2022 Christmas is a year away, but you need to get ready from now. Have you thought about the colours you will include? How about the flavours and extracts? Have you thought about how to protect those products and extends their shelf life? Don’t panic, this guide will help you get ideas and show you the best ingredients for this occasion.
Natural Colours and Colouring foodstuffs
Christmas is the best time of the year for most of us, but what makes Christmas a happy time?
You might believe it’s the family time, the memories as a kid, or the Christmas tree? Well the answer is different but not surprising, it’s the Christmas colours, The white of snow, the brown cookies, the green and red. You can include these colours in your food and beverages to give them the Christmas vibe. Here are our top picks:
Brown shades:
BURNT SUGAR
Profile: Utilising the Maillard Reaction, Burnt Sugar is used to produce brown shades.
Formats: Available as a water-soluble liquid, water-soluble powder, and oil-soluble liquid.
Stability: Burnt sugar has very good heat and light stability.
Applications: Confectionery, Beverages, Dairy, Glazes & Fillers, Bakery
Green shades:
CHLOROPHYLL E140
Profile: Yellow-green pigment.
Formats: Available as a water-soluble liquid, water-soluble powder, and oil-soluble liquid.
Stability: Has limited heat and acid stability so must be used carefully processed to avoid damaging the pigment
Applications: Dairy / Ice Cream, Snacks, Confectionery Bakery, Cosmetics
E141 COPPER CHLOROPHYLL
E141 (I) COPPER CHLOROPHYLL: Copper Chlorophyll is a semi-synthetic derivative of Chlorophyll that reacted with Copper to create an oil-soluble pigment with ENHANCED STABILITY and bold, green colour. Typically an oil-soluble liquid, Copper Chlorophyll can also be made water-soluble through the use of permitted emulsifiers. It is also commonly blended with yellow colours.
E141 (II) SODIUM COPPER CHLOROPHYLLIN: Sodium Copper Chlorophyllin is a semi-synthetic derivative of Chlorophyll. It has been reacted with Sodium salts to create a dark green water-soluble pigment with EXCELLENT HEAT AND LIGHT STABILITY. It is widely used in the confectionery industry for its rich and intense green colour. Typically providing more of a blue/green shade, Copper Chlorophyllin can be blended with yellow colours to make a range of green shades from Pistachio or Kiwi to Aqua Marine and Mints.
NATURAL GREEN:
Profile: Depending on dosage, this colour will give a rich, green shade, perfect for use in decorative icing to detail out Holly leaves and Christmas trees! Try adding Safflower for brighter green shades.
Formats: Liquid, water-soluble.
Stability: Limited heat and acid stability, suited to neutral pH applications.
Applications: Icing and fondant, ice cream, smoothies, confectionery. Can be used as an alternative to Copper Chlorophyllin E141 (ii)
Red Shades:
RED BEET:
Profile: It is used to create vibrant pink to red shades.
Formats: Available as water-soluble liquids and as a spray-dried water-soluble powder.
Stability: Red Beet has limited heat and light stability and is ideally suited for low-temperature processed food applications with a pH range of 4 – 7.
Applications: Functional foods, Sports Nutrition, Biscuits, Beverages, Some Confectionery, Sauces, Icings.
CARMINE E120
Profile: A bright pink-red.
Formats: Available as water-soluble liquids and as a spray-dried water-soluble powder.
Stability: A highly stable deep red colour with excellent stability to light and heat.
Applications: Dairy / Ice Cream, Cosmetics, Meats, Bakery, and Confectionery.
White shades:
CALCIUM CARBONATE
Profile: Highly opaque, naturally occurring white colour.
Formats: Water and Oil dispersible powder. Liquid dispersions in development.
Stability: Excellent heat and light stability, not stable in acidic pH.
Applications: Bakery, Soups and sauces, Confectionery, Milk powders and all dairy products, Nutraceuticals, Natural calcium source for fortified foods, Cereals and baking powders, Whitening agent in confectionery and Surimi, Chewing gum.
More colours are available upon request, we can also match any existing colour in no time, just pop us an email and our team will guide you through every step of the process from choosing the right colour to testing to finalizing your order. We are one email away at sales@plant-ex.com
Top note flavours
Are colours enough to make Christmas feel like Christmas? Unfortunately, not a sparkle of the right flavours on top is highly advised. But there are more than 5000 flavours which ones taste like Christmas? Which ones bring the memories back and reunite the family again?
Here are our top picks for the Christmas flavours:
- Apple Cinnamon
- Brown Sugar
- Butterscotch
- Candy Cane
- Christmas Spice
- Cinnamon Roll
- Cookie Dough
- Cinnamon Vanilla
- Cranberry
- Gingerbread
- Maple
- Mulled Wine
- Peppermint
- Prosecco Type Flavour
- Eggnog
- Spiced Apple
- Rich Chocolate
- Werther’s Original Type
- Spiced Orange
If you want to know more about these flavours, send us an email and we will be happy to help you choose your next big hit. If you wish to get a flavour not in this list or you want us to match a flavour, sit back and let us deal with it. Take the first step now and email us at sales@plant-ex.com
Natural Extracts
Our extracts are derived from herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables and many other food ingredients.
They are simply processed into convenient liquids or powders and are ideal for use in a massive variety of products.
– Clean label declaration – from the named source ingredients.
– Provenance of ingredients.
– High impact at low dosages.
– Standardised flavour profiles for batch consistency
– Improved format for handling and storage
You can use our Natural Extracts in your Christmas product and we have picked our favorite ones for you:
- Apple Juice Powder
- Brussels Sprouts Puree Powder
- Champagne Powder
- Cinnamon Extract Powder
- Clove Extract
- Ginger Extract
- Cranberry Powder
- Irish Cream Powder
- Maple Syrup Powder
- Orange Juice Powder
- South African Orange Oil Powder
- Orange Flavour
- Valencian Orange Extract
- Peppermint Oil Powder Natural
- Peppermint Extract
- Prosecco Powder
- Salted Caramel Powder
- Sherry Powder
- Madagascan Vanilla Extract
Having trouble deciding, need the specs? We are happy to get in touch, we will be waiting for you at sales@plant-ex.com
Food Protection Systems
All the ingredients chosen and everything settled? Now it’s time to protect your product and extend it’s shelf life. The Plant-Ex Food Protection Systems (FPS) department is dedicated to developing clean label natural antioxidants and preservatives.
Like our customers, food safety and quality are at the forefront of everything we do; protecting reputations as well as products is something we at Plant-Ex pride ourselves on.
For Christmas we handpicked some of our festive FPS:
Antioxidants:
- BAKE PROTECT CA
- From: Rosemary/Ascorbic acid
- Solubility : Oil
- Application: Bakery (Butter cookies), Pasteries, Cakes
- ANTI-OX RMT
- From: Rosemary & Mixed TOC’s
- Solubility: Oil
- Application: Oils, Fats, Spreads, Snacks, Nuts, Seasonings, Marinades, Dressings
- WSL RA 4
- From: Rosemary
- Solubility: Water
- Application: Beverages, Sauces, Dressings
- ROSEMARY PROTECT POWDER
- From: Rosemary
- Solubility: Water and Oil
- Application: Bakery, Seasonings, Marinades, Sauces, Snacks
- POWDER PROTECT BLEND
- From: Rosemary/Acerola/Buffered
- Solubility: Water and Oil
- Application: Processed Meats, Beverages
- GT OS
- From: Green Tea extract
- Solubility: Water and Oil
- Application: Oils, Spreads, Meats, Marinades, Brines, Sauces, and more
Antimicrobials / Preservatives
- Citrus Fresh Flavour
- From: Acerola cherry juice, lemon juice and natural spirit vinegar
- Solubility: Oil
- Application: Meats, Beverages, Sauces
- Savoury Fresh Liquid
- From: Mushroom powder, natural rosemary extract and natural spirit vinegar
- Solubility: Oil
- Application: Meats, Beverages, Sauces
- Salt and Vinegar Fresh Liquid
From: Natural spirit vinegar, salt
Solubility: Oil
Application: Meats, Beverages, Sauces
The same Antimicrobials and Preservatives can be soluble in water, their formulations are a bit different but the applications are the same.
Take the first step to protect your product and use Plant-Ex’s FPS.
For every holiday, season, and national holiday Plant-Ex has a meticulously prepared portfolio that includes colours, flavours, extracts and food protection systems.
The portfolios help you celebrate with the right ingredients, and our team will assist you through every step from choosing the products to optional testing in our applications lab.
Our team’s experience and extensive knowledge in the industry will get your product to look and taste exactly as you want.
Get any industry portfolio now at sales@plant-ex.com
