Thanks to its one billion active users, TikTok has become a major influence on the global food and culinary sectors as its impact extends far beyond the creation of a viral moment. Last year, one of the highest trending online recipes was the infamous baked feta pasta, which received millions of views on the app, triggering feta shortages across the United States. The New York Times even coined the phenomenon “The TikTok Feta Effect.” This example demonstrates how a viral TikTok post can ripple across the social media landscape and even influence coverage in traditional media including the “Today” show and “Good Morning America.”

Identifying these types of trending topics and ingredients gives marketers – especially those in the hospitality and specialty food space – actionable insights that can drive activations in support of business objectives.

By using social listening tools, our team has compiled a list of the top trending food stories in 2022 that offer food marketers a sense of where consumers will be spending their screen time and dollars this year.

#PlantBased

With a whopping 2.8B views, #PlantBased options are taking over TikTok, and brands like KFC and Chipotle are responding to consumer demand with new meatless menu alternatives. Analysis shows that overall, consumers are eager to recognize the ingredients they consume without chemicals.

Within the plant-based space, currently trending ingredients/products include nutritional yeast, oat milk and turmeric. These healthy ingredients are typically used as meat or dairy alternatives or additives in plant-based recipes – such as using nutritional yeast instead of grated cheese, oat milk over a cow’s milk or sprinkling turmeric onto your roasted veggies. Many brands are integrating these ingredients into traditional comfort foods, like Borgo de Medici’s multi-color linguini – the long, colorful ribbon pasta is colored with turmeric.

#GutTok

#Guttok has spawned a community of creators dedicated to disseminating GI tract health tips and tricks. “Poppi” founder Allison Ellsworth capitalized on the interest of TikTok users into gut health by creating content around her personal story of struggling with food and her search for a healthy alternative to traditional apple cider vinegar. By highlighting her founder’s story, “Poppi” has amassed over 130 million views and established itself as a popular brand among the #Guttok audience.

Other trending gut health-related ingredients include bone broth, ginger and apple cider vinegar. Many creators use bone broth in their soups and stews, ginger shots as an addition to their morning routines and apple cider vinegar in everything from beverages to salad dressing.

#CookingAtHome

With 7 in 10 consumers still riding the quarantine at-home cooking wave, families are looking for simple tools, recipes, and meals to elevate their kitchen game. Air fryer pasta chips, crockpot “crack” chicken, chicken and veggies one pan meal – all of these trends offer creative ways to cut down on cookware and therefore cleanup. Connecting with consumers to show how your brand or product can add value to their at-home cooking routine is an opportunity that goes well beyond social channels.

Social listening is essential for businesses seeking to connect with their audiences. As an integrated marketing agency, social listening is well-engrained in the content strategies we develop for the brands we support. To learn how we can help your brand best utilize social listening to advance your overall marketing strategy, contact us at hello@wilksgrp.com.