Pantone Color 2026: clarity & lightness

Colour trends play an important role in product development. Every year, the Pantone Color Institute chooses a colour of the year that sets the direction for upcoming design trends. This year, Pantone has unveiled "Cloud Dancer 11-4201" as the Color of the Year 2026. It is a sophisticated creamy off-white that embodies tranquility and renewal. This colour is a source of inspiration across many sectors, from fashion and interior design to food and beverages. The annual choice of a Colour of the Year captures social trends and aesthetic preferences and translates them into product design and packaging concepts. In the following, we show you how you can translate the Pantone Color of the Year 2026 "Cloud Dancer" into food, beverage and flavour concepts and integrate it into your product portfolio.

The natural and pure white "Cloud Dancer" replaces the earthy brown colour "Mocha Mousse" from 2025. While Mocha Mousse gave a feeling of comfort and sensory warmth, the white shade “Cloud Dancer” represents cleanliness, focus and clarity.

“At this time of transformation, when we are reimagining our future and our place in the world, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer is a discrete white hue offering a promise of clarity. The cacophony that surrounds us has become overwhelming, making it harder to hear the voices of our inner selves. A conscious statement of simplification, Cloud Dancer enhances our focus, providing release from the distraction of external influences,” comments Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute.
Source: https://www.pantone.com/eu/en/color-of-the-year/2026

Why Cloud Dancer resonates in today's world

As Pantone describes it, this "lofty color reads like a breath of fresh air," perfectly capturing our collective yearning for simplicity and authentic experiences in an era dominated by digital noise and constant stimulation.

This cloudy white shade symbolizes the consumers desire for:

• Respite from overstimulation in our digital era
• Simplicity in our complex world
• Clarity amid information overload
• Space for creativity and innovation

Cloud Dancer in Food & Beverage

For brands in the food and beverage industry, this is more than a design trend. It’s an opportunity to align products with consumer values of purity, wellness, and premium quality. Today’s consumers are increasingly drawn to products that feel natural and authentic. The elegant off-white tone visually communicates clean label, authenticity, and premium simplicity – qualities that are highly desirable in food and beverages.

Whether it’s a refreshing lemonade, a functional drink, or a creamy dessert, this colour creates an emotional connection that reinforces trust and quality. Cloud Dancer pairs perfectly with white flavours, like milk, yogurt or cream, creating a canvas for both classic and innovative taste experiences.

How AUSTRIA JUICE brings Cloud Dancer to life

The AUSTRIA JUICE experts are inspired by the varied possibility this trend offers, in the area of flavours for food or beverage concepts. Here is just a small selection:

1. Beverages

• Cloudy emulsions
  Emulsions are designed to deliver cloudiness, vibrant colour, and authentic taste. The colour of a ginger emulsion perfectly fit to the trend this year.
  
  
• Cocodration drinks
  With its 10 % coconut juice this drink is low of calories, vegan and has a pleasant flavour profile that makes it easy to blend with other tastes, like lime, passionfruit, raspberry, watermelon, matcha
  
  
• Carbonated soft drink cloudy lemon for premium refreshment
  
  
• Functional drink isotonic cloudy lemon-lime for active lifestyles

• Flavoured water cloudy with ashwagandha & yogurt-fruit flavour, like peach-apricot, strawberry or lemon-lime
  
  

2. Flavours

In the area of flavours, AUSTRIA JUICE has different "white" notes in its portfolio and can use them specifically for beverages or sweets such as biscuits or chocolates, depending on customer and taste preferences.
The white flavours captures Cloud Dancer's creamy essence through white, creamy or milky products. They form the basis for many beverage and food concepts that convey purity, naturalness and creaminess. Typical examples:

• Milk: neutral, creamy
  
  
• Yoghurt: slightly sour, fresh, creamy
  
  
• Cream & butter: rich, round, full-bodied
  
  
• Mascarpone, quark, kefir: varying textures and flavour profiles
  
  
• White chocolate: sweet, premium

These flavours serve as versatile foundations for creative flavour combinations.

Suitable flavour combinations with white flavours:

• Fruity: strawberry yoghurt, mango milk, citrus cream
  
  
• Sweet & warm: vanilla butter, honey yoghurt
  
  
• Trendy: coconut milk, floral notes such as elderberry or lavender

3. Food application concepts

The colour Cloud Dancer with its noble look makes chocolates and pralines stand out big. The off-white tone also stands for small moments of pleasure. Confectionery and bakery can be refined with a variety of flavours that thematically reflect the Pantone Color of the Year. Here are some examples:

• Praline fillings with yoghurt or milk flavour
  
  
• Cookie filling with yoghurt flavour
  
  
• Toffee with cream flavour
  
  
• Cookie with butter flavour
  
  
• Toppings with mascarpone or white chocolate flavour
  
  
• Pastry filling with curd cheese flavour

The AUSTRIA JUICE experts can tailor these and many other product ideas to optimally reflect the 2026 colour trend and turn it into your successful product. Cloud Dancer opens exciting possibilities for product development:

• Functional beverages that combine visual appeal with wellness benefits
  
  
• Plant-based alternatives that leverage the color's natural associations
  
  
• Exotic cocktails for the premium bar market

• Fine confectionery and bakery creations with light and creamy fillings

Every year: A colour that shapes the world

The Pantone Color of the Year is determined through a comprehensive analysis process. With its color trends, Pantone is considered a trendsetter in a wide variety of industries, such as art, fashion, design, lifestyle and technology. The selected colour is intended to reflect current global developments and capture the spirit of the times.

A look at the Pantone colours of recent years shows how the colour trends have developed and which social currents they reflect. 2025: Mocha Mousse, a cozy and elegant brown colour represented mindful indulgence and earthy sophistication. 2024: Peachfuzz was a soft peach shade that represents optimism and renewal. 2023: Viva Magenta symbolizes the values of energy and joie de vivre as a strong, pulsating red. 2022: Very Peri was a dynamic blue-violet that encourages creativity and innovation.

These colours each have their own stories and meanings, which are reflected in design trends and consumer preferences. Cloud Dancer fits seamlessly into this range, bringing a new dimension of serenity and freshness to the colour palette.

Conclusion:

Pantone's Cloud Dancer represents more than a color trend – it's a reflection of our collective desire for authenticity, balance, and clarity. In the food and beverage industry, this off-white shade offers brands a powerful tool for connecting with consumers seeking respite from digital overwhelm and artificial experiences.

Let Cloud Dancer inspire your next product development. With the comprehensive portfolio of AUSTRIA JUICE you can create functional beverages with cloudy formulations or explore white flavours in everything from like classic milk and yogurt profiles to white chocolate-flavoured pralines.

The Color of the Year 2026 invites you to embrace the power of serenity, creating products that offer consumers not just refreshment, but a moment of calm in their busy lives.