The National Pork Board in partnership with Crimson Hexagon analyzed more than 30 million Facebook, Instagram and Twitter food posts with Crimson Hexagon’s ForSight Tool to discover what makes up an American meal.
The companies found popular food items and flavors to be less traditional than originally thought. Social media posts revealed that smoked, hot and spicy flavors coupled with proteins made up nearly half of socially shared food across all 50 states during the month of November. Cajun was the most common “ethnic” flavor, followed by Mexican and then Asian.
“It doesn’t matter if you consider yourself a foodie, a novice chef, a restaurant aficionado or just someone who enjoys a great home-cooked meal – diversity is the most common denominator in our tastes, based on what we’re sharing on our plates,” said Pamela Johnson, director of communications, the National Pork Board, in a statement. “Exotic and unexpected flavors are becoming such staples of our American cuisine; they can easily be seen as our new American palate. We see Sriracha on pizza, ramen on burgers and chorizo in everything from eggs to eggplant parmesan. Flavor is at the center of our country’s table.”
The study found bacon to be the most popular pork product, bread the most popular grain and cheese the most popular topping. When it comes to pork, 28 percent preferred it with hot flavors, 18 percent with spicy flavors and 16 percent were for smoked flavors. The study also found that side dishes remain standard staples such as potatoes and vegetables.
published in QSR WEB – http://www.qsrweb.com/news/hot-spicy-and-smoked-make-up-half-of-all-socially-shared-flavors/?utm_source=NetWorld%20Alliance&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EMNAQSR03032015