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Incredible Inedibles

Products inspired by food, but unsuitable for consumption, are becoming art

Implications - As we struggle with a global obesity epidemic, the focus on food is increasing. While marketing for real foods has reached record highs, innovative artists have created eye candy that feeds the visual senses instead. These appeal to hungry appetites, yet don’t take a toll on health.
Trend Themes
1. Visual Food - Visual food-inspired products are on the rise due to increasing health awareness among consumers, presenting opportunities for innovative artists and designers to create eye-catching yet healthy products.
2. Inedible Imitations - More and more imitations of food are becoming popular and making their way to the market, ranging from fake candy soap to fast food jewelry, presenting opportunities for unique novelty gift items.
3. Miniature Food - Miniature food-inspired products are attracting consumers with their cuteness and humour, ranging from small Lego sushi sets to tiny food landscapes, presenting potential opportunities in the toy, fashion and art industries.
Industry Implications
1. Art and Design - Artists and designers can create innovative and unusual food-inspired products as consumer interest in visual food continues to rise.
2. Toy Industry - The production of miniature food products such as Lego sushi and stuffed animal sushi appeals to young and young-at-heart consumers, presenting opportunities for toy companies.
3. Fashion - The concept of food-inspired fashion is becoming popular among certain consumers, presenting opportunities for fashion designers to explore unique and whimsical designs.
4.9
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
11 Featured, 13 Examples:
486,519 Total Clicks
Date Range:
Jul 08 — Sep 08
Trending:
Warm

Featured Examples

Inedible Micro Meals
Inedible Micro Meals
Polymer Clay Food by Mimiature
It's too bad that the Mimiatures mini-food is inedible as they really look good enough to eat. Every polymer clay morsel has been patiently crafted to delicious detail by Mimi, a Thai artisan. Her food… MORE
play_circle_filledInedible Sushi
Inedible Sushi
Lego Sushi Combo Platter
Do your Lego sculptures look like this? Mine were limited to linear pink-and-purple striped pieces of furniture. This sushi set from Big Daddy Nelson looks almost edible. His custom sushi Lego creation… MORE
Edible Miniature Worlds
Edible Miniature Worlds
Tiny Food Landscapes
I totally love the art genre where small figures are placed on everyday objects (such as dog poo) and photographs taken of their interaction - it’s a small small world. These food landscapes from Pierre… MORE
Fake Food Wallets
Fake Food Wallets
Toast and Bacon Wallets
This item is just plain silly. The wallet resembling a buttered piece of toast is rather realistic, or at least more so than the uncooked bacon wallet. Regardless of this, the $9.95 price tag for this… MORE
Fast Food Fashion
Fast Food Fashion
Jeremy Scott's Inedible Wearable Treats
American designer, Jeremy Scott is known for his unusual themes and avant garde designs. This is one of his quirky collections which centers on fast food. So feast your eyes on the burger suit for men,… MORE
Fast Food Jewelry
Fast Food Jewelry
Gold Burger Necklaces
This gold necklace from the "2008 Burger Series" jewelry line is remarkable; there is clearly no accounting for taste. This bad boy is basically just a gold burger buns necklace... from Japan, of course.… MORE
Fake Food Flash Drives
Fake Food Flash Drives
USB Sticks To Sink Your Teeth Into
A lot of different USB devices have been featured on Trend Hunter, but these new ones really, truly are the most remarkable yet. If you are going to have your life stuck on one of these, then I guess… MORE
Art Made of Jelly Beans
Art Made of Jelly Beans
Jelly Belly George Clooney
I knew George Clooney was eye candy, but I had no idea he could be this sweet! This fantastic portrait of the sexy 460year-old was created out of Jelly Belly jelly beans, forming a sort of candy mosaic.… MORE
play_circle_filledMaking Food Cute
Making Food Cute
10 Sushi Chic Designs
Sushi Chic is getting better and better as this list of ten fashionable sushi trends demonstrates. Surprisingly, it did not even take much fishing around to pull these together. (1) Unseasonal fishy brilliance… MORE
Fake Candy Soap
Fake Candy Soap
Mini Gummi Bear Bars
These mini gummi bear soap bars look and smell just like the real thing! When I say just like the real thing, I mean just like the soft, gummy candies as they are the same size, shape and smell as the… MORE
Chinese Takeout Lamps
Chinese Takeout Lamps
Fast Food Home Decor
At first glance these lamps simply appear to be Chinese takeout food containers, but a closer look reveals a unique, classy, and symbolic lighting device. These lamps come in five colors at Baronbob.com,… MORE