Snaxshot #38: Coming To Our Senses

return to synaesthetics

A newsletter on upcoming food and beverage trends that offers a curation of brands and aesthetics written by Andrea Hernández.

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🔮 Peek into the future:

• WTF are synaesthetics?

• Drinkable music videos?

• Paradoxical wine cellars?!

• Literal Party Hotline?!

• Oracular Spectacular

• Snax Basel + New Beginnings

WELCOME BACK, it’s your favorite, non-controversial host with another episode of “Edible Cogitations” and your weekly ability to peek into my brain, not quite literally but close enough. Last week was an Inception-movie type of deep dive into the future of groceries and coining terms like Pantry Kiths and GrocerGram ICYMI, and now, hold on to your non-fungible corpses, we’re moving on to the next big thing at warp speed!

Synaesthetics, or multi-sensory is picking up in food and beverage, in case you haven’t seen, smelled, tasted, or heard yet. This is by far my favorite trend happening in this space because in a way, it’s connecting us with what nurtures us literally, and making it an entire body experience. I dream of a day where we can go full on Willy Wonka “Pure Imagination” scene, and taking a brief moment to talk about how tasty the frosting on this candy mushroom looked, I’m still drooling. Kudos to Roald Dahl for the vision on pure synaesthesia. Has Andrea finally lost it?—not YET, but here’s some good stats to help you understand the relevancy of synasthetics:

—In the US, 72% of American consumers say their purchasing decision is influenced by the packaging design. (Ipsos)

—In a very, DUH moment, this thorough study concludes, “product aesthetics play a crucial role in new product development. Design aesthetics significantly influence individuals’ responses, including their purchase intention, attention distribution, and emotions. Moreover, an appealing design increases the product value.”

—Scent marketing is real! Based on studies, consumers who shopped in the presence of the simple scent spend an average of 20% more. Apparently scent can create a “flow state” —that is where one loses the normal sense of time and is totally consumed in the event.

—Hello free UGC —in case you have been asleep behind the wheel, most consumers will share an image of your packaging on social media if it was unique or branded according to this study. (Dotcom Distribution)

—I’ve been asking for a while, what is happening in Australia that they have the most undefeated aesthetics when it comes to restaurants, delis, cafes but it seems like they have been unto aesthetics as signaler for a while.

—Personally spoke to VICE earlier this year on aesthetics role in food and beverage specifically, read my warnings on not Trojan-horsing folks with packaging here.

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Taste the Music 👅

If you think about it, it’s so funny that we talk about “preference” of something by saying “taste” but there is an actual reason for this that can be found by exploring the etymology of word itself. From old French, tast or “sense of touch” and by late 1600s was a word used to “mean aesthetic judgment, faculty of discerning and appreciating what is excellent" —comical that we cannot separate the senses as much as we try to focus on an experience solely using one of them, i.e. listening to music, eating, aromatherapy, etc. Maybe it’s an effect of being stuck indoors for so long, like the pandemic as a personal sensorial deprivation tank that we have seen the rise in synaesthetics this year. Here are some examples of how it’s manifesting itself.

Khalid’s new video “Present” has its own overpriced smoothie at Erewhon, is he the ultimate snaxboi?! Can we get SXS on his radar? In the promo video, Khalid can be heard saying “synasthesia is a gift, and I wanna share it with you” the smoothie is available at Erewhon and is delivered by Postmates. If you have tried it already, please report back. Music and taste have been studied extensively, there was a study that was a music wine tasting experience, which I’m sad I wasn’t a participant of, the findings are pretty interesting.

Paradoxical Cellars 👂

Speaking of musical wine tastings, there is a spot in Lyons, France called Satriale, a paradoxical wine cellar, as in it’s designed more as an art gallery. There’s a ton of light, considering the walls are glass and the curated wine selections are neatly displayed in the same manner art piece would be at a gallery. They only carry 51 wines that they rotate after a period of time, curating with intention because they shape the experience around the process of discovery, whether it’s a playlist for each specific wine brand and other objects carefully selected to be around that particular wine. In this way the owners believe that the connection between the brand and the consumer is more in depth, as opposed to the overhelming sensation of infinite selection. In this way, the experience feels more that of a boutique without the stuffiness, and at the same time inviting and giving a sense of familiarity, which at times can be hard to give off when you’re talking about wine, an industry that is trying to undo the “stuffiness” vibes around it.

Satriale is just one of many “experiential” spots that are trying to combine all the senses in one, recently GALA opened in Barcelona, a restaurant that is using surrealism to create a one of a kind, unique dining experience. I recommended it last week and some snaxers actually checked it out for me and confirmed that the vibes …were solid. Not that this concept is new, consider the Rainforest Cafe, its popularity and success, or Planet Rock in a way, and yes, get ready for it, Chuck E Cheese, synaesthetics are making a comeback, and it feels so good.

Call Me By My Sense ☎️

Curating is essential part of building up synaesthetics, and 1-800-Party Line knows this. A bi-monthly subscription curated by Ashtin Berry that looks to make wine drinking a musical experience, subscribers can gain access to playlists, art and other visual assets to ehance the experience at home. The founder believes that music and taste go together, literally and it can be a conduit to a better experience for the masses in terms of making something that has been unfortunately designed to feel a bit intimidating like the wine industry to have a more mainstream appeal, that makes it more inviting to all. The wine boxes are curated based on generes, instruments, time periods and will be artist specific.

There is a ton of information that would validate this and I wrote about it previously here, but the TLDR is that wanting to have that experience of an “outing” or “gathering” replicate at home stems from our most inherent behavior as mammals, back to our watering hole days. There is a reason why tablescapes BOOMED during 2020, everyone was trying to piece together or replicate their favorite restaurant while stuck at home. Personally, super excited to see more of the likes of 1-800 Party Line emerge, with as equal intention and desire to bridge the line between URL to IRL at a time where we are still having to distance ourselves. Looking forward to more synaesthetics to emerge out of this industry.

Oracular Spectacular 👁️

SHHHHHHHH! Our favorite show is on “What’s New, You Ask?”

Clara: Based in Australia, Clara is a new kind of functional tea company, launching this month!

Graza: Launching in 2022, your favorite olive oil, and in line with the latest aesthetic trend, that is moving away from apothecary-style bottle.

Pink: Jacquemus launched a CBD beverage in partnership with Chilled.

Americana: Based in Monterrey, Mexico taco sauces in tube format, pretty cool vibes.

Craving more you greedy Snaxboi? Check out our Double Feature: OS, and our OOO guide, curated snax based on vacation.

We are joining you in 2022 but we wanted to map out some snax related happenings for you all to enjoy.

• Find Ruby at Daisies and Ray’s popup.

• Find OFF LIMITS cereal cart all week long at ⁠
  151 NE 41st Street, Suite 127, Miami, FL 33137 📍⁠ ⁠

• Top the weekend off with Poolsuite’s “Lazy Sunday BBQ”

The end is clear. Spectral echoes, whispers of creation, a new universe is brewing. Snaxshot Patreon subscribers will be the first to know about what we are up to next. But you can stay updated on Snaxverse.com

Snax Concierge 🛎️

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🔮 Share with your friends and let them know forecasting trends is the new astrology: