Tasty Shapes
Serving the same, exact hamburger at a McDonald’s or at a high-cuisine fair tricks our brains into actually tasting something different, just like it happened to a few Dutch foodies in a viral YouTube video. That is the reason why restaurants carefully design their space, service, music, to positively impact the food enjoyment. But when ordering food from home, only one contextual factor is controlled by the restaurant: the packaging.
Packaging is what we first come in contact with when we receive our order and it often represents the actual dish from which customers eat. Unconsciously, our brain draws important expectations from it about how the food is going to taste. How? Here are few key things researches have learned so far.
Materials. Heavier, thicker, tougher packaging is generally a sign of higher quality for our minds. A 2011 study asked people to evaluate 3 different bowls of yogurt, differing only in the weight of the bowls themselves. The heaviest bowl was considered as having more intense and better taste, despite being the same yogurt. Another study found that harder-to-open bags of chips make us expect a better taste than an easier-to-open one.
Colors. A higher color contrast between the food and its container makes for a better taste. So, in a study, white plates made people taste better the same dessert versus black plates. Specific colors seem to have different implications as well. Participants tasted salty popcorn sweeter when eaten from a blue or red bowl, while sweet popcorns felt saltier when taken from the blue bowl. Studies found that people tend to eat less when food is served in a red plate. Others find that green and blue packaging tends to be linked to higher healthiness, while red packaging is perceived as sweeter.
Shapes. Sweeter tastes or smells tend to be more associated with rounder shapes, while higher intensity, bitterness and saltiness are linked to angular shapes. A 2007 study showed a few participants some shapes drawn on a piece of paper and made them taste a piece of cheese. Those who were shown angular shapes tasted the same cheese as 7% sharper. Others found that round plates made people taste a dessert as sweeter.
Presentation. In restaurants, plating is very curated, so much so that people often take pictures of it. A tidy, well-balanced and appetizing presentation of the food in a plate is a strong sign for our brains that the food must be excellent. When doing deliveries, transportation can disrupt the most perfect composition. Pizza, in particular, is the most common victim. If tilted even slightly during delivery, all toppings will slide on one side. Well-designed packaging plays a role, but food delivery services also train their drivers on how to adjust their backpacks and bags to keep food nicely horizontal.
