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The latest TikTok trend flooding the internet is one of the most baffling yet: millions of users are now transfixed on innovative ways to use canned seafood.
As a cost-cutting snack, the canned ‘delicacies’ are almost unmatched – but the fishy craze is causing a shortage at a time when many cash-strapped Americans are looking to trim down their weekly food budget as they battle high inflation.
The #tinnedfish TikTok page has more than 30 million dedicated viewers, where creators reveal how to make an assortment of dishes using sardines, tuna and mackerel.
And while seafood mania continues to take over, companies intent on stocking the shelves are struggling to keep up.
Millions of TikTok users flock to watch canned seafood recipe videos every day
The popular cost-cutting snack has taken off in recent times thanks to the fishy craze
Despite canned fish being one of the oldest foods on the market, with a history dating back to the 1700s, many young TikTok users are bizarrely only now discovering it due to its ‘niche’ appeal.
And with sales through the roof, it is a trend which is set to add billions to the market over the coming years.
The craze sees creators routinely post recipe videos of how best to use the seafood, with many a far cry from the products’ value-shelf roots.
Expensive cheeses, fancy wines and an assortment of charcuterie boards are a common theme of the viral videos, some of which rack up in excess of five million viewers.
Users have even said they received cans of mackerel and tuna for Valentine’s Day, while others are ‘obsessed’ with drinking the oily brine out the tin or pairing it with their favorite booze.
Creators jumping onto the trend are also steering clear of the classic options, choosing instead to use luxury tins that cost far more than the budget packs people grew up with.
Some companies are attempting to capitalize, with canned goods producers like Bumble Bee launching a range of high-end tins to jump on the seafood boom.
‘It’s possible to have a gourmet experience with a can of tuna,’ insisted Bumble Bee brand marketing director Jeremy Zavoral to the Wall Street Journal, noting the brand’s latest line of youth-targeted tins.
The trend has led other companies to even collaborate with social media creators, as many now boast flavored oils and price-hiking designs that hardly resemble the classic canned seafood items of decades past.
Brands are riding the coattails of the trend with good reason – with US sales of canned seafood rising almost 10 percent to $2.7 billion last year, according to data provider Euromonitor International.
The industry is even expecting to enter a canned fish golden age, with the market forecast to rise to over $11 billion by 2027, according to IndustryARC.
Commenters within the TikTok hashtag consistently complain about being unable to find the same products used by their favorite influencers.
And while they enjoy record profits, canned seafood insiders are quietly concerned that their recent prosperity is also hampering supply chains.
From working with anglers to catch the large numbers of fish, to distributing out from the just-18 canneries across the US, anecdotal complaints about empty shelves could soon be a reality.
‘This type of artisanal production can’t be scaled up easily,’ Patrick Martinez, the founder of Tinned Fish Market, added to WSJ.
Canned seafood company Fishwife is one of the most popular brands with TikTok influencers thanks to its flashy packaging
One of the most popular subsets of the trend is a ‘tinned fish date night’, where foodies post their couples dinners as they enjoy briny mussels and scallops by candlelight.
Professional chef Ali Hooke, credited with starting the canned fish date night trend, revealed that the craze is already impacting grocery stores – with her local supermarket recently placing a ‘tinned fish’ sign by the entrance as a marketing ploy.
Her weekly videos showing off her varied date night delicacies of wine, crackers, cheese – and tinned food – have given her a following over almost 100,000 viewers.
Hooke is also among the influencers to land a sponsorship deal, with Vancouver-based brand Scout Canning recently revealing that it receives roughly 500 customer referrals each month thanks to her TikToks.
With the fish flying off the shelves, the company has seen its revenues last year skyrocket 82%, raking in $4 million purely from its tinned seafood line.
‘I did not at all expect that to have a reaction. I just was posting it because it was what we were doing, what we were eating and we loved it,’ Hooke told TIME.
The trend sweeping its way through TikTok has even seen viewers claim they received tinned fish for valentines day
‘Tinned fish date nights’ are one of the most popular subsets of the trend, where users show off their fancy wine and cheese date set-ups alongside cans of seafood
‘Tinned fish date nights’ are one of the most popular subsets of the trend, where users show off their fancy wine and cheese date set-ups alongside cans of tinned seafood
While the tinned seafood market is entering a renaissance thanks to the latest bizarre online fad, canned fish producer Wildfish Cannery told the outlet they are struggling to meet demand – an issue also faced by TikTok-favorite brand Fishwife.
Despite its cans going for upwards of $10, the company’s retro design and flashy marketing has been a hit with the hashtag’s biggest influencers.
The company recently reportedly growing 9,900% since it launched in 2020, no mean feat considering the complex product line that goes into making the tins.
‘It becomes this gourmet snack that literally took five minutes to put together. I think that’s what really resonated with my audience,’ Danielle Matzon added, a tinned fish video producer who commands an audience of over half a million people.
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