News

Chr. Hansen upgrades R&D facility

3 Jul 2018

Chr. Hansen Natural Colors has upgraded its main R&D facility and Global Expertise Center to stay ahead of consumers’ increasing demands for natural, yet innovative food and beverage products.

Chr. Hansen Natural Colors has upgraded its main R&D facility and Global Expertise Center. With this expansion and modernization, Chr. Hansen says it will be able to stay ahead of consumers’ increasing demands for natural, yet innovative food and beverage products.

“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. Today, we have the largest color portfolio in the industry and that stems from our innovation capabilities. We are constantly evaluating new sources of raw materials and innovative formulation technology to address an evolving market,” said Jacob Vishof Paulsen, interim executive vice president for Natural Colors.

This latest expansion follows a recent announcement of a major investment in Milwaukee to create a new Natural Colors site in the US, including expanded laboratory and production capabilities.

“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 colors and coloring foods,” said Paulsen.

“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,” said Luc Ganivet, vice president, Innovation.

“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,” explains Ganivet.

Chr. Hansen Natural Colors purchased the site in Montpellier 18 years ago. Since then, the site has grown to become its main R&D centre for natural colours and colouring foodstuffs. 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 building capacity will house additional employees on site and the laboratory space will be more than double what it is today. The new building will include a modern show room for welcoming customers – both for training or development work in the laboratories.

“The project to expand will take place in phases to ensure that our daily work is not affected. We will continue to deliver our usual pipeline of activities during the renovations from Montpellier,” said Ganivet.