Red to stir up food and beverage launches in 2021
The color red can make consumers perceive food to taste sweeter.
Did 2020 have you seeing red? You’ll probably see it next year, too.
GNT, maker of Exberry food color, predicts red will be the top food and beverage color in 2021, thanks to its ability to spark powerful emotions.
Red is said to evoke love, passion and anger, but in addition to those feelings, GNT says it can inspire excitement and encourage consumers to explore food and drink. Red can also be extra appealing to the highly visual “Instagram generation.”
“Red was the natural choice for our new Love Color with Exberry campaign,” said Maartje Hendrickx, GNT’s market development manager. “It epitomizes human vitality, creating energy, passion and positive action, and brings real excitement to food and drink products. Red is well known for its ability to command instant attention, and it’s a color you won’t be able to ignore in 2021.”
This makes perfect sense. After a tumultuous year, a dynamic color like red can motivate us to move forward and give us the power to look toward the future. And in terms of color theory, it’s almost the exact opposite of Classic Blue, Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2020. That ended up being a perfect fit.
Emphasis on red can also be a good thing for confectioners. Citing research by Charles Spence, an Oxford psychologist, Reader’s Digest reported red can give consumers the perception that something tastes sweeter.
Candy brands have already taken advantage of this phenomenon. In 2016, Starburst introduced the FaveReds mix, which featured only red and pink candies in Watermelon, Cherry, Strawberry and Fruit Punch flavors. Mike and Ike also released the Red Rageous mix, featuring Strawberry, Raspberry, Watermelon, Fruit Punch and Cherry flavors.
Life Savers offers hard candy in a singular Wild Cherry flavor. Gimbal’s also developed an all cherry jelly bean mix with nine different flavors. (That would be perfect for my dad, who picks all the red jelly beans out of more traditional mixes before anyone else can get to them.)
We’ll see what 2021 brings, but the color red — and red candy — should at least make it seem sweeter.
