As Target, Walmart and Aldi embrace naturally-colored food, brands rush to meet demand

Retailers are increasingly doing away with artificial colors in the cereal, frozen and snack aisles, and they are expecting brands to follow suit.

Earlier this year, Target unveiled a major update of its cereal aisle, announcing that by May, all cereals sold at Target would be made without certified synthetic colors. The retailer partnered with both brand and private-label partners to reformulate its full set of cereals, which also includes new and exclusive SKUs at Target. One of the new releases is the Good & Gather Kids cereal line, focused on low-added-sugar and high-protein recipes. In addition to reformulated versions of favorites like Lucky Charms and Trix, Target is also offering new SKUs like Lucky Charms’ Unicorn Cotton Candy cereal and Tropical Trix featuring Disney’s Moana, both made with colors from natural sources.

Other retailers like Walmart, Sam’s Club and, most recently, Aldi are in the process of making similar moves, though some of these changes won’t be completed for another year. According to Aldi, all foods that are under its exclusive owned brands will be free of certified synthetic food dyes, such as Red 40, Yellow 5 and Blue 1 by the end of 2027. The phasing out of artificial dyes is largely focused on categories that are popular with families, such as cereals, frozen treats and other pantry snacks.

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