KANSAS CITY, MO — A birthday cake cookie, a red velvet cupcake and a pistachio macaron … what do all three of these (potentially) have in common? The use of artificial colors and dyes.
With the FDA’s recent efforts urging food manufacturers to remove synthetic dyes from their portfolios, commercial and retail bakers are pivoting to update their packaged goods and menus, respectively.
In certain scenarios, reformulation can force bakers to start from scratch and hit the drawing board … majorly disrupting production. But what do Kooky Cookies, Ingrained Snacks, and Kind Crumbs have in common? They all use dye-free, plant-based ingredients that don’t skimp on splashes of color, helping them get in front of the dye-free pivot that’s set to impact countless businesses.
Whether providing all-natural baked goods from the beginning or reformulating after the health boom, the end goal remains the same: find suppliers who can help bakers make the switch.
An example of this is Kind Crumbs, which removed all dyes from its product line of gluten-free baked goods sold to grocery stores, restaurants and cafes throughout Grand Rapids, MI, this year. Now, the bakery uses Ultimate Baker’s sanding sugar on its frosted sugar cookies for a textured pop of color, along with Supernatural Kitchen’s dye-free sprinkles.
“[Supernatural Kitchen] is the first rainbow-colored sprinkle we’ve tried that meets our nutritional specs,” said Rebecca Duiven, owner of Kind Crumbs. “There’s no soy, no cross-contamination with dairy, gluten or nuts, and they have a vibrant color.”
Ingrained Snacks, known for its clean-label menu, also bakes with Supernatural Kitchen’s wide range of artificial-free ingredients and sources others from Terrasoul, a supplier of certified organic, fair trade and sustainably grown, nutrient-dense foods.
“They get a lot of their products all over the world,” said Sydney Verwilst, founder of Ingrained Snacks. “We also make our own chocolate in-house with Peruvian cacao, but when it comes to a chocolate chip, we’ve stuck with Hu Kitchen because of their commitment to using high-quality ingredients and no refined sugar.”
Health is a major factor driving many purchasing decisions, and in the baking realm, natural colors offer a dye-free alternative that maintains product appeal while balancing the better-for-you attributes customers are seeking. With the right ingredient supplier, bakers can meet this growing demand.
“I switched to dye-free sprinkles when I heard there was actually a good alternative that wasn’t muted color,” said Margarita McClure, founder and CEO of Kooky Cookies. “It’s also been really helpful that Supernatural Kitchen offers sprinkles in separate colors instead of all mixed in one.”
Among the many flavors Kooky Cookies offers — including Pineapple Upside Down, Caramel Apple Cider, and Strawberry Matcha — bright colors and unique flavor combinations are major selling points, but each is carefully crafted without synthetic additives. For example, its strawberry lemonade flavor is adorned with bright pink frosting, which gets its hue from powdered freeze-dried strawberries.
“I wanted to offer a better alternative,” Margarita said. “I had tried some dye-free ingredients before that I came across on Amazon, but they weren’t pretty, and they were very muted.”
Similarly, Ingrained Snacks carefully curated its menu to blend flavor and eye-catching color while ensuring clean-label integrity. The bakery prides itself on blending all-natural ingredients into innovative menu items, which it showcases throughout its various messaging.
“We capitalize on our ability to put spices together well and to manipulate the ingredients we use because they are all natural; there are no stabilizers in them, and we prefer that versus using things with stabilizers and gums,” Sydney said. “Our ultimate goal is the health of our customers, and a lot of our business communication is centered around our ingredients.”
The time is now to switch to dye-free ingredients. With the help of proper planning and budget-aligned suppliers, bakers can appeal to health-conscious customers, enhance brand awareness and future-proof their bakery cases.
