Consumers ready for broader color palette for savory foods

Orange and yellow may be popular colors for savory food, but manufacturers could be missing a rainbow of untapped possibilities with bolder, unexpected shades, according to a new survey from leading natural colors company Oterra.

The survey commissioned by Oterra reveals that consumers are ready to explore a broader color palette, hinting at exciting opportunities for creative product development.

“Orange and yellow are traditional favorites among consumers. But our survey has shown greater nuance in consumer tastes that could be converted into new, creative products – and more sales”, says Phil Cook, head of strategic marketing for Oterra.

Colors have long been known to influence flavor perceptions, creating excitement, and driving purchases. However, the survey opens the way for food and drink manufacturers to create products that will appeal to consumers in new ways by matching color preferences to regions with the associated emotions and combining that with consumers’ ages, genders and lifestyle.

The survey asked consumers from around the globe about their color preferences: from overall appeal, to associated flavor expectations, and the emotions they triggered.

“The most interesting results of the survey were the regional variations between perception of colors – with regions preferring different colors for the same types of products,” adds Carel Soo, head of regional marketing for Oterra.

The survey also revealed that untraditional combinations of colors and products tempted consumers.

​“Pink and green sauces were surprisingly popular among consumers, who found them very appealing,” adds Carel Soo. “And red and purple were popular in foods such as noodles and even burger buns.”

One of the surprising facts to come out of the survey was that the same colors provoked different emotional reactions depending on the region, and the intensity of the color.

Orange was the most appealing shade for seasonings globally, followed very closely by yellow and pink. However, yellow was rated more appealing in Brazil, France, and India.

Black ranked at the bottom of the pile in appeal. Whilst many felt black seasonings were unappealing, they did note them for their elegance and air of mystery.

Consumers love a colorful sauce!

The most appealing color globally for sauces is yellow, but as with seasonings, there are regional variations. Among the top five colors, red stands out for the US and Europe, purple for Latin America and pink for Asia. While black is still bottom of the pile for sauces, it has the highest acceptance in this application versus the others.

The final category included in the survey was a group of savory products that are usually not colored. This included puffed snacks, burger buns, noodles, and gyoza dumplings.

“What’s really interesting with the products that aren’t generally colored, is that there is a strong acceptance for colors in them,” adds Soo. “There are, of course, regional variations in shade and strength, but there are real opportunities here for manufacturers looking to stand out from the crowd.”

The results of the survey have been made available in a web-based app that uses augmented reality to allow marketers and food and beverage developers to have some fun and experiment with colored products to test.

Ten countries were surveyed (Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, United Kingdom, United States) with at least 1000 respondents in each. They were asked questions about 10 savory applications: burger buns, burger sauces, dumplings, French fries, noodles, nuggets, potato chips, puffed snacks, salad dressings, and savory dips in different colors.