There have been plenty of assumptions about what Americans were eating this year based on what’s been posted to Instagram, but in case you’ve forgotten, Instagram is a platform of lies. No one posts pictures of themselves eating fistfuls of ice cream because they don’t want to wash a bowl. No one livestreams their doomscroll-induced 3 a.m. potato chip sessions. No one is actually making “hot chocolate charcuterie boards” or whatever twee garbage the other year-end lists might say. But the truth is out there, and Kroger—America’s largest grocery retailer—literally has the receipts. Behold, the real top ten trending foods of 2020, based on year-over-year sales growth:
- Zero-Calorie Soft Drinks
- Four-Cheese Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese
- Flavored Potato Chips (Hot & Spicy, Regional Flavors & Meal-Inspired Varieties)
- Sauvignon Blanc Wine
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Fresh Burger Patties
- Artisan Breads & Restaurant-Style Buns
- Bulk Individual Coffee Pods (96-Count)
- Party-Size Bags of Variety Chocolate
- Black Forest Ham
That’s right, folks, 2020 was not the year of faux meat or superfoods—it was all about shredded cheese, heavy cream, and carbs. Because this was a year in which climate change literally set the world on fire, it’s worth pointing out that coffee pods are an unnecessary single-use plastic product that can harm marine life. Instead, why not skip your morning Keurig and stick to a fine breakfast of Black Forest ham, supermarket Sauvignon Blanc, and tiny chocolate bars? Come to think of it, these food trends make a hell of a lot more sense than charcuterie chalets and Baby Yoda pancake cereal.