Here at Oterra, we understand the importance of innovation, and that’s why we have a highly specialized team of scientists constantly working to discover new and exciting ways to bring the best of natural colors to the market.

More than a decade ago our scientists made the exciting discovery that the anthocyanin from sweet potato was outperforming those of black carrot and other sources. They spent the next 10 years working out how best to optimize this specific breed of this sweet potato by selective (non-GMO) breeding, to secure its pigment content and improve yield.

The result of this hard work came to fruition in 2019 when we launched our award-winning Hansen Sweet Potato™ to the market. A firm favorite among food and beverage manufacturers, it quickly became an industry hit, scooping up innovation prizes in three continents.

It also proved popular with our valued local farmers who experienced improved results in sustainable supply, making it easy to provide the product on a scalable level to meet increased demand.

Most importantly however it created value for our customers. The Hansen Sweet Potato™ helped customers produce products with a significant improvement in stability towards pH-fluctuations compared to other anthocyanins. Plus, its bright red shade was unmatched by other pigments, which allowed product developers to get more creative with their applications.

Used extensively throughout various industries such as bakery, dairy and pet food, we discovered that beverage manufacturers still needed a suitable product that met the needs of the complex beverage matrix. As such our scientists went back to work and the result is now ready to share with the world!

We are happy to introduce our Hansen Sweet Potato™ based formulation for the beverage industry, FruitMax® Red 116 WS.

This new product addresses the complexities of the beverage industry, including fortification, high water-activity, carbonization, and flavors, all of which often create challenges for product developers in terms of color stability when using anthocyanins. Additionally, getting the right shade of red was problematic as most manufacturers use black carrots, and the shade turns too pinkish, when used in low dosages.

FruitMax® Red 116 WS is specifically developed to overcome the hurdles beverage manufacturers face. It provides a bright fire-engine red shade, to perfectly match the most common red fruits. It can even fuel product developers' creativity as its bright red shade can be used to create and convey emotions beyond the traditional flavor profiles it supports.

Best of all it can do all this even at low dosages, and its improved stability against fortification means that the product is perfect for transparent beverages like vitamin drinks, near waters and energy drinks – all of which are traditionally known for their destabilizing properties when created using traditional sources of anthocyanins.

FruitMax® Red 116 WS is also the perfect natural alternative to RED40 or Allura-Red for those manufacturers looking to convert from artificial colors.

For more information about the endless possibilities of FruitMax® Red 116 WS get in contact with us.