Gen alpha ate! Figuratively and literally! Their ever-growing influence on household purchasing decisions is driving the development of adventurous sweet treats and confections.

Digital experiences, visual appeal, interactive elements and bold flavors, are some of the factors that inspire treat cravings for this demographic.

But beyond hype, this generation is becoming increasingly health-conscious, in alignment with the influence of their Gen X and Millennial parents. What is the role that colors, and especially natural colors, play in the creation of rizz candies? In this article, we’ll look at how natural colors contribute to the health halo of these goodies and provide solutions to some challenges that can arise when designing better for you treats.

Candies and sweet goods are generally not the standard vehicle for functionality, but sugar reduction can be highlighted as one way to capture the interest of both kids and parents.

Since low water activity and high sugar content are protective factors for the light and heat stability of many natural pigments, care must be taken when creating naturally colored low or no-sugar treats.

Heat stable options like Caramel colours, annatto, carmine, and vegetable carbon black are straightforward solutions to achieve vibrancy in heat processed candies – both regular and low sugar. But other colors can also be used successfully. 

Carotenoids like emSeal® Beta-carotene and Paprika emulsions are stable in confections like gummies, chews and hard candies, and that stability is improved with the addition of ascorbic acid to boost the action of the antioxidants used in the color formula. 

Even heat sensitive colors like Everzure® spirulina and galdieria extracts can be used in low sugar confections if the color is added while the temperature is descending and if the cooling stage is strictly controlled. Non-caloric sweeteners like some polyols, can lower water activity, which also curbs degradative reactions. 

Other wellness traits that parents seek in BFY treats for young consumers are transparency, sustainable sourcing, and naturalness. Resorting to color options that are ‘derived from fruit and vegetable juices’ provides a health halo to such treats, because they bring up cognitive signals for balanced nutrition. 

Vegebrite® juice concentrates are color options from fruits and vegetables that fit the bill perfectly. They include a variety of anthocyanin sources like black carrot, elderberry, and grape – which enjoy consumer recognition as “those famous beneficial substances” that make purple and red foods so good for everyone. 

Picture a dark chocolate filled with a rich berry flavored fondant, colored with black carrot juice.

Indulgent bites, vibrant shades, and flavor congruency are tangled with concepts like wholesomeness and wellness. Natural colors are the perfect tools to help deliver a well rounded and exciting consumption experience for better for you confections that kids love, and parents embrace. 

Contact us to learn more to get started with an ample portfolio of natural colors for confectionery.

Speakers: Catalina Ospina, technical marketing specialist; Lora Sparks, digital marketing specialist; Scott Ondracek, senior regulatory specialist (and snack guru).

In this podcast episode, we try several snacks around the world and see how colours can enhance the eating experience. We describe what we see and taste; and we match our sensory experience with trends identified through Givaudan’s Flavourvision, our latest trend research tool.

We catagorize our snacking experience into four categories: Green for Me, Restorative Care, Stable Connections, and Sensorial Renaissance.

Still hungry? You can listen to our other podcast episodes here.

What is snacking for you? Is it any food that is consumed between the main meals? Or something to deter hunger + boost stamina when energy is dwindling mid-afternoon? Or maybe even a treat to relax and celebrate with friends? 

Regardless of the snacking occasion, health and wellness claims are becoming more and more attractive for consumers, along with more traditional desirable attributes like sensory enjoyment, indulgence, and convenience. In this article, we’ll share how natural colors can play an integral part in the design of healthy snacks.

According to a global consumer survey from Innova Market Insights, 40% (out of 14100 respondents) declared that they had increased their consumption of healthy snacks during the last 12 months.

Apart from aspects like “free from”, “less than”, or voluntary nutritional or health claims, consumers are attracted by functional features like mood, cognitive performance, or digestive health improvement; Other attractive claims include things like weight management, muscle building, and increased energy and stamina. 

The concept may overlap with what are traditionally considered food supplements, but here the main purpose is still snacking rather than supplementing. This is about real, satisfying, and even indulgent food; but with wellness attributes.

But over functionality, consumers of all ages prioritize sensory attributes. Snacks must be tasty, have great texture, and a tempting appearance, which often requires the use of inviting and rich colors. And what is better to signal health and wellness than natural sources of color?!

Besides providing attractiveness, and congruent flavor cues (e.g. red for red berries, yellow for pineapples), natural colors play other roles in healthy snacks’ design. They can also signal for function like vibrant oranges for muscle building!

Some botanical ingredients used in these functional snacks may impart off-tones that distort the desired look or intended flavor. Lavender extracts, for instance, typically have a yellowish-brown color.

But when you think of a relaxing lavender infused treat, you instantly picture the pastel purple color of fresh flowers. Fortunately, that color can be obtained with the use of a natural source of red like beets and a natural blue color like Everzure®spirulina, to fit with the consumer’s expectation.

Other ingredients, like cranberry juice, may have an intrinsic color consistent with the intended sensory input. But crop seasonality and variability may cause batch to batch inconsistencies. Anthocyanin pigments from vegetable or fruit juices like our Vegebrite™ black carrot or Amaize Red, would be an excellent resource to standardize the color hue and intensity.

Natural colors can also establish identity for ingredients that don’t have a pleasant—or any—associated color.  Think chamomile or guarana enriched snacks…Can you imagine their color? We could create a novel and unique sensory colors input for these, utilizing the language of natural colors to transmit emotions and concepts, like stress relief for chamomile, or stamina and energy for guarana.

Selecting the right natural source for your functional snack with the optimal usage rate will require a minded consideration of flavor, function, matrix and processing conditions.

That is why our expert color scientists are eager to work with you, and cocreate alluring healthy snacks. Contact us to get started on a project that will elevate your consumer’s snacking experience.

Snacking is a universal habit, and yet, we all snack differently according to our demography, age, and cultural context. Terms like “empty calories” or “ultra processed foods” didn’t exist in the mainstream, but many people were of the opinion that snacks were just “not real food”. 

Nowadays snacks offer a contrasting mixture of a feel-good escapism, mindful nutrition, and sensory enjoyment, where health, aesthetics and indulgence can meet and have civilized conversations. In this article we will have a panoramic view of how some snacking trends are catering to the tastes and consumption occasions of consumers of all generations, and how color plays an important role in communicating the targeted value of snacks.

Younger consumers, like Gen Alpha, are driven by playfulness and fun. Although their consumption still mostly depends on what their parents choose, their preferences revolve around stimulant visual inputs and interactive features. Digital media and popular cultural characters are common inspirations for color design in snacks aimed at this generation. 

Add to that Gen Z, driven also by social media, digitalization, AI, and gaming, where eye-catching colors, and maximalist intensities, transmit a sense of trepidation, excitement and even humor.  Bold, primary colors, contrasting color patterns, or surprising features like color changing foods, or the use of fluorescent pigments are some of the attractors used for this demographic. 

Also widespread, are congruent reds, yellows, and oranges which are an innuendo for one of the trendiest waves: complex tastes, which includes scwicy (sweet and spicy), tangy-spicy, and sweet and savory. And the fun continues, with creative and daring combinations of different store-bought products, for a “Do Your Own Snack” experimental adventure, to show, share, and enjoy.

With the lines continuing to blur between traditional snacks and main meals, the frequency of snacking is increasing among both young and mature adults, demanding fulfillment of their daily nutritional and functional needs. Protein supercharged snacks are transversal among the generations that seek muscle building or preservation, and satiety.

Fiber also plays a role in hunger stilling, as well as in gut health support, along with prebiotic and probiotic ingredients, going in line with the increased prescription of GLP-1 agonist drugs. As Gen X navigates the physiological changes of aging, they are interested in snacks that preserve their wellbeing. Baby Boomers may also recur to snacking for health and wellness purposes, prioritizing foods that are low in salt and sugar, yet indulgent. 

Millennials and Gen Z also want to support their demanding commitments with friends, study, work and family, with nutrients and energy rich snacks. Health-laced snacks tend to display either earthy tones reflecting wholesomeness and naturalness (like brown, warm yellows, sepia or greens), or vibrant and energy loaded colors that communicate stamina, like bold pinks and reds, or fluorescent yellows and greens

We know that social media platforms are segmented by age. Gen Z and Millennials are the main users of image-rich apps, like TikTok and Instagram.

Sensory stimulation navigates in consonance with pastel tones, sophisticated and even artistic palettes, with elevated photographic value. Pink, peach, purple, blue and green, but also subdued neutral colors like beige, are associated with sophisticated indulgence and aesthetic delight. Snacks are both for enjoying, and for showing off.

We already mentioned that snacks with increased nutritional value are being used as meal replacements. But there’s something else…nowadays more and more snacks taste like authentic meals!

Be it familiar or exotic flavors, based on local tradition, or inspired by international cuisines and street foods, check any grocery and you’ll find the same old chips, peanuts, and puffs, but with a hearty and delicious flavor twist: street tacos, Thai tom yum, wagyu steak, meaty chorizo, bunny chow, Korean Smoked Galbi, coconut milk and peanut satay, Bolognese, honey roasted chicken wings, spicy ramen, beer chicken…these meal-flavored snacks are both satisfying and convenient, hinting savory profiles with colors like ocher, warm brown, or terracotta. 

The quality and value perception of snacks has shifted with time and is also different for each age, gender and social group. Convenience, indulgence, nutritional benefits, and social connectivity can be identified as deep catalysts for snacking behaviors. Related to all these primary motivation forces, we encounter the semiotic visual input and sensory stimulation of color, that sets the table for the holistic enjoyment of snacks!

If you want to learn how to best reflect the value of your snack products with the use of natural colors, contact our commercial and technical teams!

Speakers: Sara Diaz, Global Marketing Manager for Savory Taste for Givaudan, Katie Rountree, Regional Product Manager – Americas for Sense Colour, and Catalina Ospina, Technical Marketing Specialist for Sense Colour

Learn how Givaudan Sense Colour is innovating culinary experiences by harnessing the transformative power of fire in cooking. We’ll explore the significance of colour in fire and grill products and how it influences perception. Listen in as we discuss the range of hues selected for our “fire palette” and how they’re inspiring new fiery creations.

Hungry for s’more content? You can listen to our other podcast episodes here.

When analyzing the expanding market of energy drinks, enhanced waters, and sports drinks you’ll find that colour is no longer a mere indicator of flavour identity. There is a growing trend towards using colour to hint at a refreshing and invigorating experience, becoming a primary language for functional claims. 

In this article you’ll see some of the predominant trends in flavour and colour use for the category and understand some practical tips to get the best technical performance from the refreshing palette of natural colours.

Close your eyes: you’re given a drink flavoured ‘Caribbean Breeze’. What does it taste like? Chances are it tastes like a piña colada, or perhaps an invigorating citrus-mango blend. What does it look like? Is it turquoise blue like tropical waters washing golden sands? Or is it bright yellow-orange like a warm sunset on the beach?

This is where the artistry comes in—with the increasing trend of using fantasy flavours, food and beverage colours are chosen to evoke emotions rather than simply representing the flavour used. The colour may not inform the intellect about the flavour identity but will work as an innuendo for the foreseen experience.

Non-fantasy flavours and colours used in functional drinks are more predictable: citrus flavoured drinks that are still the default option are mostly orange or yellow. Berries and summer fruits tend to be red or pink, while orchard fruits like apple and pear drinks are often coloured light brown.

But at the same time these familiar and nostalgic flavours are increasingly mingled in novel and attractive combinations. Sometimes adjacent colours in the spectrum are selected: like in a tropical mango–passion fruit blend, but sometimes very dissimilar colours are blended, like in strawberry-kiwi mix. What would the colour of a kiwi and strawberry juice be?  A very dirty brownish pink, one would think!  So, again a decision has to be made on which colour to select, taking into consideration the expected sensory input, the predominant flavour and the preference of the target consumer—in the case of our strawberry-kiwi, would it be green or red? 

In a similar stance, in sports drinks form follows function, or in this case: colour follows function. Hydration products are often coloured blue, purple or green, because these cool colours remind us of large water bodies or the freshness of nature. 

On the other hand, pre-workout beverages may want to give us the idea of energy and stamina, boosting our inner power and prepping our muscles for the best performance possible. In this case bright and bold yellow, orange, and red colours may be the best option. 

One of the fastest growing trends in new product launches is the use of botanicals like floral, herbal, and spice-based flavors in functional waters and drinks. Most of the time, these are chosen as secondary notes to more traditional fruit flavors like strawberry or lemon.

Floral flavors like lavender, violet, rose and elderflower are used because of their ties with soothing and stress reducing properties, and the palette of colours reminds us of enticing bouquets with lots of purples, pinks or peaches. “Beauty from within” drinks also leverage from botanicals and the colour range appeal their target demographics with soft, nuanced hues, that may include also greens and pastel blues.

Wondering how to take advantage of the large palette of natural colours for a perfect hydration experience? Let’s review some expert tips:

Packaging

Cans and opaque packaging are often used in energy drinks and functional waters because light affects some of the botanical and nutritional ingredients used. In this case, the colours are not openly displayed but a congruency with the selected flavours or with the experience expectation is due. Light sensitive pigments, low doses and soft colours are permissible in this case, which provides a wider palette to choose from than when using transparent packaging.

However, bottles and clear packaging are still prominent in hydration beverages and other subcategories adjacent to the conventional soft drink market. Here light stability of the color chosen is a must, and shelf-life evaluations must be made to ensure colour performance.

Ingredients

Compatibility and stability of natural colours in presence of botanicals, amino acids, electrolytes and vitamins has to be assessed in a case-by-case scenario. For example: there are known interactions between natural colours and vitamin C, which enhances the stability of carotenoids but can be detrimental to anthocyanins. And the addition of botanicals like polyphenols and tannins can favor the formation of pigment complexes with completely unexpected behavior during the shelf life of the beverage. We recommend working directly with our colour experts to establish safe protocols of development to ensure the best outcome for the overall recipe.

Differentiation

Differentiation in this market is a priority: you don’t want your strawberry-watermelon drink to look exactly the same as your competitor’s red generic drink! Fortunately, anthocyanin sources allow for both subtle or dramatic variation in both hue and intensity, be it for passionate reds or delicate pinks.

Interested in working on a functional or enhanced beverage project? Contact us to turn your thirst-quenching product into a colorful escapade. Or request a sample here.

Consumers are increasingly interested in ‘authentic’ food and beverage experiences—they want food that is as close as possible to its original ingredients or source. This can include minimally processed foods, foods that taste, smell, and look traditional, or even foods resembling what can be found in nature.

But how does nature really look? What is the colour of authenticity? In this article we explore how natural colours can be used to create earthy to bold to pastel shades to achieve colours that can represent those authentic dishes.

On one hand, ‘authentic’ could refer to simplicity in nature. Think whole-grain foods like cereal, nuts, and seeds, unrefined flours, brown sugar, cooked meat and poultry, etc. This beige to brown palette is made up of muted shades that hint at wholesomeness and even artisan craftsmanship. It leads the path to health and wellness food developments, but also ready meals and savoury dishes and sauces.

These earthy tones are easily achieved using tried and true caramel colours, burnt sugars, and Naturbrown® ingredients that have simple labels to match the ‘simplicity’ of the dish being created.

On the other hand, ‘authentic’ could include the bright and bold. While some associate brightly coloured foods with synthetics, nature is full of vibrant colours that lend themselves to some of our favorite dishes!

Fruits, vegetables, and spices compete with ineffable vivacity for our attention: warm yellows and oranges, alarming reds, calming pinks and purples, and lots and lots of greenery. Even marine food sources like fish, mollusks and crustaceans enchant with their vivid oranges, reds, yellows, and purples.

Would you want to eat a brownish strawberry jam, or curries devoid of their bright and alluring hues? In fact, there are evolutionary reasons for our liking of vividly coloured food; as hunter gatherers, our species relied heavily on vision to detect and assess nutritionally dense food sources: golden honey, ripe fruits, and fresh game meat. It’s not surprising that we’ve transferred these preferences to prepared foods as well. 

This vibrancy can easily be celebrated and recreated with a range of natural pigments including anthocyanins, carotenoids, betalains and chlorophyllins.

A third ongoing trend in ‘authentic’ food preferences are pastel colours. It is especially noticeable in sweet categories like confectionery, dairy desserts, and pastries, and has a strong positioning among children, teens and young adults.

While pastels make some consumers think of simplicity or naturalness, pastel palettes are also reminiscent of a dreamy, imaginary world and are often associated with emotions and feelings like serenity, sweetness, and nostalgia, and lend themselves well to creative fantasy flavours.

Indulge in the whimsical dreamscape of pastel fantasy colours from Everzure® Spirulina, or colouring juices like our Vegebrite® line, over your preferred white or creamy base. 

The interesting outcome is that no matter consumer preference or which food category we look at, all these colour trends can be addressed through the diverse palette of natural colours.

Contact our colour scientists to get expert guidance in choosing the best performing natural colour for your target application, and inspiration to design a consistent and appealing visual experience to delight your consumers.

Speakers:
Catalina Ospina, Technical Marketing Specialist for Sense Colour
Jeremy Roque, Consumer & Sensory Insights Project Manager for Europe
Rojenia Jones, Sense Colour Product Manager for North America

Join us as we explore the language of color and its impact on our daily lives! In this episode, you’ll learn how color communicates emotions, influences consumer preferences, and shapes our perception of foods and beverages. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of the connection between color, flavor, and liking, as well as the cultural and emotional associations inherent to certain colors.

You can listen to our other podcast episodes here.

Speakers: Diego Campos, Marketing Manager Regional Innovation in Europe and Jaime Pacheco, Sales Manager for Sense Colour

Join us as we explore several themes shaping the beverages market and the pivotal role that natural colours play in enhancing the sensory experience. From “Feel Good” beverages that bring comfort and positivity to “Does Good” offerings focused on health and sustainability, as well as the future-oriented “Imagine” theme, we’ll delve into how natural colours are being used to create vibrant and enticing drinks. You’ll also discover how the metaverse and AI are set to revolutionise the future of beverages, promising exciting co-creation experiences that engage consumers.

Thirsty for more content? You can listen to our other podcast episodes here.