Food and beverage brands, restaurants, and grocery stores should stay in tune with what’s happening, or risk missing out on valuable opportunities.
Or worse, jumping on the latest object and realising afterwards that it didn’t bring the desired results.
IOL Lifestyle spoke to Corey Bonalewicz, better known as Corey B, online to find out “what’s cooking” in the scene right now when it comes to food.
Bonalewicz is an entrepreneur, social media influencer and content creator who has managed to accumulate 1.8 million followers on Instagram, more than 10 million followers on TikTok, and a YouTube Silver Play Button.
His passion for entertaining and creating content helped him remain persistent in this industry.
Bonalewicz worked as a radio jockey before starting content creation full-time. His initial content was mostly comedy skits about relationship issues starring his fiancée, but after skits went out of trend, he switched to making videos about life and food hacks.
Asked what food means to him, he said he has always considered himself a “foodie” and likes trying new recipes at home, but his obsession with experimenting took off during the pandemic.
“I’m a creative person, and in everyday life, I’m used to letting the creative juices flow through my content and comedy skits. When the pandemic hit, I felt frustrated at not being able to do that.
“I tried finding inspiration in other things, but it wasn’t until the food trends kicked off on social media that I felt motivated to try them at home and found a lot of joy in recreating recipes with my wife and son with all the free time on our hands.
“The more I got into it, the more I wanted to try the most outrageous trends you see online. So for me, food has been a big part of what kept me sane during the pandemic, and it still does,” said Bonalewicz.
“I feel like a scientist in my kitchen! Seeing something turn out exactly like it did for someone else is always satisfying.
“When I share my food trend reactions and recreations on social media, it feels like I can connect and relate to others through food that makes me feel like a part of a community, especially when we need that. I think it made others feel like that, and being able to offer that to them also makes me feel incredibly proud,” he added.
Below, Corey Bonalewicz shares his top food trends for 2023.
I’d say anything you can put in an air fryer, which is everything!
We live in a world of convenience and speed. Gone are the days when you would spend an hour cooking a meal.
Everyone is busy doing something, so quick and easy recipes are trending more and more. Food trends will move towards becoming even more accessible and faster, especially using the air fryer.
The ice cream roll-up
It’s all over TikTok and Instagram. It’s just ice cream wrapped in fruit roll-ups. Of course, I took it a step further and added hot sauce with tajin seasoning, which was phenomenal!
‘Brazilian Lemonade’ is going to be big this summer
It’s whole limes juiced and blended with condensed milk. The best lemonade you’ve ever had.
The ramen frittata or soufflé
This one is great for students or when the wallet is a little tight.
First, make your instant ramen, eat the noodles (or do what you want with them), add an egg to the broth, and microwave. You’ll end up with a ramen-flavoured soufflé.
Pizza flavoured everything from dip to chicken breast