Oterra launches liquid natural blue colors for food and beverage industry
The new range is derived from natural sources and is intended for use across categories such as beverages, confectionery, dairy products, desserts, bakery items, and plant-based foods.
DENMARK – Oterra, a leading global supplier of natural colors to the food and beverage industry, has announced the launch of naturally sourced liquid versions of its popular Jungle Blue and Arctic Blue colorants.
Previously accessible only in powder form, these new liquid iterations provide food and beverage manufacturers with an easier-to-handle format for achieving vibrant blue hues, alongside an expanded palette for blending rich purples and deep greens.
The strategic rollout responds directly to surging market demand for clean-label, plant-based alternatives to synthetic dyes in industrial manufacturing.
The development of these liquid formats is designed to streamline automated production and simplify factory handling.
According to Oterra, the liquid colorants disperse immediately into batches without requiring a time-consuming pre-mixing phase, ensuring a highly uniform and consistent application across large-scale processing lines.
Furthermore, the pumpable liquid formulation eliminates airborne particulate hazards in manufacturing facilities, significantly reducing dust levels and enabling seamless integration into enclosed industrial dosing systems.
The liquid rollout expands upon two of Oterra’s flagship raw material breakthroughs. The first, ColorFruit Blue 901 WS (Jungle Blue), is sustainably extracted from the Colombian Jagua fruit and engineered to overcome traditional performance limitations by remaining highly stable during high-temperature processing and in low-pH environments.
The second, FruitMax Blue 1512 WS (Arctic Blue), is a vivid spirulina extract cultivated in a high-tech, carbon-neutral indoor bioreactor facility in Iceland. This advanced cultivation site operates adjacent to a geothermal power plant, utilizing 100% clean energy, captured carbon dioxide, and waste heat to produce algae around the clock with an impressively low environmental footprint.
This portfolio expansion aligns with a major statistical surge in the usage of blue shades across global consumer product launches.
Market data indicates that blue has become one of the fastest-growing colour segments in the food and beverage industry, with more than 10,000 blue-containing products launched globally in 2025, a drastic climb from approximately 6,000 product launches tracked in 2021.
Phil Cook, Oterra’s Head of Strategic Marketing, emphasized that the regulatory and consumer landscapes are shifting rapidly away from artificial options.
Cook noted that while much of the commercial blue seen in foods historically relied on synthetic chemicals, tightening international compliance standards and heightened consumer preference for short ingredient statements mean that providing versatile, high-performance natural alternatives is critical for modern food scientists.
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