‘Shades of Aqua’ will be the key food and beverage color trend for 2020, with vivid blues and greens set to drive innovation as shoppers seek products that re-connect them with nature.

The forecast comes from GNT Group, supplier of EXBERRY® Coloring Foods. Company experts say demand for Shades of Aqua will also be powered several trends—including by a quest for holistic wellbeing1; and demand for new and unique food & beverage experiences that will pop out when shared on social media.

“Shades of Aqua evoke marine environments and mountain landscapes, conveying a sense of health and wholesomeness and strong links with the outdoors,” notes Maartje Hendrickx, GNT’s market development manager. “Green is rooted in nature. It is a positive identifier for nutrition and signifies freshness and organic goodness. Blue evokes the ocean garden. It conveys a sense of relaxation and calm and is impactful on social media.”

To enable food and beverage companies to harness the appeal of Shades of Aqua, GNT has developed a range of green and blue EXBERRY® Coloring Foods with clean-label appeal. They are made from spirulina, an algae that contains phycocyanin, a naturally occurring coloring component. They are the perfect replacement for artificial colorants, including brilliant blue and patent blue, and other additives such as copper chlorophyllin.

Shades of Aqua Coloring Foods will be at the heart of GNT’s new Love Color with EXBERRY® initiative for 2020. They also are a primary focus at Food Ingredients Europe, Dec. 30-5, 2019 in Paris, France. GNT will exhibit on Stand 6C80.

“Shoppers want food and beverage products that are ‘clean’ and ‘simple’.2 EXBERRY® Coloring Foods are aligned with this because they are made using only physical processes and never with chemical solvents,” Hendrickx added: “They aren’t additives—they’re foods. They can be eaten at any stage of the manufacturing process and they qualify for cleaner and simpler label declarations.”

GNT’s food & beverage color prediction is aligned with the influential Pantone color forecast, which also places greens and blues center-stage.3 Pantone’s forecast singles out Nature Remastered – “mossy wild and yellowy greens” – and Mineral Patina – “Indigo dyes seep and stain textiles with tones of blues.”

Notes:

1 Innova Market Insights’ Top Trends for 2020

2 Innova Market Insights, Clean & Simple, July 2019

3 Pantone, Viewpoint Colour Issue 05 Organic Matters: Colour Forecast 2020

About EXBERRY®

EXBERRY® is the global market leader in Coloring Foods. The brand is synonymous with high performance color solutions based on the most natural concept of coloring food with food. EXBERRY® concentrates are manufactured from fruit, vegetables and edible plants using only gentle physical methods such as chopping, heating and filtering. The brand provides the widest range on the market, comprising more than 400 shades. It is suitable for practically all food and drink, including confectionery, dairy and bakery products, soft and alcoholic beverages and savory applications. The concentrates are valued worldwide for their ease of use, brilliance, performance and the complete vertical integration of the supply chain, which ensures full traceability, price and stock stability. In applying EXBERRY® products, manufacturers are assured to receive highly professional support ranging from strategic product development to production integration and regulatory advice. EXBERRY® is the favored color solution used by more than 1,400 food and beverage companies including the leading food and beverage producers in the world.

About GNT

The GNT Group is a family-owned company pioneering in the creation of specialized, future-proof products from only natural ingredients. It is internationally renowned for its EXBERRY® portfolio, the leading global brand in Coloring Foods. Founded in 1978, the company offers unparalleled agricultural competence and process-engineering expertise in delivering solutions from fruit, vegetables and edible plants. GNT is headquartered in Mierlo, The Netherlands, and has global reach with customers in 75 countries and offices in North and South America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.