Sensient Breaks Ground on St. Louis Expansion as Industry Shifts to Natural Food Colors

Date Posted: March 24, 2026

Posted In: Projects,

by Tom Finan, Executive Director, Construction Forum

Sensient Food Colors has broken ground on an expansion of its north St. Louis manufacturing facility, part of an up to $250 million companywide investment to scale production of natural food dyes as food manufacturers move away from synthetic ingredients.

The project, located at 2515 N. Jefferson Ave. in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood, will add approximately 28,800 square feet of production space dedicated exclusively to natural color processing. Construction is expected to begin this spring, with completion targeted for late 2027, and the expansion is expected to create more than 200 jobs.

The St. Louis project is one component of Sensient’s broader investment to expand natural color production capacity across its operations. The company has identified the transition from synthetic to natural dyes as a major growth opportunity as both regulators and consumers push for change.

The local expansion builds on prior investment at the site, including a $16 million expansion completed in 2010 that added 25,000 square feet focused on natural colors. The Jefferson Avenue campus today exceeds 500,000 square feet and is described by the company as the world’s largest food color manufacturing facility.

The shift is being driven in part by federal action. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun moving to ban certain petroleum-based food dyes and is working with manufacturers on timelines to phase out others.

At the same time, food and beverage companies are reformulating products to meet growing consumer demand for plant-based and naturally derived ingredients.

Sensient, which has spent more than a decade developing natural color alternatives, is expanding capacity to meet that demand, with its St. Louis facility positioned as a central hub in that effort.