This Summer’s Hot and So Are These Flavours

Just recently, a fellow Amper (not from the city) noted that Chicago is the greatest city in the world in the summer. As a Chicagoan of almost thirty years, I couldn't agree more. Our city by the Lake treats this often all-too-brief season like a team sport, a verb, and an absolute mandate to not waste a moment on anything short of spectacular fun. Others may seize the day. Here, we seize the summer: sailing on the lake, street festivals, movies under the stars, baseball, rooftop drinks (so many rooftops), beaches (yes, we have beaches on this American Third Coast), and summer foods and flavours.

Along almost 26 miles of lakefront, all summer long, one will encounter the sights, sounds, and scents of Chicagoans enjoying another staple of the Chicago summer experience—outdoor meals. The grilling and picnicking that breaks out on every sunny, warm day offer a culinary snapshot of the cultural mosaic that makes this one of the most diverse cities in the world.    

At this point in early August, I've strolled past these lakeside gatherings: from couples or lone Chicagoans on blankets with a book and some takeout to full-on family reunions complete with tents, hammocks strung between trees, multiple coolers (many filled with Modelos, the unofficial beer of the city), and some of the most elaborate grilling set-ups you're likely to encounter outside of a commercial setting.

With folks of every race and ethnicity joyfully getting at the business of delicious seasonal fare, my ever-curious marketer’s mind wondered what’s getting dished up this summer, not just here but all across a country that’s now looking all the more like Chicago in its diversity.

A Great Global Cookout

To get a broader perspective on summer flavours, I turned to our SEO team for some data-driven insights. I asked them to look at what flavours may appear at these summer-long cookouts in Chicago and beyond. Is the Great American cookout a mix of old favourites and new flavours, as seen (and delightfully smelled) on my summer strolls by the lake?

Well, the numbers say yes. A snapshot of search trends at this moment reveals that it’s a mix of quintessentially American burgers and dogs, asadas, and tacos of every variety, and, unsurprisingly, given how globalised both the American population and palate have become, new Asian and Latin flavours that are popping up. Let’s explore.

Burgers As American as Baseball and Apple Pie 

• Smash burgers - 83% increase in search volume YoY
• Onion burgers - 124% increase in search volume YoY

We do indeed love our burgers, but this summer, they're getting an update. Searches reveal a trend towards allium-packed burgers and the crispy edges that only a “smash” technique yields. Further evidence of this trend can be found in the Wall Street Journal’s recent hot take on the ascendance of the smash burger on menus at all ends of the dining spectrum. One restauranteur cited in the piece credits its popularity to the simple, nostalgic appeal of a smash burger topped with grilled onions (our two burger trends combined!). 

And Perhaps Newer to the Summer Picnic Table

• Chili crisp – 22% increase in search volume YoY
• Strawberry guava – 22% increase in search volume YoY
• Soursop – 50% increase in search volume YoY

Chili crisp on a burger, especially the veggie kind I'm partial to, sounds spicy delicious. More Americans are embracing this condiment, beloved across many parts of the world in its various forms - crisp, crunch, and oil. This is despite chef David Chang's recent misguided and abandoned efforts to trademark the related 'chilli crunch.' That’s no way for a third-culture cuisine OG like him to behave. 

For this Latina, guava anything also entices, so why not make that plain strawberry smoothie sing with its addition? Menu trends data from Technomic confirms that others feel similarly, as guava has become an emerging ingredient in cocktails such as cosmos, spritzes, and margaritas.

The soursop surprised me until I noted its other name, guanabana. This tropical fruit, popular in the Caribbean, is a staple in the veritable rainbow of Cuban smoothies (aka batidos), familiar to me from my native Miami, my home before becoming a Chicagoan. A trip down another Google rabbit hole points to soursop emerging as an exotic but refreshing ice cream flavour in trendy corners of the foodscape. Perhaps Chicago’s paleteros, the men and women hawking ice cream novelties from carts seemingly in every park, will someday offer Chicagoans in search of a sweet, cold treat some soursop/guanabana paletas (aka popsicles).

Altogether, these flavour-focused search trends paint a vivid picture of the richness of modern food culture today. Never before have Americans so looked to the broader world to inspire how we nourish ourselves and come together over shared meals across the seasons.

I'll wrap up this brief exploration of summer flavours—inspired by a mini Chicago lakefront ethnography and analysed through Google Trends by our agency SEO experts—by noting that it's out in the world where we best understand the ever-evolving nature of modern American life. Get out this summer and let the world present you with questions worth exploring to understand who we are and why curiosity is every marketer's most essential skill.

But enough of all that. I’m heading outside. Chicago summer beckons.