Innovation in action Colorolicious From kitchen experiment to global potential: how Colorolicious could change the food industry

When Dr Ahu Gümrah Dumanli-Parry started experimenting in her kitchen during the 2020 lockdowns, she wasn’t making the sourdough that others were. Instead, she was building a theory about how colour formation in nature could translate to the foods we eat.

Ahu had been testing casting chocolate on diffraction gratings – a component in an optical system designed to manipulate light. “When you lifted it off, it became like a beautiful rainbow of iridescent chocolate”. She had also been working in Manchester’s Innovation Factory to see how she could retain and play with that colouration in other foods. So, confined to her house for a time, Ahu began to consider whether she could replace the artificial colours added to much of what we eat today, with naturally generated vibrant colours inspired by nature.

Most of the food colourants currently used in food today offer what Ahu calls a ‘rainbow of risks.’ Increasingly, studies suggest they can cause allergies, food sensitivities, asthma, and in certain cases are even connected to ADHD and cancer. Yet the alternative – natural colourants, like flower or vegetable extracts – whilst a healthier option, still have several downsides, not least a large carbon footprint in production and a propensity to fade quickly.

Ahu began to process sugar and turn it into liquid crystals that would reflect colour through its structure. This allowed her to exploit microscopic features to produce vibrant shimmering patterns – structural colours that would not fade for hundreds of years.

After lockdown, she was joined by PhD student Hongning Ren, who brought her own unique instincts to experimental outcomes. From their collaboration, the Colorolicious start-up was born. They believed it could prove to be a game-changer in the industry: "No one uses liquid crystals in food technology like this – we are uniquely unmatched in this space."

Their proof-of-concept design was the manufacture of 'gummy' sweets, as well as edible, iridescent 'slimes' (which they initially made accidentally, during the creation of gummies). Using structural colours like those seen in butterflies' wings and beetles' shells, the gummies could change colour when stretched or squeezed, creating a fun experience for children. Not only were there no colour additives, but the sugar was plant-based, creating a more sustainable process – better for both our health and our environment.

Now a few years on, the team have continued developing their technology and demonstrating its potential. They’ve found there’s a great deal more they could create, from cakes and pastries with a sparkle, to tea drinks with iridescent bubbles, as well as putting a more natural spin on gummies already employed as food supplements.

Ahu believes that starting with confectionary, all major companies will soon see the potential of their technology and want to licence it from them. “It will be really good to see in the next five to ten years, that our research from Manchester has had such a big impact on the food industry.”