“We eat with our eyes” is more relevant today than ever before, just take a look at the foods we buy, enjoy with family and are inspired to photograph and share with friends on social media. Increasingly the emotional aspects of food come into play, it’s all about pleasure, anticipation and our inherent love of food! We’re all becoming “foodies” and visual appearance is the first attribute to stimulate and excite our senses. Food and drink manufacturers can seize the opportunity and “Say it with Color”! “As users look for the latest trends to pimp their social media profiles, color became a key driving force for product development,” says Lu An Williams, Director of Innovation at Innova Market Insights.
According to their research, 10 percent of consumers from Mexico, the US, Spain, and Australia are influenced by social media when purchasing food and beverages. For Indian and Chinese consumers, this is already the case for 20 percent. “Simply speaking, the trend for 2018 is purple. It is the ideal color to attract attention and provides the perfect opportunity to unite market developments and consumer demands,” says Paul Collins, Director of International Sales and Marketing at GNT, the global market leader in coloring food with food using Exberry®. Whether it is lavender, dark violet, magenta, lilac or mauve – all imaginable shades are predicted to hit retail shelves this year and the Exberry® Purple Collection is perfectly positioned to meet this trend.
The trend towards purple foods and beverages is rooted in health and wellness, as well as visual appeal. For fruits and vegetables, purple indicates a high phytonutrient content which signals health and wellbeing to consumers. As a result, purple vegetables such as purple carrots, sweet potatoes and yams are appearing more frequently in supermarkets. Earlier this year, Pantone, a global authority on color, named Ultra Violet their “color of the year,” which will continue to drive the demand for purple. At the same time, fragrance and flavor company Firmenich declared fig as their flavor of the year which in turn fits perfectly with the trend towards purple.
“At GNT we closely monitor trends to identify opportunities that offer the most appealing and relevant products for the consumer,” Paul Collins explains. Exberry® application experts develop exciting color concepts and inspiration for every application: purple-colored blueberry porridge appeals to breakfast lovers, violet croutons are an eye-catching topping on soups or salads for lunch, while berry flavored purple granola bars upgrade the afternoon snack alongside a sparkling blackberry pressé with a delicious violet gin to finish a perfect purple day.
When manufacturers want to benefit from this purple trend, the solution must be natural. Here Exberry® delivers in all respects: providing an array of truly natural purple shades from fruits and vegetables. Our team of Exberry® specialists are on-hand to support the entire development process to create the perfect purple solution for all applications. Recent color innovations such as “unicorn” and “rainbow” evoke feelings of fun and intrigue. Thanks to Instagram and other social media platforms, a food’s appearance has become even more important than its taste, and supports the impression of flavor, quality, freshness and innovation. Vibrantly colored food is omnipresent in every social media feed and by using Exberry®: “Selfies can become Healthies”.
