Take A Picture, It Might Not Last Longer Anymore

 One of the biggest recent food trends really bothers me. It goes by the name of Instagramable food, and I have some serious issues with it. I feel like I’m not the only person that has issues as I’ve also noticed  in the last year or so a decline in this trend. Basically this is the trend of food makers, restaurants, bakeries and even candy companies focusing on making treats and foods that are really pretty. The notion is that these foods are so pretty that people will post them on social media (hence Instagramable). The problem with this trend is that many of these beautiful foods taste pretty mediocre.

It’s a totally logical trend for any food maker out there. If you can get a bunch of people lining up to buy your pretty food, then you’re not only selling the food, but you’re creating free advertising at the same time. From a business standpoint it makes all the sense in the world. I feel that this trend really took off, and it worked on building so many business over the last few years. As I mentioned before, there is a recent drop in this trend, and I think I might know why. My guess is that while people will line up for an Instagramable treat when it’s new, if the quality of the food doesn’t stand up, people won’t come back.

While you might get a big crowd coming out to buy your good looking food, once people post it on their social media, unless it tastes amazing, they there’s little reason to come back. That’s one of the benefits and downfalls of food on social media. After something is no longer new, it loses its cache on social media and I feel like sales of these treats go down as well. There’s often a race to be the first person to get a treat on social media, but there’s little staying power for many of these trendy snacks.

I guess the important thing to note is that this really only applies to Instagramable foods that don’t follow up with a great eating experience. Over the last year or so I have noticed a few food makers coming up with foods that not only look great, but also taste great. To me that’s a real challenge and deserves a great deal of respect. Even those foods that don’t look pretty, but taste amazing deserve a lot of credit. In particular, when you’re talking about candy since making something pretty is actually much easier than making it taste great.

I wouldn’t call the trend of Instagramable foods over, but it seems to be only on the decline. I’m seeing more people talking about nostalgic food lately, which has it’s own pros and cons. However, I feel like nostalgia is a much better trend then food that is only pretty to look at. Nostalgia can tell a story and bring back memories for people, pretty things just look pretty, and once you eat them they become far less pretty.

CC