On a recent TikTok video from a restaurant doing chicken vodka parm knots topped with a drizzle of hot honey, these were some of the comments:

"Whyyy does everything have to have hot honey on it?"

"My smile dropped when I saw the hot honey."

"So sick of hot honey."

"I love the vodka sauce but why is hot honey on everything these days?"

"Hot honey is an epidemic."

"Always with the hot honey."

This is one problem with the current "chew trends up and spit them out" trend cycle. When everyone latches onto a trend, and that trend is communicated faster than ever through social media until it's omnipresent in a matter of months, consumers get tired of them more quickly (a few commenters noted that vodka sauce is also everywhere). There's also a flattening effect that happens when the same trends show up over and over again, making everything taste the same and the culinary landscape less interesting. Suddenly every pasta, pizza, avocado toast, etc. tastes like slightly-spicy honey. That's coupled with online bandwagoning, where the online population turns on something they once loved after it reaches a critical mass. You put the cool, on-trend new flavor on the menu one month and suddenly everyone hates it and is over it the next. "I've always hated that actor/band/brand/flavor" commenters gleefully note.

Hot honey is delicious. And for some consumers who are not chronically online, don't live in an urban area, etc., hot honey may still be new and interesting -- this summer 31% of consumers told us hot honey is still a trend.

But, as the trend cycle moves ever faster, they'll get tired of it, too. Chasing trends for their own sake isn't sustainable or ownable. They can be an element in the culinary and brand toolbox, but they need to be leveraged thoughtfully and with purpose if they're going to be leveraged at all. What underlying need is the trend fulfilling? How can you use the trend as a starting point, not the end point, for innovation? How does chasing trends impact the brand over time? How can you strike the best balance between true creativity and culinary leadership while also giving consumers an opportunity to try the foods and flavors that they are discovering through social media, friends, family, etc. (i.e. trends)?

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