Amy Bond, Assistant Librarian and Information Specialist, Bord Bia – The Irish Food Board
Taste will always be of paramount importance for food and drink consumers, but the visual appeal of food is becoming more central to their decision making process. This ties in with Bord Bia’s Engaging Experiences Consumer Lifestyle Trend, which discusses consumers’ desire to share moments of discovery and delight, both offline and online ("Bord Bia Consumer Lifestyle Trends", 2019). Consumers want their food to be eye catching as well as delicious, to drive online engagement in particular.
One way to grab attention is through the use of colour. Mintel notes that colour has become a key tactic for giving consumers reason to pause in their feeds full of food imagery (Mintel, 2019). When they asked US consumers to describe food and drink designed to sharing on social media, 36% of Gen Z consumers and 28% of Millennials used the term colourful.
However, there needs to be caution when rushing to find the most vibrant and unusual colours to use in your products. As Bord Bia’s recent clean labelling research found, consumers are increasingly looking for more natural ingredients in their food (Bord Bia, 2019). This means consumers are increasingly wary of the use of artificial colours in their food. Mintel urges companies to focus on the use of natural colours, and communicate their naturalness and safety (Mintel, 2019).
Consumers’ desire for health also provides an opportunity for colourful food and drink, as eating a wide range of colours is becoming seen as a way to ensure you are getting all your required nutrients. The American Heart Association has even developed visual guides based on colour to encourage consumers to eat a balanced diet (Mintel, 2019). Food producers can use colour to help guide consumers towards a balanced diet.
Some recent food and drink trends have been directly inspired by food ingredients, like the bright yellow of turmeric, the green of matcha tea, and black products created using charcoal. These colours have even had an impact within fashion and home decor. Mintel notes that food and drink can be similarly inspired by colour schemes coming through from the fashion and design industries. Some of the key trends they see coming through are muted pastels, bright colours, and earth tones (Mintel, 2019)
As colour provides consumers a way to stand out, playing with colour can help Irish food and drink producers stand out with consumers. However, this needs to be done in a way that is mindful of other consumer concerns, and with enough imagination to really add a new splash of colour to consumers’ lives.
References
Bord Bia Consumer Lifestyle Trends. (2019). Retrieved 24 July 2019, from https://www.bordbiaconsumerlifestyletrends.ie/
Bord Bia. (2019). What Does Clean Mean?. Bord Bia. Retrieved from https://www.bordbia.ie/globalassets/bordbia.ie/industry/marketing-reports/consumer-reports/what-does-clean-mean-2019.pdf
Mintel. (2019). Social Media Sets Tone for Colour in the US. Mintel. Retrieved from https://www.mintel.com/
Mintel. (2019). Social Media Sets Tone for Colour in the US. Mintel. Retrieved from https://www.mintel.com/