What consumers really want from flavour and colour

What’s hot in food and drink seems to change by the day, but amid the churn of viral trends, sits a clear shift towards health and escapism. Here, we examine how these forces are influencing both flavour and colour.

Natural doesn’t have to mean muted

We’re in a new era of conscious consumption, with ‘clean’ eating having become a major disruptor in today’s market. This trend was accelerated by the 2020 pandemic but gained further recognition following the publication of Chris van Tulleken’s ‘Ultra Processed People’.

The bestseller placed ingredients and processing in the spotlight, prompting a major public dialogue that has since created ‘HealthTok’, with social media influencers offering their take on what’s healthy. In the UK alone, TikTok has around 26.8 million active users, so it has an incredible impact on behaviour.

This combination of events has made natural ingredients more important. However, recent trends, such as Dubai chocolate and matcha, have indicated a move away from historically subdued colours associated with health to more striking shades.

“Naturalness is becoming more sophisticated,” said Adam Cohen, senior marketing manager at independent flavour house I.T.S.

“Consumers don’t necessarily expect everything to be beige or muted simply because it is natural; they increasingly want ingredients that can provide flavour, colour and a story simultaneously.”

A vibrant orange hue, for example, could signal a product is rich in vitamin C, while green is widely connected to digestion and weight management.

“This is creating opportunities for ingredients such as matcha, beetroot, turmeric, hibiscus, butterfly pea, ube, berries and botanicals, which can give developers visually distinctive colours while also providing an ingredient consumers recognise and can talk about on social media,” offered ADM’s senior product marketing manager for flavours (EMEA), Coralie Garcia.

But while ingredients like turmeric offer exciting creative possibilities, they also present manufacturers with challenges and colours must work hard to perform in more ways than one.

Recent innovations within ingredients firms are emerging in response and include natural solutions to provide bright hues (once only possible through synthetic dyes) without introducing unwanted flavours.

Still, Garcia urges caution with overly bright tones as they can signify artificiality. It’s about making the colour feel credible when it comes to products pushing the health agenda.

Bold colours and sensory maxxing

Colour has become a key part of flavour communication. While it may have previously just acted as a cue for taste, e.g. red meant strawberry, yellow meant lemon, social media has taken this much further.

“Products now must work visually before they are tasted, because somebody may first encounter them as a two-second TikTok clip or Instagram post,” explained Cohen. “That means contrast, layering and recognisable colour signatures have become incredibly powerful.”

He continued: “Strong colour, contrast, crunch, chew, foam, layers, heat and cooling sensations can all turn eating or drinking into an experience rather than simply a flavour.”

Examples of this can be seen across the hospitality sector, which has been experimenting with cold foams, layered colours, bubble pearls, and fruit pieces.

“Colour innovation has definitely increased in the digital era because many viral trends rely on visuals to take off,” agreed GNT Group’s marketing communications specialist, Dieuwertje Raaijmakers. “The important thing is creating a product experience that meets that mood.

“A rich, brown chocolate cake signals a comforting, familiar and indulgent experience. A blue raspberry cake shows instantly that this is something new and unexpected.”

While the younger generation is looking for shareable moments – products that can be captured and posted online, older generations are leaning into comfort, nostalgia and ease. But both can feature vibrant, standout colours.

Whether it’s nostalgia or excitement, both come against a backdrop of economic and global uncertainty, pushing small and affordable experiences of pleasure into the limelight.

“People want little rituals – tiny breaks in the day – that help them reconnect and feel good without overthinking it,” affirmed Raaijmakers.

At the same time, limited-time offers are also a great way to engage with consumers, especially the younger generation, and provide a ‘safer’ way to play with bolder hues.

“They’re all about creating a buzz and that sense of FOMO [fear of missing out]. High-impact colours catch the eye and create instant appeal,” Raaijmakers continued.

“There’s a tendency to use colour in unexpected places now, like Barbie pink burger buns or blue mayonnaise.”

While today’s market is very health orientated (and blue mayo probably doesn’t evoke strong connotations of healthy), fun products like this still hold value in an Insta-obsessed, globally volatile world. Especially as one-offs.

Alongside lively colours, texture is also playing a role in recent trending products.

“Texture architecture is becoming as important as flavour in how we develop new SKUs,” revealed Baker & Baker’s, head of customer innovation, Jacs Edwards, pointing to dramatic displays of stuffed products, extra frosting, and high levels of chunks and inclusions.

This visual demonstration of indulgence can in turn help products to gain global appeal; and colour can support this theatre of texture by highlighting these elements.

“If you think of the Dubai chewy cookie that’s currently trending on TikTok, we are seeing a white marshmallow exterior with a dark cocoa dusting with a green pistachio cream and a toasted kataifi. It all helps to visually differentiate,” Edwards elaborated.

Baker & Baker is also keen to understand how temperature can be used to create experience. As Edwards pointed out: “Only recently the magnum inside a croissant generated millions of views on social channels.”

Getting the nostalgic ratio right

‘Newstalgia’ is a trend Food Manufacture has highlighted in previous trend reports and it continues to gain traction.

“More than ever, we are seeing demand for novelty,” said Cohen. “The pace of flavour launches at the moment is extraordinary, particularly through limited editions, collaborations and seasonal drops.

“But I don’t think novelty and comfort are opposites anymore. Some of the most successful innovation takes something very familiar and gives consumers permission to experiment with it.

“Jaffa Cakes are a great example. For years, most consumers associated them almost entirely with orange, whereas the brand has increasingly experimented with flavours and concepts such as Cola Bottle, Hot Honey and Mango. This gives consumers the opportunity to ‘dip a toe in the water’ with new flavours but in a familiar format.”

Cohen said this concept is being “pushed hard” in private label, with retailers having become “considerably braver and faster with NPD”.

This in turn means major brands can no longer rely purely on heritage and familiarity; they must continually create reasons for consumers to notice them again.

“Consumers remain drawn to recognisable, trustworthy flavours that provide comfort, but they also want opportunities to discover something new,” agreed Garcia.

Like limited-edition SKUs, familiar flavours and formats can provide a strong foundation for experimentation.

“A classic profile might be paired with a different regional influence, intensified with heat or acidity, reimagined in an unexpected format or combined with another familiar flavour in a new way,” offered the ADM senior product marketing manager.

“This approach gives consumers the excitement of discovery without making the experience feel entirely unfamiliar.”

“We’re seeing combinations like mango and coconut crumble, chai bread and butter pudding, gochujang and strawberry sponge and ube trifle gaining attention,” added JPL’s marketing manager, Helen Burrett.

“These innovations also tap into the overriding global tastes trend, where familiar formats are being used as vehicles to introduce consumers to new flavours.”

What’s next?

Colour is becoming a more important consideration in new product development, with Raaijmakers predicting that it’s likely to gain “even more importance as a storytelling device” in the years ahead.

Though it be but little, it must be fierce

As eating habits shift with the rise of weight loss drugs, portion sizes will become smaller. Along with nutrient quality per bite, it’s likely that we’ll see consumers looking for strong visual impact coupled with flavour complexity.

“Consumers do not want health-forward products to feel restrictive, which creates an avenue for bold flavour, indulgence and sensory intensity alongside protein, fibre, plants and other nutrition-focused attributes,” confirmed Garcia.

At the same time, functionality will continue to prove popular and have influence on the ingredients we see in products.

“We expect the next wave of calming beverages to move beyond a single recipe and towards more sophisticated flavour combinations that reinforce the overall drinking experience,” added Burrett.

“White peach is trending heavily in this area, with nectarine an up-and-coming alternative. We’re also seeing opportunities for ingredients such as lavender, chamomile, honey, pear, vanilla, soft berry notes and delicate florals to create drinks that feel comforting without becoming overly sweet.”

Punchy and sweet

Flavour-wise, ‘sweet heat’ is continuing to evolve. Swicy has been a hot hit this year but this will evolve into other iterations, such as ‘fricy’ (sweet fruit meets spice).

“We are already seeing variations such as fruit-plus-heat combinations and more sweet-savoury experimentation,” Cohen said.

“We are also likely to see developers move beyond simply putting matcha into everything and start exploring the next generation around it, hojicha, ube, yuzu, interesting teas, Asian bakery formats and new combinations of fruit, spice, savoury and sweet.”

For Jacqui Passmore, marketing lead at Dawn Europe & AMEAP, ‘bright, balanced and tropical’ will be important watch words in 2027 for both flavours and colours.

“Flavours that also speak about colour such as lemon, peach, raspberry, blackcurrant, cherry, passionfruit and mango are on our radar for next spring. The punchier the better,” she added.

“Fresh flavoured acidity, vibrant colour, and lighter indulgence can be found in pink guava, passionfruit and ube.”

While Japanese-inspired flavours such as yuzu will continue to expand, Passmore also noted emerging interest in Indian and Thai flavours in sweet bakery.

“Think rose and pistachio Victoria sponges or Thai Mango, Coconut and Pandan cupcakes,” she added.

Pistachio still isn’t done yet either, with Passmore predicting much more from this culinary nut alongside other Middle Eastern flavours, such as cardamom, rose, date, pomegranate, sour cherry and even tahini which will crop up more in sweet bakes.

Purple is the new black

When it comes to colour with impact, blues, greens and purples are all doing well – particularly in beverages.

Ube is especially having a moment.

“This bright purple yam is very photogenic but also feels adventurous and premium,” noted Raaijmakers.

The Filipino veggie found its way into pancake mixes in the US and has since become a viral hit, appearing in lots of different products, including lattes, bubble tea, cheesecake and ice cream.

“It’s starting to make a mark in savoury applications too,” Raaijmakers continued. “It’s a trend that still has plenty of room to grow, and we’re working with manufacturers around the world on how they can use plant-based purple shades in new ube innovations.”

The vanilla of Southeast Asia

We can expect more from pandan too. This fragrant Southeast Asian plant is used in sweet and savoury dishes. It is a rich source of beta carotene, a precursor to vitamin A and is high in iron.

With research showing GLP-1 having a potential impact on iron levels, this ingredient could hold promise for the nutrient dense era.

Explaining more about commodity, Burrett said: “Pandan has a distinctive sweet, fragrant flavour, combining notes reminiscent of coconut, almond and vanilla with a fresh, slightly grassy character.

“Its unusual taste and vibrant green appearance give product developers innovation opportunities across bakery, beverages and confectionery.”

While this is a relatively unfamiliar ingredient to the UK, Burrett envisions this being paired with familiar flavours, such as raspberry and white chocolate in the future.