GNT Group recently provided a comprehensive insight into their highly integrated supply chain, revealing how the colouring foods of their Exberry product brand make their journey from field to finished product. The purely natural concentrates of vegetables and fruits can be used in almost all foods and drinks.

By Dr. Bernhard Reichenbach

A group of international business journalists were invited to the Netherlands and Germany to experience the full story behind how colouring foods of GNT’s Exberry product brand are made, and to learn why they are an optimized clean label solution for food and beverage manufacturers. “In fact, these products are foods in their own right – to the extent that they can be consumed safely at any point during the production process,” emphasized Frederik Hoeck, Managing Director of GNT Group.

Exberry is the world’s leading brand of colouring foods. It is synonymous with high performance colour solutions based on the most natural concept of colouring food by means of food. Exberry concentrates are manufactured from fruit, vegetables and edible plants using only gentle physical methods such as chopping, boiling and filtering. Comprising more than 400 shades, the brand provides the widest range on the international market and is sold all over the world through GNT’s sales network.

“The concentrates can be used for practically all foods and drinks, including confectionery and bakery products as well as savoury snacks”, explained Frederik Hoeck. “They are also suitable for vegetarian and vegan foods, and a certified organic range is also available.”

The concentrates are valued worldwide for their ease of use, brilliance, performance and the complete vertical integration of the supply chain, which ensures full traceability, price and stock stability. In applying the products, manufacturers are assured to receive highly professional support ranging from strategic product development to production integration and regulatory advice. “Exberry is the favoured colour solution used by more than 1,500 food and beverage companies, including the leading food and beverage producers in the world,” noted the head of company.

As many as 80 % of the vegetables, fruits and edible plants used to make the colouring foods are cultivated by selected farmers in an area close to the company’s production plants. Crops grown include orange and black carrots, pumpkins and radishes. However, berries and algae are also processed, such as the spirulina “microalgae” – actually a bacterium that helps to produce the difficult-to-create colour blue.

GNT’s approach is to establish long-term relationships with farmers they know they can trust to reliably deliver the raw materials needed to make Exberry concentrates. These growers produce crop varieties from seeds developed by GNT’s own agronomists, using non-GMO methods, in order to deliver the exact colour shade required. The agronomists also manage relationships with GNT’s growers, maintaining a constant dialogue. “It is a vertical approach that gives us full control over our supply chain, so it can always deliver colour consistency and security of supply,” clarified Frederik Hoeck.

Journalists attending the media visit traced the path taken by the crops after harvesting as they travel the short distance to GNT’s facility in Heinsberg/Germany, where around 50 employees work. Here, vegetables, fruits and plants – together around 22 t per day – are processed into semi-finished ingredients using physical methods that include pressing, chopping, filtering and concentrating. “We never use chemical solvents,” assured Frederik Hoeck.

The proximity of the fields to the Heinsberg plant ensures raw materials arrive when they are still fresh. At this point, they are processed immediately, or put into frozen storage for later use, guaranteeing they will deliver optimized colour quality.

From Heinsberg, the semi-finished concentrates are transported to GNT’s factory in Mierlo/The Netherlands, where they are blended and further processed into finished ingredients ready for use in food and beverage products. Mierlo is also home to GNT’s extensive quality control laboratory. Every year, GNT’s two factories produce about 8,500 t of concentrates – enough to colour 35 billion portions of food.

The final stop on the tour was GNT’s facility in Aachen/Germany. Here, food and beverage companies can perfect their formulations in GNT’s state-of-the-art pilot plant, which is equipped with trial-sized versions of widely used manufacturing and storage equipment. To showcase the functionality and performance of the colouring foods, the journalists were given a hands-on opportunity to formulate their own products using a range of colours.