TikTok Trends in Food and Beverages
TikTok has an ever-growing audience, hitting over a billion monthly active users last year, and Gen Z forms the majority (60%) of that audience. These darlings of the digital space have their eyes (and wallets) on the tastier things in life, with 23% of their discretionary spending focused on food and beverage (FnB), according to a semiannual report from Piper Sandler assessing teen spending and brand preferences.
This figure is up from 21% in the fall of 2020 but down from 25% a year ago.
TikTok Trends in Food and Beverage Category
Short-form social video is the most exciting space in social media right now.
Short-form video is here to stay, and TikTok is at least partially responsible for its meteoric growth over the past two years. TikTok has powered into the public image, and it’s now one of the major playgrounds for amateur creators (i.e. anyone making freely making content on TikTok and Instagram).
FMCGs account for more than half of all consumer spending, but they tend to be low-involvement purchases. Consumers are far more likely to show off a durable good such as a new car or smartphone than a new energy drink they picked up for $2.50 at the convenience store – but that’s changing.
TikTok Trend: Chipotle’s #LidFlip Challenge Drives User-Generated Content
When it comes to TikTok food content, fast-casual leader Chipotle is hard to ignore. Chipotle introduced game-changing branded challenges on TikTok – and we’re still seeing the impact/
In their first #ChipotleLidFlip challenge, Chipotle launched its activities with the goal of spreading awareness of free delivery for digital orders for Cinco de Mayo. To join in, all you needed was a phone and a delicious Chipotle burrito bowl.
In just the first six days of the Lid Flip Challenge, 111,000 videos were submitted to the Challenge and it created a record-breaking digital sales day driving app downloads and delivery among the key Gen Z audience.
TikTok Trend: Self-Styled #starbucks Drink Experts
For the #Starbuckslovers among us, the quest for the perfectly crafted Starbucks drink. In fact, beverage customization and concoction continues dominate the social video-sharing platform.
The coffeehouse giant and TikTok creators have partnered to create a fabled 170,000 permutations of their recipes, according to Starbucks’ own marketing. It has become a social media viral challenge to find different ways to customize the 10 different options Starbucks lists on their cups.
The “Starbucks Secret Menu” (#starbuckssecretmenu) has more than 210 million hits, and blogs continue to highlight some of the flavorful (and outlandish) creations.
TikTok Trend: Gen Z and Millenial consumers love viral recipes
In one of her recent Cosmopolitan columns entitled 27 Tasty TikTok Recipes That Went Viral for a Gosh Darn Reason, assistant lifestyle editor Hannah sums it up:
“Now, one of the best parts of TikTok, IMHO, is the fact that there are hundreds (thousands?) of TikTokers determined to teach you how to eat well, no matter your skill level. From Emily Mariko to that hot guy who chops things really fast (as he’s formally known in my head), FoodTok is full of straight-up chefs disguised as TikTok stars. And just like the distantly-related dance trends, with each new season, the app is replenished with genius food hacks and drool-worthy recipes.”
With some of the yummiest (and weirdest) recipes taking off on TikTok, forward-thinking brands food trends as an opportunity to engage with young audiences.
Known for its zero-sugar lemonade, Swoon reached out to TikTok creators to produce recipe-driven videos around the whipped lemonade trend.
https://www.tiktok.com/@bearenger/video/7028984915291032837
Nutter Butter notes their TikTok strategy was created to “highlight the brand’s personality in a less curated way,” and has responded to hot topics like #tortillatrend—and attempted to spark a new one with #nutterbuttercoffee.
Did it land? You decide.
@officialnutterbutter ♬ original sound - nutter butter
