Pink and Green and how we perceive the taste

De Sousa and colleagues report that “participants expected the coffee associated with the pink label to taste sweeter than the green labelled coffee, whereas the coffee associated with the green label was expected to be more acidic than the pink labelled coffee. . . . consumers’ expectations did not carry over to influence the actual tasting experience. . . .previous literature show[ed] . . . the angular shape increased the expectation of acidity when compared to the round shape. . . . expectations triggered by shape of the design elements of the packaging label did not go on to influence the actual drinking experience. . . .

The coffee associated with the angular/green [that is, a label that is angular and green] or the round/pink labels received higher liking and purchase intent ratings than the angular/pink and the round/green ones, respectively.”

The de Sousa lead team also share  that previous research (Spence et al., 2015) determined that pink is linked to sweet tastes and green is tied to sour ones.  Also, earlier studies linked sweeter flavours to rounder shapes and bitter or acidic ones to angular shapes.

Maisa de Sousa, Fabiana Carvalho, and Rosemary Pereira.  2020. “Colour and Shape of Design Elements of the Packaging Labels Influence Consumer Expectations and Hedonic Judgments of Specialty Coffee.”  Food Quality and Preference, vol. 83, 103902, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.103902