WATCH: GNT Group eyeing Middle East beverage boom in wake of sugar taxes

At Gulfood Manufacturing, Maartje Hendrickx, market development manager at GNT Group told FoodNavigator-Asia​: “In the Middle East, we see a huge focus on beverages, especially soft drinks, with the sugar tax going on and people are looking for healthier beverages with clean and clear labels​.”

According to the firm, research showed that over 50% of consumers demonstrated a reluctance to purchase food and beverages containing artificial colours.

In recent years, Saudi Arabai, UAE, Qatar and Oman are among those to introduce some form of sugar tax.

It is set against this context that GNT is optimistic that its EXBERRY Coloring Foods will appeal to customers in the Gulf markets.

Hendrickx said the EXBERRY range were 100% natural, vegan, kosher, halal, and made only from fruits, vegetables and edible plants.

The raw materials used in these colours such as pumpkin, radish, red beet, and sunflower are grown by GNT Group’s in-house farmers.

Every year, the firm announces the key colour trend for the year ahead, which it recently announced ‘Shades of Aqua’ will be the trend for 2020.

Hendrickx said: “Shades of Aqua evoke marine environments and mountain landscapes, conveying a sense of health and wholesomeness and strong links with the outdoors. Green is rooted in nature. It is a positive identifier for nutrition and signifies freshness and organic goodness. Blue evokes the ocean garden. It conveys a sense of relaxation and calm and is impactful on social media​.”

To tap onto this trend, GNT has developed a range of green and blue EXBERRY​Coloring Foods made from spirulina, an algae that contains phycocyanin, a naturally occurring coloring component.

Watch the video for more.

This video was made using Lumen5.