WHEN FOOD TRENDS GO VIRAL
The food aisle used to begin in a factory, a test kitchen or a retailer’s buying office. Today, it may begin with a video, a livestream, a fan community or a product hunt filmed on a smartphone. Food discovery has become visual, social and fast-moving, and brands are learning that influence is no longer just a media channel. It can be the spark for product development.
France has already offered visible signs of this shift. Tibo InShape, one of France’s most followed YouTubers, first became known through fitness and bodybuilding content before expanding into mainstream entertainment. His name is now associated with protein shakes, bars and energy drinks, helping bring sports nutrition products into the mass retail conversation. At the same time, Ciao Kombucha, a French kombucha brand with a strong digital identity and community-driven positioning, shows how an online audience can be converted into grocery sales. These examples are part of a much wider international movement. In the United States, the United Kingdom, Asia and the Middle East, the same pattern is unfolding: creators and communities are pushing food concepts from the feed to the shelf.
For buyers, retailers and brands preparing for SIAL Paris, which takes place from 17 to 21 October 2026 at Paris Nord Villepinte, the question is no longer whether influence sells. It does. The harder question is which products can survive once the first wave of attention fades.
From endorsement to co-creation
For years, influencer marketing meant paying a public figure to hold a drink, taste a snack or recommend a recipe. That model still exists, but it is no longer the most interesting part of the story. The newer model is deeper. Creators are becoming founders, co-developers, distribution accelerators and community translators.
Prime Hydration, created by American influencer and entrepreneur Logan Paul and British YouTuber, rapper and boxer KSI, showed how quickly a drink could become a global status object when backed by fandom, scarcity and social proof. Feastables, launched by MrBeast, the world’s most subscribed YouTuber and one of the largest creators on TikTok, turned a chocolate bar into entertainment, with product discovery built around challenges, giveaways and store visits. According to Fortune, Feastables generated about USD$250 million, around €232 million, in sales in 2024, with more than USD$20 million, around €19 million, in profit, based on documents sent to potential investors.
Chamberlain Coffee, built around Emma Chamberlain, the American YouTuber, podcast host and lifestyle creator known for turning everyday routines into highly influential content, has taken a different route, closer to lifestyle and identity than spectacle. Forbes reported that the brand was present in 8,500 retailers across the United States, including Target, Walmart and Sprouts, showing how creator-led food brands can move beyond direct-to-consumer sales and into conventional grocery channels.
The same logic applies beyond American creator culture. Dubai chocolate, originally associated with Fix Dessert Chocolatier in the United Arab Emirates, became a global obsession after TikTok amplified its pistachio and kataifi filling. The Guardian reported that the viral trend contributed to pressure on pistachio supply, while Tastewise described the product as a global menu disruptor appearing in cafés, supermarkets and TikTok feeds from New York to Manchester. In South Korea, Buldak noodles, the intensely spicy instant ramen range developed by Samyang Foods and popularised online through “fire noodle” challenges, have followed a similar path through spicy food challenges and recipe hacks, proving that virality can accelerate international appetite for regional products.
These cases differ in tone and category, but they share one mechanism. A community does not simply receive a product. It participates in making it desirable.
Why drinks, snacks and protein move fastest
The categories most exposed to influence are those that can be understood in seconds. Drinks, chocolate, confectionery, snacks, sauces, protein products, coffee, cereals, sports nutrition and wellness products all lend themselves to quick visual storytelling. A bright bottle, a cracked chocolate shell, a dramatic noodle pull or a gym-linked protein bar can travel further online than a long explanation of formulation.
Recent research helps explain why. Attest reported in 2026 that food and drink was the purchase category most influenced by social content among Gen Z, with 56% saying social media affected their food and drink purchases. That is not only about entertainment. It is becoming part of the path to purchase.
For grocery products exhibitors, this can change launch strategy. A product may need retail logic, but it also needs platform logic. It must photograph well, be easy to explain, invite reaction and feel connected to a community. The package is no longer the first point of contact. The first contact may be a creator’s hand opening it on camera.
Credibility is the new constraint
The more creators enter food, the more scrutiny follows. Products aimed at children, teenagers or wellness-minded consumers face questions about sugar, caffeine, additives, claims and portioning. Health positioning is particularly sensitive. A protein bar, hydration drink or “better-for-you” lunch kit cannot rely on personality alone if nutrition experts, parents and consumers challenge its credibility.
There is also reputational risk. A brand tied closely to one public figure inherits that person’s controversies, audience fatigue and attention cycle. What feels culturally sharp at launch can look opportunistic six months later. For established food companies, partnerships with creators may bring reach, but also less control. For creators, food brings operational demands that content businesses do not normally face: forecasting, food safety, shelf life, retailer negotiations and margin pressure.
The strongest influence-led products are therefore not always the loudest. They are the ones where the creator has permission to play in the category, where the product performs without the celebrity attached, and where the business behind the launch can withstand normal retail conditions.
That is where this trend becomes relevant to food innovation shows rather than a passing marketing story. Influence is changing the geography of innovation. New ideas no longer move only from R&D to trade buyers to consumers. They can move from a fandom to a factory, from a recipe video to a retailer, from a viral craving to a multinational response.
At SIAL Paris, this shift belongs alongside discussions on consumer behaviour, product desirability and retail transformation. The show brings together the brands, buyers, distributors and innovators who must now read signals coming from both market data and digital culture. Influence will not replace formulation, quality or operational excellence. But it is becoming one of the forces that decides which products are noticed first. In a food market crowded with claims and launches, that first moment of attention may be the most valuable shelf space of all.
Image credits:
Eaters Collective - Unsplash
Ibrahim Boran - Pexels