Sensient Technologies
Americas
Milwaukee
,
United States
Established
FOUNDED
1882
HEADCOUNT
1001-5000
FUNDING
Public
Keywords:
colorants, flavors, fragrances, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, biocatalysis, fermentation, enzymes, specialty_chemicals
BUSINESS
Sensient Technologies (NYSE: SXT) is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-headquartered global manufacturer of colors, flavors, extracts, and specialty ingredients, restructured to its current focus when Red Star Yeast was divested to Lesaffre in 2001. The company operates three reportable segments (Flavors & Extracts, Color, and Asia Pacific) generating roughly USD 1.6 billion in revenue with about 4,070 employees. The Color segment, which represents about 40% of revenue, has been the principal growth driver, with natural colors accounting for approximately 20% of total company sales; Sensient acquired French enzymatic-extraction specialist Biolie in February 2025 to expand active naturals and color capability within its beauty and personal care business.
BIOTECH INVOLVEMENT
Sensient BioNutrients, produces yeast extracts, peptones, and tailored complex nutrients (AMBERFERM, Bloomgenix lines) sold as fermentation media to biopharma, probiotic, food culture, biopesticide, biostimulant, and industrial fermentation customers. Biolie, acquired in France in February 2025, performs solvent-free enzymatic extraction of natural actives and pigments from plant biomass for cosmetic and nutrition applications; the Color segment also sources and processes botanical, algal, and fermentation-derived colorants but does not yet appear to operate large-scale recombinant fermentation production in-house.
TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
PRIMARY PRODUCTS
natural colors; flavors; specialty ingredients