Many blue spirulina enthusiasts know how instagram launched blue spirulina. It’s not exactly the most complicated mystery ever. However, that doesn’t make it any less interesting to look at. Typically, social media launches all kinds of things; from long lasting trends that end up benefiting a lot of people, to shallow fads that go as quickly as they came. Blue spirulina is definitely not a fad, playing a role in the diets of many different people after it gained popularity by being featured on Instagram.
This article is going to examine the relationship between Instagram and Blue Spirulina.
What exactly is blue spirulina?
Before we answer what blue spirulina is, let’s quickly cover what spirulina is (it’ll make sense, just bear with us). Spirulina is a kind of algae that grows in ponds, lakes (fresh and saltwater) and alkaline waterways. Blue spirulina is just spirulina that has a pigment-protein complex known as phycocyanin, which lends it its blue colour. Lots of people add blue spirulina to their smoothies and breakfast bowls in order to give them an eye-catching fluorescent blue colour. In fact, it historically dates back to before the 16th century, where it was a food source for the Aztecs and other Mesoamericans. So… wait a second… doesn’t that mean the Aztecs technically launched blue spirulina? Well…
How did Instagram launch Blue Spirulina?
Here’s the thing; Mesoamerican cultures are incredibly fascinating (and we definitely recommend you learn as much about them as you can), but they’re not the reason why blue spirulina is as popular as it is today. The reason behind blue spirulina’s success came about in 2017. Instagram got their hands on blue spirulina, and that snowball really started to roll. Source: Google Trends Customers from cafes like Matcha Mylkbar in Melbourne, Cracked Nut in Dublin and Nininio in Shanghai started posting their brand new blue spirulina based beverages onto Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
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Once these posts started to gain traction, all of the influencers wanted in. Instead of going to cafes and taking photos of their lattes, they were cooking their own food and adding blue spirulina as a food dye. All of a sudden, so many people were posting “unicorn food” all over their feeds (that name was derived from the other-worldly appearance that blue spirulina gives foods that it’s added to). In the five years since these posts started;
- #spirulina has 4.3 million posts on Instagram
- #bluespirulina has 65 thousand posts on Instagram
- #blueSpirulina has over 34 thousand posts on Instagram
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https://www.instagram.com/p/CapZpn9NnTf/?hl=el
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Even now, it’s hard not to look at the intense blue hues of a blue spirulina dish and not be absolutely captivated. It makes foods that already look delicious look unique and stand out, so it’s really no surprise that every influencer and food blogger wanted to give it a try.
Why should I care about blue spirulina?
Because it is a great new way to bring creativity to your foods. It goes well with a ton of other ingredients, so there’s no limit to what you can make. Here are some examples of foods that you can add blue spirulina to:
- Blueberry and banana ice cream
- Frozen yoghurt.
- Frozen breakfast smoothie bowl topped with fruits and nuts
- Blue cheesecake
- Some even incorporate blue spirulina into baking creating blue pastries and buns!
Blue spirulina powder and a frozen sorbet are both available at Purple Foods. In particular, the frozen sorbet provides excellent value for money as it can last longer and reduce food waste. Like the powder, you can easily add it to other foods and drinks.
Where can I get the best quality blue spirulina ingredients?
Finding the best quality blue spirulina has just become a whole lot easier. Here at Purple Foods we are importers and distributors of superfoods such as frozen fruits, acai, and blue spirulina. If you have perfect blue smoothies and breakfast bowls in your head that you just need to make, we’ve got you covered!
Purple Foods aims to provide you with the highest quality products across Australia, and we ensure you receive on-demand access to all the blue ingredients you need with our blue spirulina options. Contact us today to find out more!