Social media food trends filled feeds across all significant platforms with customized and nostalgic menu items that simply hit home. Marketing experts noted the increasing impressions and engagements of this online content.
For food content creators, keeping a tab on what’s up allows them to curate a high-traffic potential post. For businesses, the food trends are an opportunity to come up with new menu items that their customers might love.
You can host a virtual dining experience, reinvent comfort dishes, or simplify order and payment processes with QR code menus.
These trends offer a shift from the traditional marketing strategy to a more modern approach that is relevant and credible.
This makes your business decisions more precise and responds directly to your target customers’ needs.
In this article, we’ve prepared a list of trends in the food industry to help you tailor your marketing campaigns and offerings.
How the social media is shaping current food trends
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have become the hotbed for trends in the F&B industry as people find inspiration to try new dishes through beautifully captured photos and short recipe clips.
A restaurant social media statistics reported that 50% of diners claim that social media can influence their restaurant choices. Roughly 22% of customers are inspired to revisit a restaurant due to its social media presence.
These get to the limelight as users from these platforms use clever hashtags when sharing posts, contributing to the momentum to go viral.
Having social media today allows these niche-specific trends to prosper, which makes it easier for business owners like you to tailor campaigns and strategies according to your customer demographics and preferences.
7 food trends on social media to re-equip your restaurant
Veggie vibes takeover
The rise of plant-based diets continues to dominate social media platforms, reflecting a growing awareness of environmental sustainability and health-conscious lifestyles among customers.
In 2024, we witness an unprecedented surge in plant-based innovations, with chefs and food enthusiasts creatively reimagining traditional dishes using plant-based derived ingredients.
With that, it’s wise for you to offer options for this customer demographic.
Let’s say you’ll add a vegan burger choice from your traditional burger menu or freshly blended fruit shakes instead of sodas.
These choices will cater to guests who prefer having vegetable alternatives from the usual ingredients on your menu.
Hyper-personalized dining experiences
With the advent of advanced algorithms and data analytics using social media, personalized dining experiences have taken the frontline in social media platforms.
Restaurants like yours are customizing their culinary journeys like never before, leveraging algorithms to curate personalized recipes tailored to dietary preferences, cultural backgrounds, and flavor profiles.
Whether it’s a gluten-free dessert recommendation or a keto-friendly meal plan, social media are revolutionizing how customers discover, prepare, and share food online.
Reinvented nostalgic comfort social media food trends
Amidst the fast-paced digital age, there’s a growing yearning for nostalgia and familiarity, leading to the resurgence of classic comfort foods with a modern twist.
Social media feeds are flooded with reimagined versions of childhood favorites, from gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches to artisanal ice cream infused with nostalgic flavors.
By blending innovation with sentimentality, food creators like you are tapping into our collective nostalgia, eliciting a sense of joy with every bite.
Culinary DIY culture
The do-it-yourself (DIY) culinary culture has reached new heights in 2024, fueled by social media platforms that empower individuals to become amateur chefs in their kitchens.
From viral TikTok tutorials to Instagram reels showcasing step-by-step cooking techniques, DIY food content has become ubiquitous on social media feeds worldwide.
You can leverage this virality by adopting a self-made food corner in your restaurant, allowing your diners to re-create a specific dish.
Global flavor fusion food trends on social media
Culinary boundaries are slowly blurring as combining food across the globe takes center stage on social media platforms, offering a compelling blend of flavors, ingredients, and culinary traditions from around the globe.
By embracing cultural diversity and culinary experimentation, a fusion of flavors among global food reflects the interconnectedness of the digital age, where culinary traditions converge.
Korean food is evidence of breaking cultural barriers as its delicacies are now globalized.
Korea JoongAng Daily, a digital newspaper, reported that twenty-eight Korean restaurants overseas have received much-coveted Michelin stars in 2023.
With this remarkable win, there is no doubt that it’s already taking over every table around the world.
Virtual dining
Virtual dinner parties, cooking classes, and culinary collaboration are gaining traction on social media networks.
This enables individuals to share meals and experiences in real-time, regardless of geographical distance.
You can host a virtual potluck with friends and virtual dining experiences to foster community, creativity, and cultural exchange in the digital realm.
This can also be an excellent way for your business to reconnect with your loyal patrons and build your online presence.
Sustainable gastronomy
In response to growing concerns about the environmental movement, sustainable gastronomy has become a focal point of social media food trends in 2024.
From zero-waste cooking techniques to eco-friendly packaging solutions, food creators are championing sustainable practices and raising awareness about the environmental impact of food production and consumption.
In your business, you can promote locally sourced ingredients or advocate for plant-based alternatives.
This reflects a collective effort to minimize your ecological footprints and food waste in restaurants for a more sustainable food system for future generations.
List of social media food to add to your menu
To gear up your restaurant with viral dishes on social media, we’ve collated this list across top social networks to get you to stay ahead of the curve.
TikTok food trend recipes
- Italian chopped sandwich: This Italian delicacy garnered 10 million views on the platform. It comprises various meats, cheeses, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickled bits. Instead of layering these ingredients on the bread, they were laid on top of each other on a cutting board, and everything was chopped until it was bite-sized.
- Strawberry chocolate: This viral dessert only needs strawberries and a melted chocolate bowl. It has gained traction with 230.3 million views and 32.1 million likes, with the hashtags #fooddance and #strawberrychocolate video.
- Tanghulu: Sugar-coated fruits have taken Tiktok by storm with 26.9 million views. This dessert is a traditional Northern Chinese snack with hawthorn fruit covered in a hard rock sugar glaze.
- Pizza toast: With 2.2 million views on TikTok, this trending food comprises a slice of bread covered with pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, making a pizza in a sandwich toast version.
Instagram dessert and breakfast menu
- Frozen strawberry yogurt bites: This straightforward recipe combines yogurt, strawberries, and a double dip in melted chocolate. With more than 11.2 million views on #strawberryyogurtclusters, this snack fits everyone.
- Feta and pesto eggs: Taking over the morning menus, this savory breakfast is cooked with large eggs, feta cheese, and pesto, promising a delicious and Instagram-worthy start to the day.
- Baked oats: Shifting from traditional oatmeal, this recipe involves oats with liquid, sweeteners, and a baking mixture topped with nuts and fruits and tossed in the oven. This culinary wonder became a breakfast favorite that is as enjoyable to prepare as it is to eat, and it not just graced our weekends.
- Sweet potato cake with smoked paprika caramel: With hashtags #cakes and #sweetpotato, this recipe reached 75.3 thousand reactions. A healthy dessert includes sweet potato, caramel syrup, frosting, and smoked paprika.
- Asian cucumber salad: With the same hashtag, this salad gets two thousand shares with five hundred reactions. It’s easy to make as it only needs cucumber, a dice of onion, sesame oil and seeds, corn syrup, and soy sauce.
Facebook food trends
- Cottage cheese ice cream: This dessert garnered 6.7 thousand likes in reels with the hashtag #cottagecheesecookiedough. You only need peanut butter, fat cottage cheese, chocolate chips, and honey.
- Cream cheese board: A platter of creamy and smooth cream cheese spread on a wooden board topped with fresh salmon, rosemary, and a squeeze of lemon juice, giving off rich and tangy flavor and smooth texture. With more than 16 thousand likes, your customers will surely love this trending food item.
X (Twitter) viral food trends
- Breaded steak sandwich: A #Chicago original gaining 35,000 views is cooked with tender breaded and fried steak dipped in marinara sauce and placed on a roll with melted mozzarella cheese and sweet peppers.
- Blueberry popovers: Made from sourdough discards became muffins, gaining more than 3,000 reactions.
- Fruit pancakes: For a healthy breakfast meal, a pancake topped with your favorite fruit catches users’ attention with more than 40,000 views and 600 reactions, a hearty menu to start the day.
Tumblr food trends
- Vegan somen noodles in creamy sesame miso soup: With 2,293 likes and 1,510 reblogs, this plant-based dish is worth serving. To make this creamy soup, you’ll need miso, tahini, peanut butter, ginger, garlic, red chiller pepper, and vinegar.
- Beef bourguignon: Another addition to your menu is this tender beef braised in red wine with onions and carrots and flavored with bouquet garni. This French beef stew caught audiences’ attention with more than 4,000 reactions and reblogs.
Going viral: Using advanced tools in making social media food trends on the pedestal
Creating trends on social media requires a mix of creativity, timing, and strategic use of advanced tools.
Here’s a roadmap to help you achieve that:
Identify emerging trends
Outdo your competitors by monitoring food-related hashtags, influencers, and popular blogs.
This is a crucial step to update your offerings based on the audience’s interests and preferences.
Tools like social media listening platforms can help you identify these emerging trends.
Content creation
If you’re thinking of promoting your unique selling points on social media, invest in high-quality content creation tools such as cameras, lighting equipment, and video editing software.
Create visually appealing images and videos that enticingly showcase your food.
Protip: Experiment with different formats like tutorials, behind-the-scenes footage, or recipe videos to gain more traction.
Engagement strategy
Develop an engagement strategy to foster a community around your content.
Respond promptly to comments and messages, collaborate with other influencers and brands, and encourage user-generated content through challenges and hashtags.
This way, you’re allowing your followers to interact with your business, fostering a sense of community around it.
Data analytics
Leverage data analytics tools to track the performance of your content.
Analyze metrics like engagement rate, reach, and audience demographics to understand what resonates with your audience.
You can adjust your content strategy accordingly using the data you’ve collected.
Influencer partnership
Influencers played a vital role in making trends go viral.
So, grab the opportunity to collaborate with them to amplify your business’s reach.
Look for influencers whose audience aligns with your target market and propose mutually beneficial partnerships such as sponsored content or co-created campaigns.
Incorporating a QR code menu technology into your food trend strategy for a wider reach
Remember that marketing your products does not only include how well you do on social media, but it should also reflect on how your restaurant serves potential customers.
It’s a double-edged step for you.
With that, you need a helping hand to make it manageable, which a digital menu QR code technology like MENU TIGER aims for.
This smart menu software not only streamlines administrative tasks and the order and payment process but amplifies your reach across your social media platforms.
Here is how you’ll maximize this software:
Create a QR code menu
Input your menu offerings in the software with high-quality images and vivid descriptions for your customers to access.
To align your restaurant branding with your QR codes, edit the patterns and colors and add your business logo.
After that, you can generate a unique food menu QR code and add it to your social media marketing materials.
Add your social media accounts to your website
One of MENU TIGER’s personalized features is its website builder, where you can design it according to your branding.
You can also highlight your recommended menu items or food trends on the page.
On your website, you can add all your social networks so that customers can quickly locate your pages for online reviews, making it conducive for engagement.
Run promotions
Curate your web design for restaurants by running promos and discounts included on your virtual menu for your customers’ accessibility.
By offering tailored deals to your guests, you can expand your customer base and increase your orders.
The wrap-up: Make your offerings trending with a digital menu QR code
Even if your restaurant has held generational recipes for decades, we can’t take away the possibility of evolution in your customers’ behaviors, preferences, and interests.
To keep up with these changes, equipping your business with the social media food trends is a smart choice for you.
Not only can you adopt the viral food blowing up the internet, but you can also introduce your menu and make it known to the digital world.
To complement your streamlined promotion, QR code menu software like MENU TIGER can assist you in making your operation fast and simplified, making it more convenient for your customers.
Let’s get into it. Visit the website and create an account for the world to see your mouth-watering dishes.
