From feta pasta to ‘Little Moons’: How viral food videos are changing the demand for some supermarket goods
TikTok, a video-sharing social media platform, is notorious for creating viral sensations faster than anywhere else. The platform has popularised beauty trends, dances, and more — with very real market implications.
One particular recipe, feta pasta, has been generating interest over the last few weeks. Users on social media have reported that they have been unable to find feta in their local supermarkets anymore and have been improvising with alternatives like goats cheese. The TikTok craze has been blamed for this shortage, although experts believe this has been overstated. Yet spending just 5 minutes on the app confirms that many people have been trying out the viral recipe.
According to The Grocer, another recent TikTok craze involving mochi saw the sales of Little Moons (gelato wrapped in a layer of mochi) surge over 700% at Tesco at the start of February in comparison to an “average” week in December. The trend fueled by the platform has left Waitrose considering stocking Little Moons nationwide. In a similar fashion to the feta pasta trend, social media users have also been struggling to find Little Moons in stock anywhere.
Perhaps bored consumers have simply been trying to find ways of making lockdown life more interesting. Because of the pandemic, more and more people have turned to social media for entertainment. TikTok provides access to quick and easy recipes on a daily basis, and is a powerful tool for anyone in the food industry. BuzzFeed’s famous food network, ‘Tasty’, arguably set the trend for quick and easy food videos to find a place on fast-moving social media platforms.
Food videos are unique in successfully capturing the attention of viewers all over the world. Many people scroll away from videos within the first few seconds, but the simplicity and focused nature of food videos means viewers “stay” to see the finished product at the end. Viral videos make the art of cooking seem easy to viewers, thus eliciting increases in demand for the products in question by those wishing to try out the latest trends.
Every few weeks since the start of the pandemic, it has seemed like a new food or drink trend has taken the Internet by storm. Here are just a few of the highlights:
- Dalgona coffee (OG)
The whipped coffee sensation provided luxury and joy for many during the first few weeks of lockdown. This particular trend will always have a soft spot in my heart.
2. The “wrap hack”
This trend seems to have vanished as quickly as it appeared, with many variations being tested out — from breakfast, to crepes, to quesadillas.
3. Oreo mug cake
The two ingredient dessert seemed to hit the spot for both ease and taste for viewers. This is just one example of a mug cake recipe that has surfaced on the platform.
It’s clear that TikTok food is changing the landscape of the culinary world for young people.
Yes, viral trends may seem short lived. But by making cooking seem easy, simple, and attractive, young people are being shown that “cooking is just another DIY skill”. In other words, the easier a recipe seems, the more inclined viewers will be to attempt it themselves.
