Social media and consumer trends worth knowing about for September, from cured egg yolks to ‘smash’ dishes

Smash everything from tacos to dumplings 

While smash-burger-tacos took us by storm mid-year (#smashburger has 1.7 billion TikTok views, #smashburgertacos 57.1 million views), the trend has evolved this month. From pies to dumplings, ‘smashing’ is the cheat’s way out of hard work, with ‘smash dumplings’ flooding the feed in September. #Smashgyoza has 3.1 million TikTok views, up 1 million in 48 hours. It’s the same process as the smash burger/taco, with seasoned mince pressed flat onto dumpling skins, fried, flipped and dressed with sauce.  

The reason we love this ‘smashing’ trick is two-fold; first, it negates the need to be neat in your presentation (no pleating those dumplings). Second, it gives us more surface area for that gorgeous Maillard browning reaction and more crispy, browned bits. It even sounds messy and delicious. 

Cured egg yolks are the obsession of #eggtok 

#EggTok is a ‘thing’ on social media, with over 500 million views. Foodies are obsessed with the perfect ways to cook eggs, and recent months gave us feta and chilli crisp eggs. This month, cured egg yolks are ‘it’; from soy to salt and sugar cured. The TikTok hashtag #curedeggyolk currently has 51.3 million views and rising. 

“I came across it as a trend in the US about a year ago,” says chef and director behind the Eggzi brand, Mark Beattie. Eggzi supplies pasteurised egg products to the hospitality industry, and Beattie’s just launched salt cured egg yolks to the market as a point of difference.  

“I was looking for opportunities to innovate in the egg space,” he tells InSeason from the Fine Food Expo in Sydney, where he showcased his cured egg yolks this month and was nominated for the innovation award. “It’s a great complimentary thing to have on a dish,” says the chef of 25 years’ experience. “It has a good shelf life of six months,” making it easy to work with. Social media interest in cured yolks has brought them into the consumer spotlight, and according to Beattie, “nothing has been done in the egg space for a long time” in terms of innovation.  

Date bark evolves and isn’t as healthy as you think 

#Datebark is this month’s poster child for social media food trends that lean into a perceived health angle. With over 15 million TikTok views, it hooked into the social media love of #healthydesserts, prompting an explosion of videos smashing dates flat and layering them with nut butters and melted chocolate. Like the smash trend, it’s a way to make messy presentation an acceptable style choice. 

“It’s been sold to us as a healthier Snickers bar and our desire for healthier versions of things we know and love is powerful and constant,” says nutritionist and author Lyndi Cohen (the Nude Nutritionist). “It’s selling us the idea of having something we love without the guilt and it’s easy enough that people can do it,” says Cohen, who has tried the trend herself.  

“It was wildly delicious,” she laughs. “It’s a new format with enough of a twist to keep it fresh, but still familiar.”  

So, does it stack up nutritionally? “It’s healthier than a Snickers bar, that’s for sure. And you are getting fibre from the dates, however, that’s on a micro-nutrient level,” she advises. Despite its ‘health halo’, Cohen suggests it should still be viewed as a treat. What she does love is seeing people add fresh fruit alternatives to ‘bark’.  

Crystal candy isn’t just an ASMR trend 

In the world of food ASMR social media, people record themselves biting into foods up close to the microphone for maximum ‘shiver’ effect. Crystal candy is ideal, with the crunch of the outer candy shell that gives way to a firm jelly making it wildly popular. Currently #crystalcandy has over 830 million TikTok views. But even for those not here for the tingles, it’s a stunning food, both visually and texturally.  

“You can flavour them, colour them and shape them,” says cake designer Sarah Triplett, who makes and sells crystal candies through her brand Bak’d.  

“They’re just so versatile and very addictive,” she laughs. “Once you start, I find it very hard to not eat them myself.”  

Triplett began selling the candies as standalone products online in recent months, after she previously used them as cake decorations and found that no one was really shipping them to Australia, despite their huge popularity. She shared a video making the candies and clocked up over 800,000 views. According to Triplett, the candies are easy to make, but take time. One of the things she loves most about the social media frenzy is the support that fans and creators give each other.  

“Some of the videos that people share get millions of likes and views, it’s a crazy phenomenon.”  

Other trends to keep an eye on: 

1. Cubic croissants 
2. Crème brûlée-topped fruits 
3. Korean cold fruit bowls  
4. Cost of living / budget food 
5. Mangoes and summer fruits