New year, new problems. 

One of the most ridiculous things I saw while scrolling on TikTok was ‘quiet luxury foods.’ And of course, ridiculous grocery hauls. 

Vital Farms Pasture Raised Organic Eggs, Graza Olive Oil, Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter are apparently, a few examples of ‘quiet luxury foods.’ 

I actually had to take a break from my phone and think about the content I was consuming, because the discourse around ‘quiet luxury’ gets really mind numbing really quickly. But then, it got me thinking about the deeper, philosophical implications behind it.  

Luxury is being redefined. With global inflation and recession, the wealth gap continues to widen, and traditional means of luxury are becoming more unattainable. More and more people are unable to afford basic groceries. With President Trump’s false promises of bringing grocery prices down, but instead causing the economic red wave (yay, recession!), it’s clear that being able to have a full fridge of groceries is now a status symbol. 

Of course, food has always been political and served as a status symbol. Lobster, for example, was once a ‘poor man’s food,’ but is now a food reserved for those who can afford it. But the status symbol manifests itself differently, thanks to social media now. 

According to a YouGov survey for Whole Foods, 70% of Gen-Z respondents indicated they were willing to pay more for higher quality foods, unsurprisingly driving up the grocery bill. When it comes to expensive groceries, there are always health-related reasons to justify paying the price. 

The devotion to ‘health is wealth’ is a display of economic power. As the cost of living continues to increase, people’s dreams of owning a home and a fancy new car are becoming more unattainable. So, people have resorted to grocery hauls as a symbol of luxury. 

Andrea Hernández, the author of the newsletter Snaxshot, calls this the new lipstick effect: an economic theory that says consumers spend money on more affordable luxuries, like lipstick, during economic downturns. 

‘It’s a form of affordable affluence,’ she said. “We’re now getting into this phenomenon of food not as a basic need but as a luxury experience.” 

Erewhon, an upscale grocery store with 10 locations in Los Angeles county, is the epicentre of the regurgitated ‘health is wealth’ phenomenon. Grocery shopping is slowly becoming central to people’s identities, as people are turning these Erewhon shopping trips into opportunities to represent themselves online to curate a specific lifestyle. Perhaps, in hopes of bringing you along on a luxurious experience to live vicariously through them. 

But it also begs the question of how sustainable are these lifestyles, and is it simply just for social media? Erewhon’s collaborations with celebrities, such as Hailey Bieber and Bella Hadid, to come out with $20 smoothies has Gen-Z eager to try to emulate these influencer lifestyles. The $20 smoothies signify to others that they have the money to spend in order to be as healthy as their favourite influencers. In fact, some people are working multiple jobs just to be able to afford groceries at Erewhon to push a curated identity of luxury.  

Luxury groceries have become a consumerist trend once again. Most of the content is spoon-fed through TikTok, where it feels like food is subjected to becoming micro-trends, reminiscent of the fad diets that come and go. Of course, not all of it is bad health advice. It’s always good to get more protein, more fibre, and more micronutrients in. But it’s excessive when brands are really capitalising on these market demands, pushing the new ‘IT girl’ food items as if they’re lip glosses, forcing us to ask each other, ‘are you an Ollipop girl, or Poppi girl?’  

What is integral to your identity?