How do colour and flavour impact the beverage sector?

Colour and flavour are two of the main characteristics associated with food, and possibly even more so with drinks. Colour has in fact always been used to attract consumers to one’s product, in much the same way as the intensity of colour can provide information on the flavour of a drink. According to the latest webinar “Flavour and colour innovations across the beverages market” held by Fi Food Ingredients, colour seems to be becoming just as important a feature as flavour, as it is closely associated with certain sensations, such as appetite, or emotions such as happiness or well-being.

Innova Market highlights that there are two trends related to innovation in the area of colour and flavour: generational drive, or the desire of younger consumers to try new and trendy beverages, and so-called ‘revenge spending‘, which means the desire of consumers to indulge in pleasant moments through the consumption of beverages with positive connotations, such as mood enhancement.

The power of colour and taste in beverages

According to the consumers of Gen Z and millennials (18-35 years), the most important characteristics of food and beverages are flavour, low price, and taste, while consumers of Gen X and Boomers place more importance on the naturalness of the product, followed by goodness and taste.

It is important to distinguish between taste and flavour, which are sometimes used interchangeably. Taste mainly refers to the perception of sweet, sour, bitter, and salty, and all other tastes perceived by taste receptors in the oral cavity. Flavour, on the other hand, refers to what is detected by the retronasal olfactory component, such as the scent of floral, fruity, smoky, citrusy, and many others (source: The Crucial Role of Colour in the Perception of Beverages)

Taste and flavour remain important aspects for consumers, who are increasingly demanding variety and innovation. Yet, according to Innova Market, despite the demand for variety, consumers are still attached to and influenced by familiar flavours (47%), those considered healthy (46%), and nostalgic flavours (37%). One innovation in the area of flavours and tastes in beverages is the rise in popularity of fruit flavours, such as watermelon, yuzu, lime, and dragon fruit, as well as flower-related flavours, such as rose, lavender and chamomile, and spices, such as ginger and turmeric.

The issue of having ‘clean label‘ products with natural ingredients on the label still remains an issue with consumers, who underline the importance of the colouring agent used being natural, not artificial or synthetic (2 out of 5 consumers, Innova Market). Food colours derived from spices are on the rise, as is the demand for colours such as turmeric for yellow, beetroot for pink, spirulina for blue, annatto extract and carotenoids for orange, and chlorophyll for green. In particular, ingredients derived from microalgae with colours ranging from blue to green are gaining popularity both as natural colourants and for their importance in health due to their high nutritional value.

Challenges for natural colour production

The search for new sources of natural food colourants is an important topic, as colours found in nature may be unstable and available only in small quantities. Recent developments include the findings of researchers at Wageningen University, who have developed a method to cultivate microalgae from volcanic hot springs, from which natural blue food colouring could be obtained. This is possible because the microalgae species, G. sulphuraria, contains significant amounts of phycocyanin, a natural blue pigment that is typically obtained from cyanobacteria or spirulina. Various techniques such as precision fermentation, upcycling and high-pressure finishing are being used to obtain natural colourants as well as new flavourings to enable brands to use more natural and sustainable ingredients that can increase the attractiveness of their products to consumers.