From playful to poignant: Nature concerns inspire new color directions, highlights GNT

23 Apr 2024 --- GNT Group, supplier of plant-based Exberry colors for F&B, has identified “Regeneration Rising” as a key industry trend for 2024. The trend is marked by a renewed appreciation for the natural world and a desire to protect the planet. 

“Regeneration Rising is all about restoration — growing and harvesting raw materials in a way that positively impacts the land and the environment,” Maartje Hendrickx, market development manager, GNT Group, tells Food Ingredients First. 

“Consumers of all ages are paying more attention to sustainability in food and drink. They’re looking at the origins of the raw materials and how products are produced. That means products must communicate the right messages around their eco-credentials to appeal.”

Dieuwertje Raaijmakers, marketing communications specialist at GNT Group, agrees that F&B companies have to showcase their commitment to the planet, and color can play an important role in telling that story. 

“[Colors] help brands create appealing products that send out strong visual signals about how they’re produced.”

GNT produced a Color Futures design book to inspire food developers with nature-themed color palettes The Regeneration Rising trend is also inspiring new color palettes as brands seek to convey instinctive messages about how their products are created. Using visually impactful colors that can be found growing on land and in the sea helps manufacturers showcase products’ eco-credentials and build emotional connections with consumers.

Color directions, not trends 
The company reveals three new color directions in its latest Colors Futures book. The artful compilation combines deep analysis across social media, consumer research and trending design imagery into three new color directions. 

“Unlike color trends, color directions are about using a palette of colors to convey particular messages and evoke certain emotions,” explains Hendrickx.

The “Elevated Earth” color direction features earthy shades, including textured purples, red-browns, warm oranges and inky blues. The palette elevates products with an organic but premium look and feel. A product example could be sourdough loaves colored with deep reds and teals, and flavored with nutritious earthy ingredients such as algae.

“Nature Lab” is about pushing the boundaries of what is considered natural and features a kaleidoscopic spectrum of bold, bright green, pink, red, yellow, orange-blue, and otherworldly hues derived from algae, fruits, berries and wildflowers. 

It’s largely characterized by vibrant greens and blues, bright, transparent oranges, highly saturated magentas and fuchsias, rich and saturated yellows and vibrant reds. This is seen in RTDs with vibrant, saturated hues.

“Wholesome Nostalgia” is about comfort and reassurance, with hues ranging from velvet-like to milky, translucent, muted and dreamlike. The key shades include elegant blues, comforting greens, pretty white-pinks and lemony yellows. Product examples include gentle pastel ice creams and creamy blended yogurts.

“These color directions can be used to create really eye-catching products while conveying a message to consumers about the naturality of the raw materials and how they’re created. It’s about establishing a clear product identity that will build instinctive connections with consumers,” highlights Hendrickx. 

Wholesome Nostalgia is about comfort and reassurance, with hues ranging from velvet-like to milky, translucent, muted and dreamlike.Shift in values
“Regeneration Rising” builds on GNT’s “Healthy Hedonism” trend, which was developed at the end of 2022. 

“With Healthy Hedonism, a lot of the focus was on striking combinations of bold and bright colors,” says Hendrickx. 

“It was driven by the younger generations and their creativity, but it was also a reflection of the desire for joy and escapism as we emerged from the pandemic. More often than not, younger generations are at the heart of new trends. That was absolutely the case for Healthy Hedonism.”

Beyond the eye-catching colors, Healthy Hedonism was also about the growing demand for natural and sustainable food and drink.

“But while Generation Z’s positive spirit plays an important role in Regeneration Rising, its key themes are important to consumers of all generations,” says Hendrickx.

The focus now is shifting much more onto sustainability and trying to build a better long-term future. That is driving the use of colors that evoke the natural world. 

“But that doesn’t mean they’re all earthy and muted,” she adds. “It can include a whole range of vibrant shades, such as the hyperreal pinks, vivid oceanic teals and neon greens found in fruits, vegetables and plants.”

Three key drivers
GNT has identified three core drivers at the heart of Regeneration Rising:

The first is “Regeneration,” and the growing demand for better ingredients that positively benefit people and the land through practices such as cover cropping, crop rotation and increasing biodiversity.

The second is “Community Joy,” referring to the growth in community farming and local food initiatives that create authentic food and drink products. These schemes help to rebuild connections with nature and create joy and unity. 

The third driver is “Going Slow,” which is all about the rise of lower-impact lifestyles promoting self-care through balanced, mindful diets.

Dieuwertje Raaijmakers, marketing communications specialist, says that F&B companies have to showcase their commitment to the planet.As part of its commitment to increasing biodiversity, GNT is actively sowing wildflowers onto fallow fields, as detailed in its recently published sustainability report. 

No one-size-fits-all approach
While trends and analysis can give color directions, Hendrickx points out that each application should be viewed in a unique way. 

The company offers creative workshops where it works with customers to “look at color in a new way” and understand how the Regeneration Rising color directions can be harnessed to create effective products.

“We look at topics such as consumer need states and category developments to inform the innovation process but there’s no one-size-fits-all solution — it’s all about finding the colors that fit with the specific messages each brand wants to send out,” Hendrickx concludes.

By Missy Green