Colour and food packaging

Product branding also relies heavily on the use of colour for recognition. Without reading you can tell the difference between Baxter’s, Campbell’s and Heinz soups simply by the colour of the label on the tin.

Colour is used to make products more appealing and single them out. It can also promote impulse buying.

A basic common colour language is used. The background colour of the packaging tends to reflect the actual or desired colour of the product, whilst ‘new’ or ‘improved’ messages are red and yellow, colours which stand out.

Colour is also used by manufacturers to plant specific ideas in our minds about their products, for example using white, blue and grey packaging to indicate the freshness and purity of white flour and sugar. Adding red to these three colours denotes a powerful product such as bleach. Orange and yellow is used on packaging for cereals and vitamins to convey the healthy energy these products are supposed to give. Green is used for environmentally friendly or vegetarian products.