About

Company description

Oterra is a global provider of naturally sourced colors for the food and beverage industry, dedicated to helping manufacturers create visually appealing products.

With roots dating back to 1876, the company combines 150 years of color expertise with advanced scientific knowledge, deep application expertise, and global supply chain capabilities to deliver innovative natural color solutions to customers around the world.

Oterra's mission is to make natural colors accessible and easy to use for food and beverage manufacturers, so they can meet growing consumer demand for clean-label products while maintaining outstanding performance, consistency, and visual appeal.

Headquartered in Denmark, Oterra serves customers across more than 110 markets through a global network of production facilities, laboratories, innovation centers, and commercial offices. The company supports more than 2,200 customers worldwide and has around1,240 people from more than 40 nationalities. With approximately 40 locations globally and a strong regional presence across all continents, Oterra combines global reach with local expertise to provide tailored solutions that address the unique regulatory, cultural, and consumer requirements of different markets.

Oterra develops colors from fruits, vegetables, plants, algae and other naturally occurring raw materials to create vibrant color solutions that help brands reduce or eliminate artificial colors from their products. Its portfolio includes colors derived from ingredients such as black carrot, beetroot, turmeric, paprika, spirulina, grape skin, red radish, fruit concentrates, annatto, elderberry, and sweet potato. This extensive raw material expertise enables Oterra to deliver a broad palette of shades ranging from bright yellows and oranges to deep reds, purples, blues, greens, browns, black and white shades. 

The company offers one of the most extensive natural color portfolios in the industry, featuring more than 1,200 products, more than 30 natural pigments. Oterra's products are designed to perform across a wide variety of food and beverage segments, including beverages, confectionery, bakery, dairy, ice cream, snacks, prepared foods, cereals, plant-based products, dietary supplements and pet food. The company's technical teams work closely with customers to ensure that color solutions deliver the desired appearance while maintaining stability under various processing conditions, including exposure to heat, light, acidity levels and oxygen.

What sets Oterra apart is its deep application expertise. The company recognizes that successful color development requires more than access to raw materials. Food manufacturing processes, product matrices, packaging formats, and consumer expectations all influence color performance. Oterra brings together specialists in color science, food technology, regulatory affairs, sensory science, analytical chemistry, formulation  and market trends to collaborate with customers throughout the product development process. This combination of scientific excellence and commercial understanding allows Oterra to translate complex technical requirements into market-ready solutions.

Research and development play a central role in Oterra's growth strategy. The company continuously invests in developing new products, improving existing technologies, and identifying new natural color sources that can help customers respond to changing market demands. Oterra's innovation efforts focus on delivering brighter shades, greater processing stability, improved sustainability, enhanced clean-label credentials, and regulatory compliance across global markets. Through its technical centers and innovation facilities, the company partners with customers to accelerate product development and reduce the complexity of transitioning from synthetic to natural colors.

Oterra also benefits from a highly integrated supply chain model. The company manages critical aspects of the value chain from plant breeding and agricultural development through extraction, processing, manufacturing, quality assurance, and customer support. This backward-integrated approach allows greater control over quality, traceability, supply security, and sustainability. By working closely with farmers and agricultural partners worldwide, Oterra helps secure reliable access to high-quality raw materials while promoting responsible farming practices and long-term environmental stewardship. 

Sustainability is a fundamental pillar of Oterra's corporate strategy and long-term vision. Guided by its "Together towards natural" philosophy, the company has established ambitious objectives focused on nature, climate, and people. Oterra is committed to protecting biodiversity, preventing deforestation, supporting sustainable agriculture, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving water stewardship, and maintaining healthy ecosystems throughout its supply chains. The company also prioritizes ethical business practices, human rights, employee well-being, workplace safety, and inclusive growth across its global operations. 

Quick facts

Sales markets	Africa; Asia; Australia; Central/South America; Eastern Europe; Middle East; North America; Western Europe
Primary business activity	Manufacturer: Ingredients / Additives
Affiliated categories:	Ammonia caramel |Annatto, bixin |Annatto, norbixin More

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