2022 Delivered: Did Anyone Actually ‘Cart’ That #FoodTok Recipe?

Today, we’re introducing 2022 Delivered: Did Anyone Actually ‘Cart’ That #FoodTok Recipe? — a deep-dive report that looks at the influence of viral TikTok recipes on customer shopping behavior.

#FoodTok, a mouthwatering subgenre of TikTok, has propelled some of the buzziest food and recipe trends on social media over the past few years. Here at Instacart, we watched with fascination and wondered, how much of this content is making it into people’s carts? 

To find out, we analyzed Instacart’s purchase data — which reflects millions of grocery transactions across the U.S. and Canada — to uncover whether people actually “carted” the ingredients for 20 prominent #FoodTok recipes.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll find in our interactive data report…

To Shop the ‘Tok or Not

While it’s tempting to assume that virality is the main factor influencing whether people cart #FoodTok recipe ingredients via Instacart, we’ve found that it’s not that simple. From 2021-2022, we selected 20 of the most popular TikTok recipes to illustrate each recipe’s influence on grocery purchases via Instacart. From Baked Feta Pasta to this year’s Negroni Sbagliato with Prosecco craze, you can see which food trends had the biggest and least influence on Instacart orders.

Not All Food Trends are Created Equal 

Our data suggests that TikTok virality does not necessarily translate into widespread adoption. By comparing TikTok views and the growth of Instacart orders for the 20 recipes we selected, we created three categories to illustrate a recipe’s overall influence: 

1. Movers and Shakers. Viral TikTok recipes with significant views and a large spike in Instacart orders. 
2. Pint-Sized Powerhouses. Food trends that had a smaller magnitude of virality but still resulted in a noticeable spike in Instacart orders.  
3. All Sizzle, No Steak. Food trends that are massively viral but didn’t have a noticeable impact on Instacart orders.

Can you guess which category Baked Feta Pasta falls in? 

2022 Ranked: Which #FoodTok Trends Made it to the Table?

What are the top 5 #FoodTok trends of 2022 that made it to tables? Here’s a quick glimpse at the winners:

1. Green Goddess Salad 
2. Negroni Sbagliato with Prosecco
3. Biscoff Tiramisu, or Biscoff “Lasagna” 
4. Coconut Cloud Smoothie
5. Grinder Sandwich

And Finally, What’s in Store for 2023 #FoodTok?

While we can’t predict what the biggest viral moment in 2023 will be — and if there will ever be anything as impactful as Baked Feta Pasta again — Instacart’s Trends Expert Laurentia Romaniuk shares insights, perspective, and predictions for what we can expect from #FoodTok and its influence on people’s shopping habits in the year ahead.

Check out the full report – Did Anyone Actually ‘Cart’ That #FoodTok Recipe? – at https://www.instacart.com/food-trends-delivered/. 

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Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.