Everyone is moving to natural colors.
The future of the food and beverage market is naturally colored, and that future is fast becoming the present. Brands of all sizes are making the transition from synthetic dyes, with publicly stated deadlines for conversion already beginning to come to fruition.
Over half of consumers say they avoid artificial colors when shopping for food and drink (Mintel 2025). Retailers are reinforcing this surge in interest by making public mandates for natural ingredients. Walmart announced in 2025 that it would remove all synthetic dyes from its own private label products. Target placed a priority on the cereal aisle in 2026, requiring all cereal products on its shelves in-store and online to be free from synthetic dyes with less than a fiscal quarter of lead time.
Consumer expectations are shifting to natural first.
Fortunately, these proactive investments and years of natural color R&D have created a brilliant toolkit for developers to use in natural color conversion projects.
Nature’s brightest rainbow includes options to replace all major synthetic dyes. Explore solutions for each hue:
Many brand managers and developers are not yet familiar with the nuances of natural color development. Fortunately, Sensient’s team of color experts is ready to help with a toolkit across the rainbow, technical expertise to make colors work perfectly in end applications, scale-up experience to troubleshoot manufacturing, and supply chain insights to keep up with accelerated timelines.
How can we help?
