FMC has broken ground on a new colors blending facility at its manufacturing site in Newark, Delaware, strengthening its natural colors business.
The new location will cater to the growing demand in North America for highly stable, natural colors used in applications from baking to beverages, a market which is estimated to be worth $200m.
It will complement its natural colors production sites in Santiago, Chile and Burton, UK, as well as US-based technical expertise in Ewing, New Jersey.
The 4,800ft² building will include new equipment for customized color solutions and additional room for future expansion.
FMC Health and Nutrition business director Bryan Bast said that the blending facility that will support natural colors growth and better serve existing North American customers with on-the-ground capabilities for customization of colors applications and specialized production.
"The addition of the Delaware production site will also enable deeper collaboration with our customers."
"The very proximity of the operation to our technical expertise at FMC's Ewing, N.J., Global Innovation Center will create new opportunity for partnership as well as efficiencies for our business that will ultimately have impact for our customers," Bast said.
The construction of the facility is expected to be completed in December 2014.
The FMC location in Delaware is a leading producer of cellulosics products for a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and food.
FMC is a diversified chemical company serving agricultural, industrial, environmental, and consumer markets globally.