We not only eat with our eyes, we also drink with our eyes. Seventy-five per cent of the first visual assessment of any consumer product is based on colour alone. However, it is not only the shade that determines whether a product finds its way into the shopping basket.
Consumers are becoming increasingly sensitive towards certain kinds of colourings: it is ranked very important or extremely important to 74 per cent of Asians that a product is free from artificial colours and made with natural alternatives. This is the result of a global consumer survey that was conducted by market research institute TNS on behalf of the GNT Group, the leading global provider of Colouring Foods.
Accordingly, more than four out of five people check the labels when shopping at the supermarket to see whether or not the ingredients meet their expectations.
Shoppers have a clear idea in mind: every second Asian expects natural food colourings to only originate from edible raw materials such as fruit and vegetables. Synthetically made colours are deemed acceptable by only three per cent. These results clearly underline the growing interest of consumers in natural, plant-based ingredients. Food manufacturers should take this into account in order to conquer the coveted eye-level space on supermarket shelves.
