If you do not like the weather in Chicago, wait 15 minutes, and it will change. That mantra also can be applied to food industry trends. Predicting food trends may be even more difficult than predicting the weather because forecasters have meteorological instruments and assistance from the National Weather Service. More than a few food industry insiders have anointed a trend as noteworthy only to have it go bust.
In his book The Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell discusses the phenomenon of social epidemics such as the windstorm we came to know as the low-carb craze. He demonstrates, case by case, how mass social acceptance or rejection can occur from the most menial decisions or mistakes that snowball until everyone is wearing penny loafers, dancing the Macarena and eating low-carb cookies while watching American Idol. Small changes in human behavior can cause quickly spreading fads.