“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 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 Ann Williams, director of innovation at Innova Market Insights. According to Innova research, 10% of consumers from Mexico, the US, Spain, and Australia are influenced by social media when purchasing food and beverages. And this already is the case for 20% of consumers in India and China, says Innova.

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”.

The Power of Purple

“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,” says Collins. 

He adds that Exberry® application experts develop exciting color concepts and inspiration for every application. Examples could include…

… purple-colored blueberry porridge appeals to breakfast lovers;

… violet croutons as an eye-catching topping on soups or salads for lunch;

… berry-flavored purple granola bars for an afternoon snack; or

… 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. GNT’s team of Exberry® specialists are on-hand to support the entire development process to create the perfect purple solution for all applications.

More information about Exberry®, the Purple Collection and coloring food with food is available at: gnt-group.com.

About GNT

GNT Group (www.gnt-group.com) is the leading global provider of “Coloring Foods.” The company manufactures coloring concentrates from edible fruits, vegetables and plants using gentle physical methods such as pressing, crushing and filtering. Artificial additives, chemicals or organic solvents are not used. The concentrates are sold under the Exberry® brand name in almost 75 countries worldwide and are used in a variety of foods, including confectionery, dairy and bakery products, savory and beverages. 

Exberry® Coloring Foods provide a wide array of vibrant and stable color shades. Since they are a natural alternative to additives, they meet the needs of consumers looking for natural and healthy foods. The independent, family-owned GNT Group was founded in 1978 and is the pioneer in the field of Coloring Foods. Today, GNT has global reach with offices in North and South America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and supplies more than 1,400 food and beverage companies, including seven of the ten biggest producers in the world.