Differentiation with Naturally Bright Shades in Plant-Based Alternatives

The Growing Popularity of Dairy Alternatives

The Appeal: Dairy alternatives enjoy growing popularity among consumers. These products appeal not only to people on a plant-based diet but enjoy growing popularity among consumers eating animal-derived products but trying to incorporate more plants into their diet.
How Brands Can Stand Out: As demand rises, new exciting concepts give a great opportunity for brands to stand out. New flavours can appeal to both existing buyers looking for something different and consumers who are about to try a plant-based alternative for the first time. Concurrently, consumers’ desire for “clean” food and beverages further evolves. Consumers are looking for simple and recognizable ingredients. As vegan dairy alternatives can be perceived as too processed with too many artificial ingredients, more natural products have a great chance to win consumers over.

The Relevancy of Colouring

As dairy alternatives aim to mimic well-known, traditional products, matching both the original flavour and look is crucial for consumer acceptance. Colour plays a significant role in dairy alternatives. For example, cheese analogues without any added colour often have a muted, light shade. However, an eye-catching cheddar-like analogue would require a bright orange colour to meet the visual expectations of consumers.

Meeting the visual expectation is one thing, but Sensient consumer research has validated further why colour is important:

Colour is an important driver of product appeal and product associations
Colour intensity can raise consumer impression of a more appetizing and higher quality product
Colour intensity can raise consumer impression of a more tasty and flavourful product

As mentioned in our previous article on dairy alternatives, there are some key technical details to consider when using natural colourings for plant-based alternatives:

Starting base/recipe shade due to dairy-free material

Packaging & oxygen permeation

Heat processing/ treatment

Acidity & pH

However, the shade of the base is not a limitation.

Bright and intense colours can be achieved regardless, no need to compromise on the colour. To prove this, let’s take a look at a few naturally vibrant examples from different plant-based categories…

Plant-Based Ice Cream

Nearly 40% of French consumers said that ice creams with more indulgent recipes (e.g. extra chocolate) would prompt them to eat them more often (Mintel). At the same time, 54% of Italian consumers report that they would buy more ice cream if it had all-natural ingredients. At first glance, these consumer desires might sound somewhat controversial. However, vegan ice creams and desserts with novel flavours (e.g. inspired by bakery items or alcoholic drinks), made of natural ingredients can leverage these interests.

The Cardea range of colouring foods enables you to achieve a bright colour in both dairy- and water-based ice creams naturally. Due to the unique composition of recognizable natural ingredients, the entire formulation is free of additives and preservatives. The perfect solution for an all-natural positioning.

If you would like to achieve a creamier appearance or make your coloured products stand out with a brighter shade by lightening your base, the Avalanche range is here to help.

Sensient is here to help you achieve the desired shade in your plant-based application.

If you have any questions about a specific project, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or my team! If you’re already ready to go, feel free to request a sample to begin benchwork.

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