Dairy Dialog podcast 99: Barton Group and Chromologics

By Jim Cornall

- Last updated on GMT

Dairy Dialog podcast 99: Barton Group and Chromologics
Dairy Dialog podcast 99: Barton Group and Chromologics

Related tags Yogurt Yoghurt Food coloring Food colorings Color Packaging

This week’s Dairy Dialog podcast features interviews with Lewis Barton, president of Barton Group LLC, and Gerit Tolborg, CEO of Chromologics. We also have our weekly look at the global dairy markets with Charlie Hyland, from StoneX.

New packaging technology for low-cost, stand-up, dispenser pouch

A low-cost, stand-up pouch for a wide range of liquid products has been announced by its inventor, Lewis Barton, president of Barton Group, of Naples, Fla.

Barton said, “This is the latest in a series of eight patents that focus on using horizontal thermoform/fill/seal equipment to produce stand up pouches. The technique uses the forming step to produce an asymmetrical pocket which, when rotated 90 degrees, provides for a flat, stable bottom for standing, plus a generous volumetric capacity for the enclosed product.

“This design can be used very economically for all kinds of juices, liquid desserts, beverages, even liquid medicines for health care. Previous patents provide for an integral outboard tube extension for use as the dispensing feature, such as our award-winning SqueezyStraw design. The unique feature of this new patent is the creation of a parallelogram shaped panel (as shown in illustration) which provides for its own dispensing point at the corner of the upper right-hand side seals.”

He said the new product, the SqueezyEasy Stand Up Dispensing Pouch, utilizes the straight-cut mechanics on machines such as Multivac.

“As such there is no trim scrap, as occurs in the die-cutting necessary for the integral outboard tube extension. A simple embedded dispensing spout is located in the tapered dispensing corner of the pouch. All this helps to achieve an ultra-low-cost, stand-up dispensing pouch with a wide range of applications,”​ he said.

“In addition, because there is no tooling for die-cutting, the capital cost for the machinery to produce this simple pouch is much lower than those to produce the type with the outboard extension.”

This technology, along with the others in the group is available for licensing from Barton Group, LLC.

Chromologics raises funds for food colorant development

Chromologics, which is developing innovative natural food colorants, has raised €1.9m ($2.2m) in seed financing led by Novo Seeds and supported by Nordic FoodTech VC and Vækstfonden.

Chromologics, a spin-off from the Technical University of Denmark, is looking to change how natural colorants are produced. The company has developed a fermentation-based color platform for production of its ChromoColors sustainable food colorants.

The funds will enable Chromologics to accelerate the development and regulatory approval of ChromoRed, its flagship food colorant.

ChromoRed has the potential to be the first natural colorant exclusively produced by sustainable fermentation processes, instead of being extracted from plants or animals.

The natural colorant has optimal pH-and temperature stability, allowing it to be used in a variety of different food products. As a lab-produced colorant, ChromoRed is also more sustainable than currently approved natural red colorants, which the company said require intensive farming. Unlike other existing natural colors, Chromologics' colorants are not extracted from high value raw materials like fruit and vegetables, but produced in a sustainable, scalable and cost-competitive process.

Consumer awareness over food ingredients, the rise in veganism and the importance of more sustainable eating habits, has led to a re-evaluation of food manufacturing. ChromoRed is targeting a market opportunity in excess of $2bn, in an area of high consumer and industry demand. ChromoRed's performance has been validated by leading players in the industry, and Chromologics is in ongoing discussions with commercial partners to expand the collaboration.

Gerit Tolborg, CEO of Chromologics, said, "We are very pleased to welcome these strong and experienced investors to Chromologics. Their support provides validation for our strategy to develop better and more sustainable food colorants. They recognize the extraordinary economic opportunity in introducing lab-grown food colorants to the market at a time where alternative meats and food safety is a high consumer demand. This investment will allow us to accelerate the development of our flagship product ChromoRed and maximize the potential of our platform as we develop food colorants that meet the needs of industry and consumers."

Thomas Grotkjær, principal at Novo Seeds, said, "Our mission at Novo Seeds is to identify disruptive technologies, enable entrepreneurs to build companies and bring them to real inflection points. Chromologics has an excellent team which has developed a truly innovative platform with the potential to transform how natural colorants are developed. There is enormous demand from industry and consumers for these high quality and sustainable products and we have already had significant commercial interest from partners."

Grotkjær and Lauri Reuter, founding partner at Nordic FoodTech VC, have joined the Chromologics board.