Ask yourself this, “what is influencing where I am going to eat out?” Is it the reviews that you see online, advertisements, word-of-mouth or is it the Instagram-worthy shots of aesthetically looking food items you see on your timeline?
There is no doubt that social media and especially Instagram has created a huge influence on where customers are going to eat, but also what cafes and restaurants are serving up, ensuring that they stay on trend and marketable.
“Do it for the gram” which begun as an ironic saying, is now what restaurants literally rely on to ensure that their businesses stay on top. Popular Instagram food bloggers may find that they receive free meals or monetary compensation to take photos of the food they eat at restaurants and pop it on their feed.
Cafes and restaurants continue to follow trend, coming up with more extravagant and sometimes bizarre looking concoctions to attract attention and ensure that customers have a fresh new item to take a picture of.
So, is this a trend that we as a society can say that we’re happy with? Does it take away from the simple pleasure of enjoying a well-cooked meal with a loved one? Whether we’re happy with it or not, it’s a trend that has arrived with a bang and looks to be hanging around for a little while longer.
So next time you decide to head out to eat, think about what’s influencing you?
THE AÇAÍ BOWL 
Fam, let’s eat. But let’s do it for the boys, not the gram.
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Preach!
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I hate to admit it but I’ve definitely fallen prey to this trend and headed to cafe’s when I’d seen their beautiful food posted on instagram. But I have discovered that sometimes the food really doesn’t taste as good as it looks. Perhaps they are putting too much focus on the visual presentation than the actual taste because of this instagram trend? What do you think?
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@mieksorensen appreciate the honesty! I myself have definitely ventured outside of my safe suburban neighbourhood to head to an inner-city cafe to try out a fancy looking concoction that I saw online. I agree, it seems that like many other customer-facing industries, restaurants are trying to sell an ‘experience’ in addition to the product. I think there are definitely products out there that don’t taste as good as they look or are presented. A deconstructed coffee and milkshakes with a multitude of crazy items stuck to the top come to mind, but maybe restaurants just need to find the balance in what is too much and what is enough to entice a customer to try their product.
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When my friends and I can’t decide what to eat at a brunch place, we occasionally look up a pictures on insta and see which one looks prettier/yummier. Sometimes they’re as yummy as they look but sometimes they can fall short of expectations (in terms of taste and portion size) 😂
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haha everything looks better on the gram!
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Fair points on pretty food just for the sake of marketing, something to keep in mind
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Let me know about your next food adventure and what type of influences you may encounter 🙂
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When I go out to eat, I always choose where to go based on Google reviews and pictures of food if they have any (minimum 4 stars, service and food should be positively reviewed, and while the food pics don’t have to look IG worthy, they do have to look appetising). I definitely think that if I used instagram, I would be more affected by it (especially because I always bookmark all those “top 10 blah food places to try in melbourne”)
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