Colour specialist Pantone has announced Mocha Mousse as its 2025 colour of the year – a chocolatey brown hue selected to reflect the importance of "little treat culture".

Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse is described by the Pantone Colour Institute as a mellow brown that conjures feelings of comfort and warmth.

"As we began our selection process for this year, one of the things that kept bubbling up to the top was this desire for harmony," the institute's vice president Laurie Pressman told Dezeen.

The institute is Pantone's trend forecasting consultancy, which every year since 1999 has chosen a Pantone colour that it believes to straddle the mood of the current moment and the year ahead.

Pressman explained that Mocha Mousse is a subtle evolution from last year's colour of the year, Peach Fuzz, which reflected similar themes.

"As people continue to seek harmony and balance, there is a shift to focussing on curating moments or experiences that boost our sense of personal comfort and wellness," said Pressman.

"[It's] this reframing of anything that could possibly be a trigger into something more positive, and this whole idea of little treat culture," she added.

"How do we fill ourselves back up and have that momentary escape from everything that's taking place around us, so that we feel full and can go back out and do what we were doing?"

"It's an evocative soft brown," agreed the institute's executive director Leatrice Eiseman. "All of our senses are awakened – in particular our sense of taste, for obvious reasons, and our sense of smell – who can resist the chocolate cookies baking in the oven?"

The Pantone team said that Mocha Mousse reflects a desire for a neutral colour that is less typical than beige or grey.

"It's an unpretentious classic," said Eiseman.

Shoppers, Eiseman explained, are making fewer purchases and focusing on products that are "seasonless, genderless and highly versatile" as a result of rising living costs and an increasing urgency for sustainability.

"In a recession, and in an economy that's shaky, you are thinking more about what you already own and how you can continue to use those things," she said.

The duo explained that the Pantone team travels across the world, conducting interviews and scouring visual references to determine its colour of the year.

The annual hue is chosen from Pantone's existing bank of colours.

"Everybody has their individual feelings about colour," said Eiseman, considering how Mocha Mousse will be received. "And that's okay – it extends the conversation and keeps it going."

"I think, though, that the deliciousness of the colour is definitely going to play into it. I mean, I can't imagine anybody saying 'I hate chocolate'."

In the wake of 2020's coronavirus pandemic, Pantone selected two colours for 2021 – contrasting shades of yellow and grey – to reflect global uncertainty. Last year, interiors expert Michelle Ogundehin shared an opinion piece on Peach Fuzz, calling it "the right colour for all the wrong reasons".

The images are courtesy of Pantone unless otherwise stated.