Remember the bacon boom from years ago, when the favorite pork started finding its way into everything from burgers to ice cream?
It turns out the boom was never broken.
Think about how fast food chains continue to roll out menu item after menu item that includes bacon. This week, Burger King QSR,
It introduced the Candied Bacon Whopper, which not only features the namesake item as a burger topping, but also includes bacon jam.
Meanwhile, Wendy Wayne,
The chain, which gained a bit of notoriety for its Baconator burger with six bacon patties, has just started offering breakfast burritos with six patties as well. And don't forget the Pretzel Baconator Burger, the Son of Baconator, or even the Baconator Fries, among the chain's other bacon-rich items.
There's also the bacon that Americans are devouring at home, which equates to nearly $5.9 billion in sales in 2023, according to market researcher Circana. While that number represents a 7.8% decline from 2022 — Circana Executive Vice President Chris DuBois said higher egg prices may have prompted some consumers to cut back on bacon for breakfast — it is still well above sales of About $5 billion in 2018.
Either way, DuBois said it's clear America's great love affair with bacon isn't going to end anytime soon.
“It's gone from being a trend to being a big staple,” he told MarketWatch.
Wendy's introduced a breakfast burrito that comes with six slices of bacon.
Wendy
In fact, this helps explain why Tyson Foods TSN,
One of the world's leading meat processing companies has just opened its third plant in the United States dedicated to all types of bacon. The new $355 million facility, located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, has the capacity to produce more than 100 million pounds of product annually. In other words, a a lot of bacon.
It's really no secret why bacon maintains its grip on the American taste buds, said Thomas Weinrich, product development leader at Tyson.
“It's delicious,” he said briefly.
Well, there's a little more to it than that. Culinary pros say that bacon, a fatty, cured meat product, delivers just the right combination of an attractive salty, smoky taste and always-appealing crunchy texture when fried. Plus, it's so delicious that a little bacon goes a long way — something restaurants, including fast food chains, consider from a cost perspective.
Simply put, professionals say that even a few slices of bacon can change the taste of a dish.
““It's gone from being a trend to being a huge staple.”“
Of course, while bacon has enjoyed a boom that began at least two decades ago, according to food industry experts, it has almost always been a part of our diets, despite those who don't eat it for religious reasons. The ancient Romans had a version of bacon called pitaso. The classic American breakfast combination of bacon and eggs has been around for about a century.
By many accounts, the bacon boom began when fast food chains started putting bacon on burgers and redefining its place off the breakfast table (and the occasional BLT sandwich). It wasn't long before creatives started having a field day — British chef Heston Blumenthal is widely credited with bringing bacon ice cream to the forefront nearly a quarter century ago — and we also started seeing things like “Bacon of the Month.” Clubs.
The experiment continues to this day. Candied bacon has become increasingly popular lately – hence the new Burger King Whopper. Creative chefs and chefs will also incorporate bacon into almost anything and everything, from cinnamon rolls to sushi.
But what about the fact that bacon isn't exactly healthy — and Americans seem to be forever obsessed with the amount of fat and salt in their diets? Although you won't generally find medical professionals strongly endorsing bacon, some argue that a little bacon every once in a while won't kill you. Or as WebMD says: “It's okay if you move bacon from star of the meal to guilty pleasure status.”
Plus, the appeal of bacon makes it unlikely we'll give it up anytime soon no matter what – and the boom will continue to flourish. Or so says Circana's Chris DuBois, who notes that while some Americans may claim they want to limit bacon consumption, the reality says otherwise.
“What people say and what people do are two completely different things” when it comes to bacon, he said.
