Natural Color for Fat-Based Sprinkles and Morsels
We Deserve a Sweet Treat:
Shoppers Love Incremental Indulgence
Consumers love a treat, and a sweet baked good can be perfect for a moment of indulgence. Whether a delicious addition to a routine shopping trip or an add-on with a pick-me-up beverage on the go, baked goods catch shoppers’ eyes as incremental purchases.
36% of consumers purchasing sweet baked goods like cookies are motivated to purchase by inclusions, such as sprinkles, morsels, and gems, according to Mintel.
Bringing color to inclusions helps give visual emphasis in the end product. Fortunately, nature’s rainbow is ready to be unleashed in oil-based inclusion or “onclusion” applications:
Getting Started with
Natural Color in Fat-Based
Sprinkles & Morsels
The key to color use in sprinkles and morsels, which are oil-based applications, is getting colors fully incorporated.
Any water-soluble color (synthetic or natural) will result in either congealing, which is seen with aqueous liquids, or specking, which is seen with aqueous powders. Depending on the target shade and end application, light stability or potentially heat sensitivity may also play a role. Developers will also need to consider color bleed from sprinkle to sprinkle or morsel to morsel in the finished good. Sensient’s Microfine™ technology helps “lock” colors in place to mitigate this risk.
Let’s Unleash The Rainbow Together!
Red & Pink
Sensient’s Microfine™ portfolio includes several red and pink options, including beet and anthocyanin-based solutions as well as blends to achieve specific hues. Blazing Red Microfine™ and Pink Microfine™ have been optimized to create bold pinks and reds in oil-based applications.
Orange
Paprika Oleoresin offers a bold orange hue but may risk color bleed in morsels and sprinkles. Orange Microfine™ creates bright oranges while mitigating the bleed potential.
Yellow
Turmeric-based options in sprinkles and morsels work well for particularly bright hues, but introduce the potential for light and bleed issues. Our riboflavin-based Yellow Microfine™ provides bold yellows without the light and bleed risks.
Blue
Although blue can be scarce in nature, Sensient’s portfolio includes several options for blue in morsels and sprinkles, including Blue Microfine™, a spirulina-based solution.
Green
Sensient’s ability to create blends of natural blue and yellow solutions like those discussed above offers developers a wide range of greens.
Purple
As with natural greens, natural purples can be created from a blend of natural blues with natural reds. In sprinkles and gems, we typically reach first for a blend of Blue Microfine™ and Berry Microfine™.
Brown
A caramel-based Microfine™ can give developers a wide range of brown hues in oil-based morsels and sprinkles. However, for those brands seeking to avoid Prop 65 labeling requirements, a blend of natural blue, yellow, and red colors can also be used.
Black
As with browns, high dosages of
caramel-based Microfine™ can create black hues in morsels and sprinkles. Similarly, custom blends of natural blue, yellow, and red options in the rainbow creates black.
White
Titanium dioxide creates a bright white hue in all food applications, but with recent consumer and regulatory pushback, many brands need clean label white. Sensient’s Avalanche™ portfolio offers just that in a range of products designed to work in applications like morsels and sprinkles.
