May 9, 2024

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Remember the bacon craze from years ago? At that time, the most popular pork began to appear in everything from burgers to food. ice cream?

As it turns out, the boom never went bust.

Consider how fast-food chains continue to roll out menu items containing bacon. This week, Burger King QSR,
-0.11%
Launched the Candied Bacon Whopper, which not only features its namesake product as a burger topping, but also includes bacon jam.

Meanwhile, Wendy’s WEN,
-1.14%,
The chain, known for its six-strip bacon burger, has just started offering a six-strip bacon breakfast burrito as well. Don’t forget the Pretzel Bacon and Son of Bacon burgers, or even bacon fries, among the chain’s other bacon-rich offerings.

Then there’s the bacon Americans eat at home, with sales expected to reach nearly $5.9 billion in 2023, according to market research firm Circana. While that’s down 7.8% from 2022 (Circana executive vice president Chris DuBois said the high price of eggs may prompt some consumers to cut back on bacon for breakfast), it’s still well above the roughly $5 billion in sales in 2018.

Regardless, Du Bois said, it’s clear that America’s love affair with bacon isn’t going to end anytime soon.

“It’s gone from a trend to an important staple,” he told MarketWatch.

Wendy’s is introducing a breakfast burrito with six slices of bacon.

Wendy’s

In fact, this helps explain why Tyson Foods TSN,
-0.48%,
One of the world’s leading meat processors just opened its third U.S. plant dedicated to bacon. The new $355 million plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, will produce more than 100 million pounds of product annually.In other words, a a lot of bacon.

Thomas Wenrich, head of product development for Tyson Foods, said it’s no secret why bacon continues to dominate the American palate.

“It’s delicious,” he said simply.

Well, there’s more to do. Bacon is a fatty, cured meat product that offers the perfect combination of tantalizing salty, smoky flavor and fried crispiness, culinary experts say. Plus, it’s incredibly flavorful, and a little bacon goes a long way — something that restaurants, including fast-food chains, take seriously from a cost perspective.

In short, pros say even just a few strips of bacon can change the flavor of a dish.

“It’s gone from a trend to an important staple.”


— Chris DuBois of market research firm Circana

Of course, while bacon began its boom at least two decades ago, it has almost always been a part of our diet, although some people avoid it for religious reasons, according to food industry experts.The ancient Romans had a version of Bacon Petasso.and a classic American breakfast combo Bacon and eggs themselves have been around for about a century.

Many believe the bacon craze began when fast-food chains began putting bacon on burgers and redefining bacon’s place beyond the breakfast table (and the occasional lettuce sandwich).It didn’t take long for creative minds to get busy – British chef Heston Blumenthal is widely regarded as Make bacon ice cream stand out About a quarter of a century ago – we started seeing something similar “Bacon of the Month” Club.

The experiment continues to this day. Candied bacon has become more and more popular lately – hence the new Burger King Whopper.Chefs and creative chefs are also incorporating bacon into just about everything, from cinnamon rolls arrive sushi.

But in fact bacon is not Everything is so healthy – Americans seem perpetually obsessed with the fat and salt content of their diets? Some argue that while you won’t find medical professionals universally giving bacon the thumbs-up, eating a little bacon now and then won’t kill you. Or as the WebMD website puts it: “If you move bacon from its star role in the main meal to its status as a guilty pleasure, that’s fine.”

Plus, bacon’s appeal is so great that we’re not likely to give it up anytime soon anyway—and its boom will continue to thrive. So says Circana’s Chris DuBois, who observes that while some Americans may claim they want to limit bacon consumption, the reality is otherwise.

“What people say and what people do are two completely different things” when it comes to bacon, he said.

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