Natural Plant-Based Colorant: Adding Vibrant Energy to Pet Food

In recent years, pet owners have shown growing concern for the "naturalness" of food ingredients. Among various innovation trends, plant-based pigments have stood out for their safety and vivid color performance, becoming a new favorite that combines visual appeal with safety. These pigments not only provide naturally attractive colors to products but also meet consumer demand for "clean labels."

Golden Leaf Enterprises Ltd. ‘s plant colorant product line is a key component of its core plant-based ingredient business. Leveraging the company’s full-industry-chain advantages across agriculture, industry, and trade, Our company focuses on natural, safe, and environmentally friendly solutions. Its plant-based pigments are widely used in food and pet food applications.

Plant-based colorants can accurately replicate the natural colors of ingredients, creating a more nature-inspired visual appeal for pet food.

1. Carrot Powder: The Natural Orange Colorant That Steals the Show

Carrot powder, with its soft orange hue, is a commonly used natural colorant in pet food. It integrates well into dry food, wet food, and treats, and maintains color stability even under high-temperature extrusion processing. For pet owners, colorants derived from real food ingredients inspire greater trust. Additionally, the natural sweetness of carrot powder can help enhance palatability, indirectly increasing pets’ interest in the food.

2. Spinach Powder: A Stable Source of Green Vitality

Spinach powder brings a fresh green tone to pet food, making it especially suitable for products that emphasize a “botanical wellness” concept. Its chlorophyll content remains stable in wet food and pairs naturally with meat ingredients to create a visually balanced appearance. Additionally, the fibrous nature of spinach powder supports texture stability during processing, helping reduce the risk of kibble breakage.

3. Pumpkin Powder: A Warm-Toned, Processing-Friendly Colorant

Pumpkin powder offers a warm and gentle orange-yellow tone, ideal for creating “autumn-themed” or “home-style” pet food concepts. Its high fiber content enhances structural stability during extrusion, making it especially suitable for high-protein dry food formulations. Additionally, its water-absorbing properties help control moisture migration in wet food, contributing to improved shelf life.

4. Beetroot Powder: The Natural Spokesperson of Red Appeal

Beetroot powder’s deep red tone offers strong visual recognition in pet treats, making it a natural alternative to synthetic red colorants. Studies show that its colorant molecules remain stable in acidic environments, making it well-suited for low-pH wet food and canned formulas. Additionally, its natural sweetness helps balance the gamey flavor of meats, enhancing overall palatability.

5. Cranberry Powder: A Pink-Purple Antioxidant Shield

Cranberry powder’s pink-purple hue is ideal for differentiated designs in premium pet food. Its anthocyanin content remains stable under low-temperature processing, making it particularly suitable for freeze-dried treats. Notably, its mildly tart flavor creates a synergistic taste profile when paired with poultry or fish proteins.

6.Kale Powder: A Deep Green Marker of Premium Quality

Kale powder’s rich green color is often used to highlight the “superfood” concept in pet food. Its colorant compounds have a relatively low degradation rate during high-temperature extrusion and can produce a natural gradient effect when blended with grain-based ingredients. In the European market, pet foods containing kale powder have successfully established a “natural and organic” brand image.

7. Turmeric Powder: A Golden Yellow Pioneer of Heat Resistance

Turmeric powder’s bright yellow hue stands out in pet food, particularly in fish-based formulas or “Eastern herbal” themed products. Its curcumin compounds retain over 90% of their color value even at processing temperatures above 120°C, far outperforming many other natural colorants. Studies show that when combined with lipids, turmeric powder enhances color saturation, increasing visual appeal.

The global natural food colorant market continues to grow at a steady compound annual growth rate, with pet food emerging as a key driver of this trend. From a technical perspective, microencapsulation and pH-adaptive modifications are critical for improving the stability of plant-based colorants. Additionally, compound colorant solutions—such as carrot powder combined with turmeric powder—can create richer color layers to meet the demands of niche markets.