After focusing mainly on beauty, biotech company Debut is partnering with Oterra, a supplier of natural colors for the food and beverage industry, to develop an alternative to Red Dye 40.
The FDA has encouraged food manufacturers to phase out certain certified food colorings by the end of 2026.
Joshua Britton, founder and chief executive officer of Debut, said: “Biotech offers clear advantages that align with evolving market demand. Its adoption in the food and beverage industry is particularly compelling, providing a high-performance alternative to FD&C colors and Red 40, which faces increased regulatory scrutiny.”
Debut and Oterra will collaborate with food and beverage companies ahead of commercialization while working toward an FDA approval filing, with the goal of bringing a commercially scaled product to market in about three years.
“Our collaboration with Debut brings exciting new technology options to significantly strengthen our natural portfolio with optimized technical performance. It also offers secure supply, independent of weather and harvest without compromising on natural credentials,” said Luc Ganivet, head of innovation for Oterra.
In 2023, L’Oréal led a $40 million round of Series B funding in Debut through its venture arm Bold. In 2024, Debut signed an agreement with L’Oréal to develop more than a dozen bio-identical ingredients that will replace conventionally sourced ones currently used in L’Oréal global beauty and personal care brands across skin, hair, color cosmetics and fragrance.
Later that year, Debut entered the contract manufacturing business, with the goal of bringing biotech ingredients to the masses. The business division harnesses end-to-end services, including novel ingredient discovery, pre-clinical testing, formulation development, quality control production, and access to Debut’s IP portfolio.
The partnership with Oterra comes after WWD reported on how beauty and wellness investors are increasingly eyeing food, with deals for products that fuse food, wellness and an inside-out approach to beauty multiplying.
