Social media defines all kinds of trends—including those related to food. Here’s how to stay on top of today’s biggest food and flavor trends, bring the next viral recipe into the cafeteria and appeal to what’s trending with your Gen Z and Gen Alpha students.

What’s something that’s always current, trend-defining and ultra-relevant for today’s youth? Social media. In fact, both Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) and Gen Alpha (born between 2012 and 2025) are considered “digital natives,” meaning that they’ve grown up with the internet and social media as integral parts of their lives. In the late 90's and 2000s, during the younger half of Gen Z’s childhood, internet usage became widespread and social media platforms like Myspace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were created and quickly skyrocketed in popularity. By the early 2010s people had smartphones in their pockets with social media on the go, and by the end of 2012, just in time for the first members of Gen Alpha, Facebook surpassed one billion monthly active users...