Next Food Phase

We have long discussed the how and whys of CPG and supermarkets watching what is happening on Instagram as a tool to help develop new food products as well as to gauge consumer trends.

Monday we reported on the partnership and experiment between TikTok and Postmates and how that was bringing the most watched “food trends” into people’s homes in Los Angeles. But the food trends do not stop there.

Instagram has now turned ten years old and just about everyone from Forbes to Delicious to Instagram itself has posted their favorite food pix, videos and now Reels. Instagram back in March of 2019 did introduce shopping – which has had mild success in food – but look for this TikTok, Postmates and Walmart partnership to accelerate Instagram’s efforts to take advantage of the more than 500 million active users that use its platform each day.

We’ve scoured the lists and here’s just a few of the top Instagrammable food moments:

Yes Cloud Bread was (and still is a thing) – and certainly during the early days of Covid-19 had a second life – but our managing Editori Sally Smithwick made it with her kids and frankly, said it tasted terrible.

Activated Charcoal is one of the most interesting of the trends – people make just about everything with the ingredient – yes people love it because it turns everything black – but it also gives foods an earthly smoky taste – its actually not made from charcoal so don’t worry – its usually bamboo or from coconut shells. Instagram moments include charcoal burgers (not a stretch), ice creams and pancakes.

Watermelon Cake was declared the world's most instagrammable cake by the New York Times. Originating at Sydney Australia’s Black Star Pastry.

Then there are Freakshakes, aka Nutella-stuffed donuts on top of a chocolate milkshake!

But when it comes to making food trends famous and mainstream there are two standouts in my book:

Back in 2014 it was pastry chef Dominique Ansel who created the Cronut – the hybrid croissant donut that NYC and the rest of the nation went crazy over – at least for a short while.

And the number one which we still are seeing added to menus of all kinds of restaurants from grocerants to white tablecloth – which also made its mark in Manhattan, by way of Australia, in the mid 1970s courtey of Chef Chloe Osborne is avocado toast.

Be watching Instagram and Instagram Shopping carefully as it may be the next foodservice competitor as restaurants across the country remained closed or with limited seating.