Rainbow bagels, the Unicorn Frappuccino, açai, poke bowls, and fro-yo are all trending. You might think that we have time-traveled back to 2016, but it is still 2026.
With the new year, influencers, celebrities, and fans have been posting about this year being the “new 2016.” But what does that even mean? Are we really back in 2016? The trending page on TikTok says yes.
Is 2016 the new 2026?
This new year has brought a wave of nostalgia and yearning for a time when you had fewer responsibilities and were more worried about how to use the dog filter on Snapchat. People have noticed this yearning and have begun posting old throwback photos from 2016, to a time when everything seemed carefree.
This feeling sparked the trend that 2026 is, in fact, the new 2016. It’s not that the years are actually similar at all, but that we are craving the energy that 2016 brought and the lack of adult responsibilities. This sense of nostalgia does not stop at social media but extends into what we were snacking on or grabbing for breakfast before class.
What was food like in 2016?
Food trends in 2016 were brightly colored and unapologetically aesthetic. It was fun to decode the flavors of a rainbow bagel, but it was also important to let your Instagram followers see what you were eating, starting “Instagram eats first.” If your dinner looked good on the plate and your feed, it was going to become a trend.
Ten years later, those same foods are beginning to reappear on TikTok. Creator Matt Peterson went out and tried all of these nostalgic flavors in this TikTok.
For some, these trends are a blast from the past, a wave of nostalgia for a time that felt simple. When going viral was more of an accident than a calculation. For younger generations, these foods feel brand new, something they may have witnessed but were not old enough to participate in. This overlap of audiences, paired with Starbucks hinting at the return of the Unicorn Frappuccino, has pushed this trend into the spotlight.
Why are 2016 food trends coming back?
Food nostalgia is not necessarily a bad thing. It can bring comfort. Ordering a poke bowl from your favorite place from when you were in high school can bring a wave of emotions and memories that you might enjoy and did not realize you missed. According to a study done about food-evoked nostalgia, it can be more powerful than music or scents at bringing that sense of longing.
Still, revisiting old favorites comes with an issue: they have changed just like you. Fro-yo stores have closed down. Açai bowls can be customized, adding protein powder to fit dietary needs. Your taste buds have changed. You might not be as impressed with a rainbow bagel like you once were, now realizing it’s really just a plain bagel. Your stomach might be grumbling in the wrong way after you stack six different toppings onto your fro-yo. This doesn’t mean you can’t go enjoy the different foods you were obsessed with, go live your dream 2016 day. Just be aware that you might not like it the way you used to, but the memories will still come back.
Calling 2026 the “new 2016” is more feeling than fact, but it does not make it any less impactful. The revival of all of these trends is not just reliving the past but is chasing a time when food was colorful and perfect for your Instagram feed.