Food Interactivity – The Global Phenomenon

When was last time you sat down for a nice dinner, and not a single person took a picture of their food? Less than five years ago, that question would have seemed rather outrageous. But, as social media continues to take the world by storm, apps such as Instagram and Snapchat are paving the way for a more immersive food experience.

The word ‘food’ has been hash-tagged 310million times - that equates to 4% of our global population. Numbers such as these show there’s significant interest in online food promotion, but what exactly are the benefits for those operating in the foodservice industry?

Social media has changed the way we eat and consume our food - people want to see ‘Instagrammable’ food presented in a way which will excite, amaze and also look great on social media profiles. The key social media platforms – Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook – have started to invest in more immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Augmented reality offers consumers the opportunity to learn more about the food they are consuming, in a fun and exciting way, and some operators have been quick to react to this opportunity.

Bareburger used Snapchat to create a one-off promotion in which consumers were eligible to win giveaways of some of their top menu items. The restaurant chain used the platform to drive consumers to their outlets through the use of Snapchat’s Lens Studio. 

So, food photography apps, augmented reality and virtual reality could play a huge role in the future of the food industry. As consumers become more and more comfortable with the technology, we expect it to become increasingly present in our everyday lives.

Here at Foodbuy, we believe the future of food technology needs to be embraced. As a society, we have access to streams of online information, from ratings and pictures, to reviews and descriptions, putting the consumer in full control of what they are about to consume.

For more information on how you can embrace this opportunity, contact us here.