The food trends costing us a fortune

Move over avo on toast, there’s a buffet of new fashionable foods draining our wallets as Aussies swap house deposits for eating out. These are the biggest food trends in Queensland right now.

Friends Elsie Mollison and Lily Bourn with their fro-yos at Yo-Chi in West End. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

Move over avo on toast, there’s a buffet of new fashionable foods draining our wallets as Aussies swap house deposits for eating out.

Caught in the cost-of-living crisis and disenchanted by the prospect of home ownership, Australians are splashing out big money on trending tasty treats such as acai bowls, frozen yoghurt, cookies, coffee and matcha to feel good, demographers have revealed.

“Australians are spending a little bit more on the small health indulgence like the acai bowl, the healthy fast foods or the coffee hit,” social researcher Mark McCrindle said.

“[It] is a social outlet for many as they walk down the street with colleagues, or catch up with friends and go for a walk and have the coffee at the end.”

Aussies are forking out roughly $7-$20 for frozen yoghurt, $5-$10 for matcha, $4-$10 for coffee, $7-$9 per cookie and as much as $30 on acai.

Largely driving the trend has been social media, with the colourful treats regularly filling TikTok and Instagram feeds; as well as the perceived health benefits of acai being a “superfood” and matcha being linked with longevity.

With the Australian matcha market predicted to grow by 7.1 per cent annually, and the acai sector set to increase by 8.16 per cent per year, the treats are being described as the new “avo on toast”.

But Mr McCrindle said, like their infamous predecessor, they weren’t keeping people out of the housing market, but were rather a way for people to treat themselves during hard economic times.

“If they didn’t [buy these], would that mean they could afford a home – probably not,” he said. “This is probably just a way of them managing through these tougher times. This is more a generation that are working hard and earning well, but are further behind being able to afford a home so are just making life work through some of these purchases.”

Demographer Bernard Salt said Gen Z were some of the most avid consumers of the culinary craze and recommended they make the most of it.

“The pressures of life and buying a home are still on the horizon for that generation, so enjoy your frozen yoghurt,” he said.

Brooke Rodger, COO of frozen yoghurt and acai brand Yo-Chi, said business was booming as people of all demographics looked for a fast and affordable way to reconnect during the cost-of-living crisis.

“People, especially young people, are drinking a lot less and they don’t want to always be going out to pubs and bars and spending a lot of money on alcohol,” she said.

“They still want to catch up with their friends and family in a place that they can feel welcome at, but they’re not obliged to spend $50-plus on having a meal together.

“We’ve designed our venues so if you want to spend $7 on a bowl of frozen yoghurt, you can, and you don’t have to fork out a lot of money to be able to come and have that experience socially.”

Originally published as The food trends costing us a fortune