Bold colour can power new food and drink products that help consumers connect, explore culture, and find comfort in challenging times, new research from GNT Group shows.

As people worldwide navigate instability and digital overload, shared eating and drinking occasions are becoming a joyful way to come together, express identity, and feel grounded.

This shift is transforming the look and feel of food and drink, putting colour at the center of experiences that feel more social, expressive, and emotionally resonant.

The Gather Together report explains how consumer behaviour is changing and shows how natural shades can inspire new products that reflect their desire for shared, sensory-rich moments.

Dieuwertje Raaijmakers, Marketing Communications Specialist at GNT Group, said: “People are looking to food and drink for connection, comfort, and creativity – and colour helps spark those moments. Gather Together shows how brands can tap into this momentum using plant-based shades that resonate with how consumers want to eat and share today.”

The Gather Together analysis highlights four new trend directions, each supported by an inspirational colour palette to help guide new product development:

• Joyful Unity celebrates communal eating in familiar or reinvented spaces, expressed through warm, hearty shades inspired by seasonal, nourishing, and comforting dishes.
• Cultural Celebration reflects rising interest in regional authenticity and hyper-local flavour exploration, characterized by bold, saturated tones rooted in culinary heritage.
• Sensory Escape showcases surreal, multisensory food experiences that offer a break from routine, with unconventional, mysterious, and futuristic hues.
• Branded Bites highlights the rise of hybrid brand collaborations, from retail cafés to limited-edition snacks, using fresh citrus and floral tones to create uplifting visuals.

In addition to the Gather Together report, GNT is offering category-specific guidance, prototype concepts, and application support across beverages, confectionery, dairy, and bakery.

For more information about Gather Together, visit: https://exberry.com/en/gather-together-color-trends

dsm-firmenich, innovators in nutrition, health, and beauty, announces ‘Frosted Star Anise’ as its Flavour of the Year for 2026. This forward-thinking flavour draws from the Pantone Colour of the Year 2026: ‘PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer’, a lofty white hue which inspired dsm-firmenich to elevate both an ingredient and a feeling as the 2026 Flavour of the Year. Together, these two emotional indicators reflect a growing global desire for calm in an increasingly fast-paced world.

‘Frosted Star Anise’ combines the comforting warmth of star anise with a cool, frosted twist. This distinctive pairing is more than flavourful – it represents a dual aspiration: peace and tranquility, embodied by star anise, and revitalization, captured in the refreshing frosted element.

“Innovation and cultural insight are at the heart of what we do at dsm-firmenich,” said Maurizio Clementi, EVP for Taste at dsm-firmenich. “Building on star anise’s quiet rise and the growing fascination with cooling and other trigeminal sensations, ‘Frosted Star Anise’ fulfills today’s craving for balance and a breath of fresh air.”

‘Frosted Star Anise’: a flavour with many dimensions

Star anise is a striking, star-shaped spice with a sweet-spicy profile and notes of licorice, clove, and cinnamon. It features in global cuisines – from Vietnamese pho to Moroccan tagine to Mexican café de olla to Chinese five-spice-inspired blends – and in comforting classics like chai, mulled wine, and jams. It also shines in adventurous applications such as root beer floats, BBQ sauce, and confectionery and savory dishes where it adds complexity and aromatic depth.

The “frosted” element introduces cooling sensations through ingredients like mint or advanced technologies such as dsm-firmenich’s freezestorm™.

“Cooling isn’t a taste – it’s a complex sensation triggered by temperature-sensitive receptors,” explained Jeffrey Schmoyer, VP Human Insights, Taste, Texture & Health at dsm-firmenich. “These trigeminal sensations – which also include spiciness, warming, and numbing—enhance flavour in exciting, multidimensional ways.”

Flavour innovation rooted in consumer and cultural insights

To select its Flavour of the Year, dsm-firmenich analyses emerging ingredients – including those hiding in plain sight. According to the company’s analysis of product launch data, nearly 10,000 products have featured star anise as an ingredient over the past decade, yet only 10 % highlighted this fact front-of-pack – a trend now shifting as the profile of star anise rises in awareness. Additionally, dsm-firmenich’s Emotion360 global survey of ingredient perception reveals that while two-thirds of consumers recognise star anise, only 34 % have reportedly tasted it – an opportunity for brands to introduce and shape how the flavour is experienced. Notably, star anise is gaining traction in hot and alcoholic drinks – categories that often signal future flavour trends.

“Star anise is a ‘secret weapon’ – ubiquitous yet underappreciated,” said Schmoyer. “It’s time this versatile ingredient gets the attention it deserves.”

Cooling and frosted elements are also trending, especially in beverages, but increasingly in other categories – like refreshing jellies, shaved ice, and chilled soups – and even in beauty and home care, where “frosted” conveys elegance and uplifting freshness.

dsm-firmenich has also created a fragrance inspired by ‘Frosted Star Anise’ – an ethereal composition that captures the magic of stardust, with a delicate cotton candy lightness swirling around the shimmering spice of anise.

Leading the way: flavour as an emotional experience

Whether introducing trigeminal sensations that bring exciting new tastes, offering ingredient solutions for enhanced nutritional functionality, or identifying flavour opportunities that many overlook, dsm-firmenich is uniquely positioned to understand – and deliver – what consumers demand from their food and beverages today.

“Flavour of the Year is more than a taste – it embodies cultural sentiment and emerging trends,” added Clementi. “It’s an astute sense of ‘what’s next,’ distilled into an experience that resonates emotionally with consumers. That’s at the heart of what we do every day.”

Americans are increasingly longing for the “good old days” amid rapid social and economic changes in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the pressures of modern life, inflation, and the current cost-of-living crisis. Brands are looking to cash in on consumer inclination for nostalgia by bringing pack products and packaging from the bygone era to evoke a sense of familiarity, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Meenakshi Haran, Lead Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Nostalgia is often a sensory experience for consumers who are sentimental about a period or place that they have experienced before. They seek familiar flavours, fragrances, or products that take them back to that time or place. Americans, in particular, are feeling nostalgic about the “good times” and looking for familiarity in the food & drinks products they choose, as affirmed by 67 % of respondents in GlobalData consumer survey*.

“By bringing back old-style flavors and products, brands are hoping to tug at the heartstrings of consumers looking for comfort in fond memories. Olipop, for instance, claims to be a new kind of soda in retro cans, reminiscent of nostalgic packaging designs, while Spindrift a sparkling water brand introduced two new variants inspired by the 1990s when purple grape-flavoured products were popular. Similarly, Oreo debuted its new limited-edition “dirt cake” flavour that claims to be a spin on the classic childhood-favourite, mud-pie dessert.”

Haran continues: “Given the plethora of new product launches that are trying to differentiate themselves and gain a share of the consumer’s wallet, companies should try to differentiate their products and make them stand out on retail shelves. The launch of retro-themed products and packaging reflects an effort to attract consumers. This is corroborated by as many as 29 % of American respondents who claim that new experiences with product purchases are essential, while an additional 24 % state unique/novel features are essential*.”

Haran concludes: “While the desire for retro products is high among American consumers, brands must strike a balance between nostalgia and sensory expectations of visual and taste experiences to keep consumers coming back and drive sales. They need to ensure that there is a right mix of novelty and nostalgia to entice consumers.”

*GlobalData 2023 Q4 Consumer Survey – US, published in December 2023, 500 respondents