Sustainability awareness to drive demand for blue colorant

The Colombian-headquartered company says that the colorant, which is sourced from wild harvested Jagua fruit from the Amazon rainforest, can be used in cosmetics and personal care products, as well as food items.

At present the market for the ingredient in cosmetics and personal care is fairly small, it is used by French company Guayapi Tropical as well as a number of Colombian companies, but Ecoflora believes that this will grow as consumer awareness increases.

The company was recently awarded a Special Mention in the Biodiversity Awards organised by the Union for Ethical BioTrade and the trade show HIE Europe, for its efforts in promoting conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

“We believe that the award will give us more visibility and will generate awareness about this world class innovation, its importance and pertinence in the framework of the need of safer and more sustainable cosmetics,”​ President of Ecoflora Nicolás Cock Duque told CosmeticsDesign.com USA.

“…there is a growing awareness internationally about sustainability… we are sure that is something that will gain more and more importance,”​ he added, before explaining that Ecoflora was working on a number of key accounts with large multinational companies.

Stable in wide pH and temperature range​

In addition to increasing awareness of sustainable sourcing, Cock Duque explained that the colorant’s added benefits over its synthetic counterparts may help help to grow market share.

“People always tend to think that natural colors are unstable and more expensive, but the Jagua color has excellent performance and is stable in a wide range of pHs and temperatures,”​ he said.

Although the ingredient is more expensive per kilo than its synthetic counterparts, Cock Duque explained that the benefits the ingredient can bring to the product and the consumer are significant.

These benefits include the sustainable use and conservation story behind the ingredient as well as the fact that it represents an alternative income generating activity for many of the communities living in the rainforest, he explained.

“The sustainable use of the ingredient is a conservation strategy both of the Jagua plants themselves and the ecosystem in which they exist,”​ he said.

In addition, it provides an economic activity for the local people which otherwise relies almost totally on timber logging, he said.

The sustainable use plan for Ecoflora’s use of the Jagua fruit was designed in collaboration with the national and regional environmental authorities in the country. It involves not only sustainable harvesting of the plant, but also paying a fair price for the ingredient as well as sharing revenue in both monetary and non-monetary ways.

Cock Duque explained this could include technical assistance and training as well as sharing revenue with the indigenous communities.