While fad foods are not a new development, the rate at which they sweep across society has been dramatically increased with the rise of the internet and social media. Here are some popular recent fad foods and when their google search volume peaked!
Biggest Food Trends of the Last Decade
In December of 2011 one of the first food trends of the modern social media era took hold. Cake pops! A big factor in most food trends is that there is a key step to the recipe that is enticing and new. For cake pops it was the fact that you took cake, blended it up and pressed it together into a dense ball of sweetness and flavor. This was new to many people and made them want to try it out for themselves. Once you form the broken up cake into a dense ball, you dip it in a flavorful coating and enjoy!
2012 was the year that fad foods really started to take over. Some of the most well remembered food trends appeared in 2012:
- Rainbow cake
- Molecular cocktails
- Macaroons
The biggest food trends of the past 10 years were:
- Cronuts
- Cloud Eggs
- Banana Bread
- Bubble Tea
- Pasta Chips
What Makes a Fad Food Trend?
There are 3 components to any good fad food trend. The recipe has to be easy. Simplicity is key. Viewers want to be convinced that they can easily make the recipe at home. The recipe has to be shocking. There needs to be a step that is impressive and visual stimulating. It needs to taste great… or at least look like it tastes great. This step might be the trickiest one of them all. The recipe doesn’t actually need to taste great because these fad foods become super popular and then fade quickly. Most people will only make them one time, so the taste can be an afterthought.
Check out these fad foods from the 1970’s and see how far we have come.
