The last time I happened to find myself in Los Angeles (which is not a place I often happen to find myself), I did what every visitor to La-La Land is now obliged to do: I went to the world’s most zeitgeisty grocery store to gawp. Those of you familiar with Erewhon will already know exactly what I’m talking about. For those who don’t: Erewhon is a high-end, celebrity-beloved supermarket that sells such things as $19 smoothies made with powdered beef organs and unpasteurised milk. TikTokers routinely flock there to spend small fortunes on fancy snacks and film themselves unpacking their “hauls”.
Erewhon is also, you might have noticed, a literary reference. The brand is named after a 19th-century satirical novel by Samuel Butler about a society full of beautiful people, where crime is treated indulgently and considered a “sickness”, but poverty and illness are criminalised. In Erewhon, people go to great lengths to appear healthy.
What would Butler have made of a slick supermarket, filled with influencers desperate to see and be seen, being named after his book? I couldn’t tell you: I wandered the somewhat sterile aisles of Erewhon looking for enlightenment, but only came out with a croissant.
I can tell you this, though: Americans, particularly gen Z, seem to have an insatiable appetite for treating themselves with upmarket snacks. “TikTok creators have brought ‘Little Treat Culture’ into the zeitgeist, and we’re on board,” Whole Foods writes in its roundup of 2024 food trends. (Well, of course it is.) Little treat culture is exactly what it sounds like: rewarding yourself with lovely little things, such as an extremely Instagrammable $19 smoothie, just for existing in these trying times. It’s the lipstick effect, basically.
While these little luxuries aren’t always food-related, groceries have become a common category for a (relatively) affordable indulgence. And not just in the US: recent Deloitte research shows that consumers are a lot more likely to say their “recent splurge purchase” was food or drink rather than personal care. A survey by McKinsey & Company similarly found groceries to be the “new biggest splurge category”. Snack-makers are paying close attention and cashing in by designing more upmarket, individually packaged indulgence. Let them eat organic, highly stylised cake!
Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
