How Do You Feel About Food Trends?

Discussion in Food & Drink started by JoanMcWench • Mar 4, 2015.

  1. JoanMcWench

    JoanMcWenchActive Member

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    Every year it seems something comes out that is supposed to be the trendies thing on the block. From cronuts to macaroons to kale chips & so on. What do you think about these trends? Any value to the exposure or is it just a way to charge more for something not quite worth the price?
     
  2. Lushlala

    LushlalaWell-Known Member

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    I don't tend to let myself get carried away. In fact, I find them annoying, to be honest. I will taste them, but I'll drop them like they're hot if they're vile. -and a lot of them are horrible! I just won't eat something solely because it's trendy.
     
  3. TommyVercetti

    TommyVercettiActive Member

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    If it's pricey for the sake of being healthy or 'organic', then I won't even bother with it. If it's supposed to be good then I'll try it once. This is actually a good thing for normal people like us who are not professionally associated to the food scene. The trend setters think up and make new foods without getting paid by us (yet), and then we judge if it is any good. If it is, we can patronize it, or not; if it's not we can walk away.

    It's basically free food R&D.
     
  4. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    I'm really sick of food trends, and what makes it even worse is that site owners feel compelled to keep jumping on the bandwagon every time a new one comes out, just so they can try to scrape up some extra traffic from it - which in turn artificially inflates the hype over it and it becomes a snowball effect.

    As soon as they catch wind of some supposed new upcoming food trend, they feel compelled to start name dropping it like crazy on their blog posts because they see it as some trending topic, when in reality the very reason it's probably trending is because the food bloggers themselves caused it to. I don't necessarily hear my actual friends and family talking about this stuff on a day to day basis, in most cases.
     
  5. DesignerMum

    DesignerMumActive Member

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    I think they are successful marketing ploys or tactics implemented by the food producers. It's kind of disturbing that the trend can sometimes disrupt the market.

    Some food trends leave me feeling disconnected from my regular diets. o_O So there are things enjoyable about the trends, and there are things that leave me clueless.

    I just try to take what's good about them and be aware of what is on offer. I do enjoy ads that have catchy names and the photos on some blogs. I have no clue as to how one food trend can be more successful than the other.
     
  6. Rosyrain

    RosyrainActive Member

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    I find most food trends to be annoying. Most of the new and improved foods are gross and over priced. Just like this last fall, you could find pumpkin spice everything in this world and I got tired of seeing it. My friend got me a bag of Ghirardelli pumpkin spice chocolates and I literally spit it out. Oh, and I just saw chocolate salted potato chips at the store too!

    People should just research what they eat and try to make good food choices everyday. If you want to try something exotic, go to a fancy restaurant or something. The food manufacturers need to cut out these weird food variations.
     
  7. Zyni

    ZyniWell-Known Member

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    Some of them I find to be creative, others are just weird. I don't think I'd like anything chocolate-jalapeno for example, even though I like both of those things. I don't want them together.

    Bacon is another one that seems to be in everything. I like bacon, but I usually eat turkey bacon if anything, and I just don't want bacon in everything.

    I agree with you Rosy on the pumpkin spice thing. While some items sounded okay, they just took it way too far, if you ask me.
     
  8. Thejamal

    ThejamalActive Member

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    I actually like following and seeing what the new food trends are. It makes cooking and eating more exciting and I like not keeping my diet stale and stagnant.

    That said, I won't start eating something thats a "trend" just because its a trend. I like trying new stuff and new food, but it has to taste good and make sense for my budget.
     
  9. hellavu

    hellavuActive Member

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    I always like to discover new foods and recipes -- and if food trends have one benefit (and, really, they rarely have more than one, LOL), it is that the people into it often get pretty creative with their menus and meal ideas! So, even if I would not really adhere to food trends (they're a business, and that's pretty much that), I will occasionally try the stuff, to see if I like the new tastes/methods of preparing. You never know!
     
  10. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    I don't follow the trends because I'm already very picky with food to begin with so I don't tend to get influenced as easily whenever something gets trendy. However, I do appreciate that sometimes there are some new things that pop up since I still do enjoy experimenting and discovering, just not usually enough that I would incorporate it into what I already eat regularly.
     
  11. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    Most food trends seem to be verrrry fattening (among other things) lol. And in the health food world, it just gets crazy. All these super foods and organics and gluten free etc.. which is just silliness. I don't so much mind the gluten free trend, because 1) it's helped the celiacs tremendously. Where they could barely find food before, they now have their own sections at the grocery store lol. and 2) I think most people would do much better to get rid of gluten in their diets. Well, not the gluten per say, not everyone is sensitive to it. But wheat itself. What bugs me about it though, is that most people go "gluten free" for weight reasons.. when if you go to the gluten free section and look at the labels, the food is full of crap lol. So what's the point?
     
  12. missbishi

    missbishiWell-Known Member

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    I never pay any attention to food trends at all. I like a wide variety of foods but some of the combinations sound very offputting. I really don't like the sound of chocolate potato chips at all - what a weird paring!
     
  13. xTinx

    xTinxWell-Known Member

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    Food trends are commonplace in developed countries in North America and Europe but such things are subtle - almost unnoticeable - in third world countries like where I'm from. Rather than food, what becomes trendy are the newest buffet restaurants or go-to places for food tripping. I did notice a macaroon trend when a French restobar opened last year. Pastry shops started adding macaroons to their menu after that. However, I'm not the go-with-the-flow type of person so I opted out of it.
     
  14. lordrenly

    lordrenlyActive Member

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    When it comes to food, I never base my decision on trends. I don't quite get it how trends alone overcome other factors that are important such as taste, nutrition, and price. Besides, trendy food overall is either unhealthy, really bad in taste, or extremely expensive.

    It is not like you are keeping those foods forever so unlike fashion trends or smartphone trends, you don't get the chance to hold the goods long enough for everyone to see.
     
  15. Aladar

    AladarWell-Known Member

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    I've never even heard of food trends, so, that probably tells you my opinion right there. :) Where do you even hear of those?
     
  16. hayrake

    hayrakeActive Member

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    At my age I pretty much know what I like and most of the trendy things tend to be in the healthy snack department. Excuse me, but if it's low fat or no fat I don't want anything to do with it. I like my plain old fashioned high calorie sugar filled snacks just fine.
     
  17. Dora M

    Dora MWell-Known Member

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    I never pay food trends any kind of attention. I see certain products advertised in the supermarkets and health food stores that I frequent, but I never give them a second thought. Also, in my circle of acquaintances I hear from time to time about certain food products that everyone is talking about, but I rarely can be convinced to buy into them.
     
  18. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    To be honest, I actually do not notice food trends?? I was not aware that there were trends, besides the new meals that fast food chains put together :/ I eat what I eat, and like other trends do not buy into food trends either. I'd have to notice them first though.
     
  19. worldmachine

    worldmachineActive Member

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    I am not a fan of food trends and find it quite strange that people would use food as some kind of fashion statement. A lot of these trends relate to diets which can be potentially dangerous as the focus is on losing weight quickly rather than the nutritional value of the food.

    Food trends can also lead to financial ruin for some, people will open restaurants catering for the latest trend in food, thinking it is the future of cuisine, then six months later the bubble bursts, trade drops away and they inevitably have to close, leaving a trail of bankruptcy and unemployment in their wake.