in the plant in St Louis, Missouri.
In addition to food colours, we also have a major business in inkjet. We also have a large plant and laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland, where we have digital textile printing that’s proving so popular that we’re running out of capacity. This digital printing is used for short runs of fabric, branded skateboards and snowboards.
Our natural colours for the beverage industry are based on natural food products – for instance, natural reds can be obtained from black carrots (typically from Turkey), sweet potato or grape skin extract.
We’re working on achieving a truly natural blue colour that meets the requirements of our customers for a natural product.
Sensient launched a new line of natural flavours in October that optimises the sweetness profile of calorie-reduced products. Why did you decide to launch these new flavours?
Manning: Consumers are demanding ‘good for you’ low-calorie beverages and we could see the industry moving strongly towards natural. Particularly in Europe, the trend is towards clean label and preservative-free beverages.
What are the new flavours based on and how do they work?
Manning: Most traditional methods of flavour extraction involve hot or cold water steeping. However, we also use subcritical and supercritical CO2 extraction.
How are the new natural flavours designed to work with natural high intensity sweeteners such as stevia?
Manning: The natural plant sweetener stevia is a wonderful product but varies in taste profile and can be challenging in formulation and mouthfeel due to its liquorice aftertaste. However, we have expertise in sugar and fat substitutes. Sensient’s flavour range of All Purpose Sweet Solutions (APSS) offers improved taste profiles with high intensity sweeteners such as stevia.
This liquid flavour is completely soluble and stable in a wide range of food and beverage applications and can be labelled as natural flavouring. Due to its masking effect, this new line makes undesirable off-tastes from high intensity sweeteners a thing of the past. It can be used for every type of drink, from CSDs and still drinks to energy and nutraceutical drinks. It can retain the characteristics of an energy drink while retaining an accurate taste profile, yet with a low or zero calorie count.
How can Sensient help in the formulation of nutraceutical products?
Manning: Many nutraceutical products use the botanical extracts in which we specialise. These are frequently rich in anthocyanins. Our green tea extracts contain naturally occurring polyphenols. We’re able to add some natural beta-carotenes now (though most are synthetic) without compromising taste or colour. Our expertise and experience in this sector puts us in a strong position when it comes to nutraceutical solutions.
What has been the most exciting development in your view in the food and beverage sector over the past few years?
Manning: Today’s consumers are demanding much more from their beverages. They want products that promote health and wellness. We know that consumers demand cleaner, more wholesome ingredients in their products, and we also know that natural colours possess compounds that promote health and wellness. Customers are willing to pay for these benefits. Sensient is in the forefront of the market with a wide array of natural colours and natural botanical extracts.
Our new aseptic packaging for colours is, I believe, a first for the colour industry. We can offer customers natural colours as well as natural flavours in aseptic packaging that has a significantly longer shelf life.
Where do you foresee the biggest changes occurring in the beverage sector over the next few years?
Manning: I see more vitamin-enriched beverages and more nutraceutical drinks in general. In particular, I see growth in those targeting older consumers, plus beauty and health drinks targeting all ages. I believe we will see an increase in the range of still drinks more than carbonated soft drinks.
The market has already seen many products that incorporate energy inducing characteristics as well as vitamin enrichment and other additives to promote various enhancements. Sensient sees this trend continuing and developing further into an array of ‘lifestyle’ beverages, attracting the consumer with additional functional characteristics that promote health or cosmetic benefits.
What investments is Sensient making to compete in the marketplace?
Manning: We have just invested a further $20m in our UK plants. We have invested in state-of-the-art equipment, as we want our products to be very safe and very clean. Hygiene is of the utmost importance. This is vital to product safety. By keeping our facilities up to date, we can ensure happy employees and satisfied customers.
We have also invested $16m in our new colour plant in St Louis and $22m in digital inks manufacture in Switzerland. A year and a half ago, we opened a modern plant in Guangzhou, China.
What are your objectives for Sensient in the coming years?
Manning: In geographic terms, we are now in 75 locations in 35 countries and are aiming to increase this coverage. When I joined the company, our employees were 95% American. Today, we have one third US employees, 40% in Europe and the rest in other parts of the world, including South Africa, Brazil and China.
I see real opportunities in Asia, particularly in Thailand and Indonesia. We’re also planning for more investment in Brazil and the rest of South America, where countries such as Argentina beckon.
Eastern Europe, including Poland and the Ukraine, will no doubt see expansion, as will the Balkan States. And I still see progress in Europe as we sell the products that appeal to the sophisticated tastes of this population.
Based in Wisconsin, US, Sensient Technologies Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of colours, flavours and fragrances. The company uses advanced technologies at facilities around the world to develop food and beverage systems, cosmetic and pharmaceutical systems, inkjet and speciality inks and colours, and other speciality and fine chemicals.
Claire Phoenix is managing editor of Beverage Innovation magazine.
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