How Food Trends Start and Why Some Stick Around

One day, it doesn’t exist. The next, it’s everywhere. One moment, coffee is just coffee. The next, you’re watching a tutorial on how to whip instant coffee, sugar, and water into a frothy, caramel-colored cloud. A few years ago, you’d never heard of a “smashed” burger; now, it’s the gold standard at every new burger joint. Food trends can feel like they appear out of nowhere, beamed into our collective consciousness overnight. They dominate menus, flood social media feeds, and then, sometimes, vanish as quickly as they arrived.

But where do they actually come from? The journey of a food trend from a single, brilliant idea to a global phenomenon is not random. It’s a complex and fascinating process, a relay race of creativity, technology, commerce, and culture. It’s a story that reveals not only what we like to eat, but also how we live, communicate, and connect with one another.

Understanding this lifecycle is key to figuring out the most puzzling question of all: Why did avocado toast become a permanent fixture on brunch menus everywhere, while the rainbow bagel had its fifteen minutes of fame and then disappeared? The answer lies in the difference between a fleeting fad and a trend with staying power.

The Spark of Innovation

Nearly every food trend begins in the same place: a single kitchen. It is rarely born in a corporate boardroom or a marketing meeting. Instead, it starts with a chef, a baker, or a home cook trying to solve a problem or simply asking, “What if?” What if a croissant and a donut had a baby? That was the question that led pastry chef Dominique Ansel to invent the Cronut in his small New York City bakery, creating a line that snaked around the block for months. It wasn’t a calculated marketing ploy; it was an act of pure culinary creativity.

This initial spark is the most authentic and unpredictable part of the process. It’s about a skilled person with a deep understanding of their craft pushing the boundaries in a small way. The first people to experience this innovation are the locals, the regulars, and the curious foodies who are always on the hunt for something new. Their enthusiastic word-of-mouth creates the initial groundswell. A local news segment or a post from a neighborhood food blogger might fan the flames, but at this stage, the trend is still a fragile, localized phenomenon.

The Social Media Amplifier

If a chef’s kitchen is the spark, social media is the gasoline. In the past, it took months or even years for a regional dish to gain national attention. Today, it can happen in a week. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have become the most powerful accelerators of food trends in history, and the reason is simple: we eat with our eyes. A trend cannot go viral if it isn’t photogenic.

The most successful trends have a built-in visual hook. Think of the dramatic “cheese pull” from a slice of Detroit-style pizza, the mesmerizing swirl of a perfectly made latte, or the vibrant colors of a poké bowl. These moments are engineered for the share. During the early days of the pandemic, Dalgona coffee went global not just because it was a novelty, but because the process of making it was visually satisfying. It was a shared experience that people could replicate at home and post online, connecting them during a time of isolation. Social media also bypasses the traditional gatekeepers of taste. A dish no longer needs a rave review from a professional critic to become popular. A thousand enthusiastic posts from regular people create a far more powerful and seemingly authentic endorsement.

The Leap to the Mainstream

Once a trend is white-hot on social media, the rest of the food world takes notice. This is where commerce enters the picture. Local cafes, restaurant chains, and even grocery stores see the rising demand as a business opportunity. Adding birria tacos or hot honey to the menu is a way to seem current and attract a new wave of customers eager to try the latest thing.

This is the "trickle-down" phase of a trend. It might start in a few trendy, independent restaurants in major cities, but soon it’s being adapted by mid-range chains across the country. Eventually, it hits the supermarket shelves. The Everything Bagel Seasoning blend, once a niche product, is now sold by dozens of brands in every major grocery store. This mainstream adoption is the point of no return. The trend is no longer a niche discovery; it’s a part of the cultural landscape.

The Survival Test: From Fad to Fixture

This is where the great sorting happens. Most trends will burn out after the mainstream rush, but a select few will endure. The difference between a fad and a fixture comes down to a few key factors. The first is accessibility. Is the trend easy to understand and make at home? Avocado toast is the perfect example. The core idea—toast plus avocado—is incredibly simple. From there, it can be endlessly customized with a fried egg, chili flakes, or feta cheese. It’s a formula, not a rigid recipe, which allows it to adapt to individual tastes.

The second, and most important, factor is genuine utility and flavor. Does it actually taste good, and does it solve a real problem for people? Smashed burgers have stuck around because they are objectively delicious, offering a crispy, caramelized texture that a traditional thick patty can’t match. Oat milk survived the hype because it solved a real problem: it’s a creamy, neutral-tasting dairy alternative that performs exceptionally well in coffee. In contrast, the rainbow bagel was a visual spectacle, but it didn’t taste any better than a regular bagel. Its only purpose was the photo, and once everyone got their picture, the fad died.

Finally, the most resilient trends tap into a broader cultural shift. The rise of plant-based everything, from Impossible burgers to almond-based cheeses, isn’t just a fleeting interest. It’s connected to deep, evolving conversations about health, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare. These trends have staying power because they are aligned with a fundamental change in how we think about the world.

The Real Joy of Discovery

From a single kitchen to a global feed, the journey of a food trend is a mirror of our times. It reflects our creative impulses, our technological obsessions, and our shared cravings. It shows how a simple, good idea can ripple outwards, connecting people across the world.

But the trends that truly last are the ones that manage to shed their "trendy" label altogether. They become so integrated into our culinary vocabulary that we forget they were ever a novelty. They are the ones that offer more than just a fleeting moment for the camera, providing real, lasting satisfaction. And in the end, that is the only test that matters.