Spate x Express Checkout: Weekly Data Dive

Welcome back to our new weekly series, where we dive into the latest trends taking TikTok by storm starting with food & beverage, brought to you by Spate and Express Checkout.

The goal here is to arm founders and marketers with opportunities to grow. By providing insights into market trends and consumer behavior you can make more informed decisions that drive growth and competitive advantage.

(and don’t forget to follow me and Spate on TikTok!)

Top growing TikTok trends across F&B:

This week, green rice is leading growth for food & beverage trends on TikTok that have significant growth and medium to very high views relative to other TikTok trends. The trend is made by simmering rice in chicken broth and a flavorful green juice that combines spinach, green pepper, cilantro, onions, and tomatillos in a blender. Peas and some other spices are added at various junctures throughout the process. For the other savory trends on the list, @dejahjanique has a viral twice-baked, fully loaded potato. The amount of cheese and cream in this recipe — combined with sexy visuals of the finished product —  will have viewers gleefully reaching for a Lactaid tab. With 1.3M views for this video last week, this recipe has the opportunity to spark a new trend that grocery delivery services (@ Instacart) could capitalize on through easy-to-add-to-cart recipes with tutorials. This recipe also has all the makings of a freeze-to-bake-later easy meal option for families. Birria spice bombs offer a similar level of convenience with exponentially more flavor. Top videos feature creators prepping their own easy at-home birria with meat and the spice bomb. Beyond this, the “bomb” format has so much potential for other cuisines like Japanese gyudon, which you’ll learn more about in a couple of paragraphs. 

Opera cake and cinnamon muffins are the week’s top sweets. Interestingly, both are represented by relatively older videos with renewed interest. The TikTok algorithm is blessing them with a resurgence. This cinnamon muffins post has 2.6M views from last week. The combo of simplicity and ASMR-esque mixing technique gives this trend a visual angle. These would go great with a Spanish Latte.

Top growing TikTok brands across F&B

Nutri-Grain is getting a boost this week on TikTok from its latest Power-Fulls campaign.

@taystanford

trying @Nutri-Grain’s new power-fulls!!!🍓🍫 #nutrigrain #nutrigrainpowerfulls #powerfulls #tryingfood #tryingsnacks #tastetest #foodie #foo... See more

These “soft-baked protein oat bites” include 6g of protein per serving, making them a more satiating option compared to the classic Soft Baked Bars, which contain only 2g of protein. @taystanford’s video shows the PR packaging with a “Break in Case of Hangry Emergency” callout. 

Another classic brand running a PR/creator program is Chicken of the Sea. @real.life.with.lisa posts a simple, straightforward ad that is refreshing in its transparency. Not every campaign needs to lean on forced lifestyle integration to get views necessarily, and this video shows that. The lean protein angle is also very of the moment, and according to Lisa, each packet is only one WeightWatchers point. 

Finally, PopUp Bagels continues to dominate online bagel discourse. @kaylaesteves, with this week’s top video, says the bagels are definitely worth the hype, while @jeremyjacobowitz is skeptical.

The whole thing with PUB is that they promise hot and fresh bagels that are the best bagels you’ve ever had, more or less. However, Jeremy says everything will taste amazing right out of the oven and waits two hours to try them. He appreciates the amount of everything bagel seasoning on one but says, “I just think it doesn’t taste like anything.” These are only two opinions in a sea of reviews. We’re watching for continued conversations around this North East bagel buzz.

📈 Strong, Consistent Growth & High Convergence

Gyudon is a traditional Japanese dish featuring tender beef simmered in a rich soy-based sauce, served atop a bed of steamed rice. The sauce typically includes a simple blend of dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and onions. While it uses fewer powdered spices than a Birria Spice Bomb, easy-to-use flavor bombs can also be adapted into a liquid format for various cuisines.

Gyudon has 144.8K average weekly views on TikTok, making it a medium awareness consumer trend on the platform. Views of the trend have grown by +358.1% since last year. Its high convergence score of 72.7% across TikTok and Google Search shows that it’s a trend consumers are eager to experience beyond just watching TikTok videos.

This dish is also a medium awareness trend on Google Search, with an average of 25.9K searches per month. Its positive +50.1% growth in searches since last year in the US shows that this trend is capturing Americans’ attention. “Recipe” is the top related search, with an average of 5.8K searches per month and +92.5% year-on-year growth. This reinforces the value that a toss-in flavor bomb could add, making it easy for those without Japanese kitchen staples like dashi and sake lying around.

About our data provider, Spate

Spate analyzes pre-sales data from Google Search and TikTok to capture consumer trend awareness and purchase intent, as well as shifts in consumer behavior at both macro and micro levels. They reveal emerging consumer preferences and unmet needs that are not yet reflected in sales data. Insights like these, and many more, across the food & beverage, beauty, personal care, and health & wellness spaces are all available in the Spate dashboard.

About me, Express Checkout

Express Checkout is a newsletter by Nate Rosen that dives into the world of commerce - covering CPG, retail, eCommerce, supply chain, and fundraising . It offers analyses, trend predictions, and discussions on product launches, marketing strategies, and consumer behavior. With interviews, case studies, and data insights, it’s a go-to resource for staying informed and ahead in the industry.