A few years ago, the term ‘plant-based’ might have confused you.

Those two words, often found in an Instagram bio and almost always followed by the seedling emoji, probably made you wonder whether the person attached to it was a part-human, part-flora lifeform.

In 2019, it’s become common practice for influencers to use this term to align themselves – and their brand – with veganism. The #plantbased hashtag has been used 24 million times on Instagram, and not just for the love of a holistic lifestyle, but for business. The UK plant-based market reached a total value of £443 million in 2018.

In a playground of posers, these plant-based Instagrammers aren’t always genuine. Recently, I met a woman at a dinner party who tucked into every meat dish brought to the table. This was no big deal, until she followed me on Instagram and I saw that she proudly bore the plant-based insignia on her profile.




Odds are you also know someone who preaches the benefits of clean eating, but enjoys a vastly different lifestyle offline.

Fortunately, there’s a new league of influencers who make no attempt to parade themselves as beacons of health. They’re upfront about who they are and what they eat – and that is sweet, sweet junk.

Oozing chocolate. Mountains of sour lollies. Rainbow bagels overflowing with cream cheese. Such visuals are the cornerstone of Instagram’s increasingly popular junk food accounts: the snackfluencers.

The gloriously calorific feed of @JunkBanter (Picture: @junkbanter)

Accounts like @JunkBanter, @CandyHunting, and @JunkFoodGuru have attracted hundreds of thousands of followers by posting about ‘rare’ snacks such as honey cornbread and blackberry jam ice cream, cucumber-seasoned crisps, fried Cheeto deviled eggs, and chicken and waffle flavoured cereal.

@JunkBanter’s bio simply reads: ‘Dumb captions on dumb food pics.’ These are influencers who aren’t conforming to the formulaic, stylised Instagram aesthetic that appears to take foodies from blogging in their basement to a cookbook publishing deal. It’s a visual that screams: come as you are, but make sure you’re slathered in chocolate and dipped in sugar.

Scrolling through these feeds will never conjure feelings of guilt over skipping that post-work gym session, or for not thinking that a green smoothie counts as dessert. It’s here that you can truly embrace a bit of gluttony without shame.

Kev, a UK-based snackfluencer, sees his Instagram @KevsSnackReviews as a safe space on a platform where people are often pressured to look a certain way.

Kev tells Metro.co.uk: ‘I hope people don’t feel bad for eating what they love. Even though I post a lot of junk foods I see them as inspiration for something nice to treat yourself to, or as a gift idea for someone.

‘I don’t believe in diets myself, everything in moderation is my motto.’

Kev credits the popularity of his Instagram to the swell in snack releases. In the past three years, he’s seen the interest in his junk food account and other similar accounts grow.

‘I think people have always loved new snacks and sweets but now they’re discovering you can find out about them very quickly thanks to Instagram,’ he explains.

The admin worker, who can’t go past a good old Wispa Gold, sources his supply of the more niche, foreign snacks from import-based companies such as A Taste of the States and GB Gifts.



He tells us: ‘Aside from those, I’m often on the hunt in supermarkets, local market stalls and discount stores – it’s surprising what interesting sweets you can find in places like Poundstretcher!’

New York-based snackfluencer duo, Dario Torres and Taylor Trachtenberg, have made a living sourcing rare junk food from all over the world. Earlier this year, the couple developed a snack-selling business off the back of their successful Instagram account @TheSuperSnackStore.

Each week, they make nearly £790, finding their customers from an eclectic mix of pop-up stores, online orders, and home deliveries. Some of their followers make regular purchases – usually weekly – and spend between £59 to 79 on snacks alone.

Taylor tells us: ‘On a weekly basis, our sales grow exponentially. A majority of our customers are looking to spend hundreds at a time. We don’t just sell snacks, it’s an experience for the consumer. These are only snacks you can get if you take a trip across the world.’

The Super Snack Store’s treasures include white peach Fanta from Japan, tiramisu Oreo thins from Korea and strawberry jelly and ice cream flavoured soda from the United States. Taylor’s personal favourite are the Triple Cheese Cheetos from Japan.

‘These have flavours that are not like your ordinary cheesy Cheetos,’ he says. ‘They have a strong naturally cheesy taste layered to pack a punch that won’t even stain your fingers. These chips take the regular OG Cheetos to a whole new level.’

Most of these snacks won’t be around for long. They’re limited edition, which of course only increases the allure and the hype. We’ve seen shoppers pay ten times retail price for the rare Caramilk, and people becoming ‘highly distressed’ over the scarcity of orange Cadbury Twirls. Therein lies the climbing appeal of Instagram snack accounts.


We can only hope that when the next innovation in calorific eating comes to a store near you – could it be a McDonald’s cheeseburger doughnut? A pickle-flavoured cake pop? – you’ll be ready. Or better yet, you’ll know a snackfluencer who can hook you up.

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