A customer props his phone against the salt shaker, then pulls his sandwich apart in slow motion to film the cheese stretching. The video will be on TikTok before the first bite. Another customer drives across town for fried chicken. At that spot, the whole reputation rests on breading that crackles under your teeth. Somewhere else, a chef gives a taco the care he usually saves for his signature dishes. These behaviours are worth a closer look, even if you sell clothing or professional services.
In their Street Food 2026 white paper, SIAL Paris and NellyRodi present seven trends that shed light on what draws consumers in. Here’s my read on what they can teach us about brands, with ideas for applying them beyond food.
The 7 trends at a glance:
Crousty Culture: the texture that makes people choose
Obsession Sensation: the multisensory experience
WTF Blend: the familiar meets the unexpected
Mono Mania: hyper-specialization
Sandwich New Plate: a format that fits real life
High Street: premium brands getting closer to people
Healthy Indulgence: pleasure and responsible choices
1. Crousty Culture: the texture that makes people choose
You can see the crunch in the breading and hear it on the first bite. It gives the product presence, to the point of becoming a reason to choose it. The white paper reports that 71% of consumers say mouthfeel defines their preference for a product.
Take two winter coats with comparable features, the same look and the same price. You try them both on. You like one better because the collar feels soft against your cheeks and the fabric moves with you.
That preference happens through touch. A list of features can hardly convey what a few seconds in the fitting room make obvious.
For a clothing brand, the material deserves a place in the promise and in the visuals. Show the gesture of pulling up the collar, the hand running down the sleeve. Give people a reason to come in and touch the product.
The lesson: find the precise sensation that makes people prefer your product, then make it perceptible before the purchase.
2. Obsession Sensation: the power of a multisensory experience
Street food can engage several senses at once: the atmosphere, the sizzle on the grill, the smell that reaches you before the plate does, then the heat and texture in your mouth. The pleasure starts while you’re still waiting for your order.
The white paper reports that 40% of consumers say a multisensory experience is just as important as taste in how they relate to food. That figure is about food; it still opens a line of thinking for other categories.
Think of a wood-burning outdoor fire pit. You watch the flames, hear the crackle and feel the heat on your face. The product changes how you spend the evening: you pull the chairs closer and put off going inside. A fire pit brand could show that whole experience. A couple sharing a quiet moment, the wood popping, the stars overhead and the flames dancing on their faces.
The lesson: look for the moment when several sensations combine to spark a reaction. It’s a scene to create, then to tell.
3. WTF Blend: combining the familiar and the unexpected
Butter chicken poutine and kimchi grilled cheese pair a familiar base with a flavour that changes the experience. You understand quickly enough what you’re about to eat to want to discover the rest.
Picture acoustic panels made from tennis balls. You recognize the object right away, its colour and its texture. Yet there it is on the wall, in a role you never knew it had. The meeting of sport and interior design makes people stop and look. How are the balls put together? Why use them here? The product starts the conversation on its own.
For a brand, this logic opens a path: borrow an object or a material from another category, then give it a new function. The familiar reference makes the idea easy to grasp; the new use creates the surprise.
The lesson: ask what a familiar object could become in another world. A good blend sparks curiosity and delivers a use people understand.
4. Mono Mania: hyper-specialization as a brand advantage
Some counters build their whole reputation around a single product. Customers know immediately why they should stop and what to order.
That clarity can help a service business too. An accounting firm could put its specialized work with construction companies front and centre. Its examples, tools and offer would then speak directly to their reality. It could keep serving other sectors. Its specialty would still give clients a specific reason to think of it and recommend it.
The lesson: choose what you want to be known for, and give it enough room that people remember it.
5. Sandwich New Plate: a format that fits real life
A sandwich lets you carry a full meal and eat it with little prep. The format makes the offer fit a day when you’re short on time. According to the white paper, 71% of consumers buy a sandwich at least once a week, and 2.3 billion sandwiches are eaten every day worldwide.
For a brand, this trend is an invitation to look at the constraints around how its product gets used. When does the customer want to use it? What gets in the way?
Think of the cylindrical tissue box that slides into a car’s cup holder. The tissues are the same. The container gives them a spot within reach, instead of leaving them crushed somewhere on the floor of the car.
The lesson: look at where and how people use your product. A change of format can be enough to earn it a place in their daily lives.
6. High Street: premium brands getting closer to people
The white paper describes how street food is influencing restaurants and hotels. Prestigious establishments are taking popular formats and reworking them to their own standards.
For a premium brand, it’s an invitation to look at everyday habits with real interest. Daily life offers chances to make your expertise more accessible.
A high-end furniture brand could rethink the folding camp chair: keep its simplicity and portability, then work on comfort and materials with the same care it gives its living room pieces.
An object linked to evenings around the campfire enters its world. The brand reaches an occasion its more formal collections never touched.
The lesson: watch what your customers love in popular habits. You might find a product idea that your industry’s usual codes keep you from seeing.
7. Healthy Indulgence: reconciling pleasure and responsible choices
Street food also makes room for offerings that combine indulgence with sought-after health benefits. Pleasure stays at the centre of how the product is presented. The white paper notes that 68% of consumers choose certain foods for the health benefits they offer.
Beyond food, you can apply this logic to the desire to treat yourself while staying true to your values.
You might choose a Patagonia jacket for its look and the pleasure of wearing it outdoors. Its durability and the option to have it repaired also give you a reason to commit: you’ll be able to keep using it if a zipper breaks or the fabric tears. And it fits with your values.
For a brand, the idea is to make that choice tangible. A repair service lets customers act on their wish to keep their clothes longer. The brand gives them a concrete way to do it.
The lesson: make people want the product, then back that desire with commitments customers can actually use. The pleasure of buying can go hand in hand with the feeling of making a responsible choice.
What are people really buying from you?
You might choose a coat to look good as much as to stay warm. Or buy Patagonia because you love playing outside and want to take care of that playground.
A purchase meets a need. It also says something about the person: what they want, what they believe in, how they see themselves.
Your brand gains from understanding what drives that choice, and why it answers it in its own way. Why does this product deserve to exist? What do you want the people who choose it to experience? That’s where your reason for being meets their reason for buying.
Frequently asked questions
What are the 7 street food trends identified by SIAL Paris?
According to the Street Food white paper by SIAL Paris and NellyRodi: Crousty Culture (texture), Obsession Sensation (the multisensory experience), WTF Blend (the familiar mixed with the unexpected), Mono Mania (hyper-specialization), Sandwich New Plate (the practical format), High Street (premium inspired by the street) and Healthy Indulgence (pleasure that reconciles indulgence and health).
How can a brand that doesn’t sell food apply food trends?
Each trend reveals a reason to buy: a sensation, an experience, a surprise, a clear specialty, a practical format, a responsible gesture. A clothing store, a fire pit maker, an accounting firm or a furniture brand can identify the one that fits its product and make it perceptible before the purchase.
Does Sortie67 work with restaurants and food businesses?
Yes. Julie Bazinet was Director of Marketing and Creative Services at Subway Canada for nearly 10 years. Sortie67 works with restaurants, food businesses, hospitality, tourism and retail companies in Quebec, across Canada and in the US.
Source: SIAL Paris × NellyRodi, Street Food white paper, 2026 edition, pages 8 to 14. Applications to other sectors are ideas proposed by Sortie67. Patagonia: patagonia.com/repairs/.
