Posting photos of what you eat is fast becoming the norm in today’s society, and millennials are setting the trend with Instagram becoming the number one social platform to share their foodie pics.
A quick search on popular food-related hashtags, shows the sheer volume of content being posted to the channel every single day. There are now well over 187 million photos tagged as #food, 42 million photos tagged as #foodie and over 8 million photos tagged as #foodphotography. It really is the epitome of ‘eating with our eyes’.
Instagram has quickly developed two groups of people posting what they eat. Those in the #healthyeating brigade; sharing their almond milk porridge and nutribullet lunch, and those in the opposite corner, #foodporn squad; sharing their much more envious three stack burger and chips pics! Having both groups sharing their photos when dining in our pubs, means we see both sides of the story. Those in the #foodporn camp happily chomp down on a tasty 10oz sirloin on the bone, lathered in béarnaise sauce, with a pile of chips on the side, bowl of onion rings on the table, and a large glass of red in the background. Burgers pilled high with bacon, avocado, mushroom and pulled chicken, often being shared with friends online before a bite is even taken. These are the guys that ignore the calorie counting and diet fads and instead indulge in a proper good meal. The bigger, the meatier, the more instagrammable the food, the better.
The #healthyeating brigade in the other corner promote good health through stunning and inspirational photos, showing how great healthy eating can be! Racking up over 12 million photos, this group promote a healthy way of life and share their recipes and tips to show that healthy doesn’t mean boring. #eatclean has over 34 million photos and #avocado now boasts over 4.5 million photos, showing how versatile this green fruit is. Health Coach @madeleine_shaw has over 252,000 followers and @restoring_radiance with over 61,000 followers, posts regularly, engaging over 2,000 users with every single photo.
Ensuring we meet the demands of these guests means offering suitable dishes, and we have seen phenomenal growth in the number of orders for our smashed avocado & sourdough in the mornings and our superfood salads at lunch. These healthy junkies are searching for proteins, vegetables and good carbs, and despite eating completely different dishes, like the #foodporn squad, are too sharing images of what they eat to inspire, and educate others.
If all this food talk has got you drooling, then check out The High Field Instagram page – and next time you’re in the second city of Birmingham, stop by and give them a try! Just remember to take a photo of what you eat and share it with them!