Viral Food Success Criteria

A framework for creating viral food products or trends, based on analyzing successful past examples.

The Four Key Criteria for Viral Food Success

• Side Item Becoming Main Dish

  • Taking a traditionally secondary food item and making it the star
  • Example: Cookie dough moving from ice cream addition to standalone dessert

• Different Color Than Normal

  • Changing the traditional color of a food item
  • Example: Green ketchup
  • Example: Rainbow bagels

• Different Size Than Normal

  • Making items extremely large or extremely small
  • Example: Giant pizza
  • Example: Miniature versions of regular foods

• Unexpected Combinations

  • Combining two related but not typically paired items
  • Example: Cronut (croissant + donut)
  • Must be items that are related but not traditionally combined

Key Success Factors

• Items only need to hit one of these four criteria to have viral potential
• The changes should be novel but still feel familiar enough to be approachable
• Works best when building on already popular or well-known food items
• Can be applied across different food categories and cuisines

Real World Application

• Can be used to:

  • Develop new food products
  • Create viral marketing campaigns
  • Generate social media attention
  • Drive restaurant traffic or product sales

• Framework has been proven through multiple successful examples in the food industry

• Can be systematically applied to test new food concepts