The Psychology of Packaging Colors in Food Branding

When a shopper walks down the grocery aisle, color is the first thing they notice. Before they ever read your label or taste your product, the color of your packaging tells them what to expect.

In food and beverage branding, color isn’t decoration — it’s communication. The right palette helps customers instantly recognize flavor, quality, and category. The wrong one creates confusion and missed sales.

A Real-World Example: The Indian-Inspired Chip Brand

We once worked with a founder creating a line of Indian-inspired chips. Each flavor had distinct ingredients and spice blend. The founder wanted to highlight his inspiration through the packaging.

He decided that the colors for the three chip varieties would represent colors found on the Indian flag:

• Spinach – Blue

• Sea Salt – Green

• Original – Orange

It was a creative and meaningful idea. But in practice, it caused confusion for customers.

When shoppers saw a blue bag, they didn’t think “spinach.” They thought “blueberry” or “cool ranch.” The green bag, which was meant for sea salt, read as “herb,” “veggie,” or ironically, "Spinach." And the orange bag, used for the original flavor, didn’t signal “plain” at all — instead, it looked spicy or cheesy.

Even though the concept was creativity, it broke a cardinal rule of food packaging: colors already carry strong associations in the minds of consumers.

As a result, customers had trouble distinguishing flavors and didn’t immediately understand what they were buying. Sales slowed, and the packaging had to be redesigned to better align with category norms and flavor expectations.

The takeaway? You can — and should — express creativity in your brand design, but not at the expense of clarity. Customers move fast in-store. They rely on color to make quick decisions.

How Color Shapes Food Perception

Packaging colors are directly tied to flavors, expectations, and category norms. Consumers have learned through years of repetition that certain hues signal certain tastes.

When your color choices align with those expectations, people recognize your product faster and feel confident picking it up.

• Blueberry flavor? Customers expect blue or purple.

• Matcha or mint? They look for green.

• Strawberry or raspberry? Red or pink means fruity and sweet.

• Lemon or banana? Yellow signals bright and citrusy.

You can absolutely be creative — but always within the framework of what your target shopper already knows. Make it is for the customer to know what they are buying. 

Common Packaging Colors and What They Convey

Why Color Strategy Matters for Food Founders

Your color palette becomes part of your brand’s identity system. When used consistently across packaging, marketing, and signage, it builds instant recognition — even from across the aisle.

A strong color strategy helps you:

• Stand out in crowded retail aisles

• Communicate flavor and benefits at a glance

• Support your brand story through emotion and tone

• Reinforce your value proposition — whether it’s freshness, indulgence, or energy

• Streamline expansion by assigning consistent flavor colors across SKUs

Putting It Into Practice

When designing your first packaging:

1. 1. Start with what consumers already know. Identify your category’s dominant colors and flavor norms. If you work with us, we can help! 

   2. Use those associations to your advantage. Customers shop fast — color should help them make an instant, correct decision.

   3. Differentiate smartly. You can add unique accents or design elements, but your main color should still connect to flavor expectations.

   4. Test before printing. What looks great on-screen might look muted or confusing under store lighting.

   5. Use AI tools like ChatGPT, Canva, or Figma AI to test different color pairings and flavor associations before finalizing your design. Then, work with a professional designer to clean up and prepare your files for production.