Jack In The Box’s tacos are now available in mini form.
While America is usually known for super-sizing everything, the tiny food trend also comes with a history, from mini M&Ms (that cost the same as real ones) to the tiny food videos currently taking over the internet.
To feed this taste for all things small and cute, fast food chain Jack In The Box (JACK) – Get Jack in the Box Inc. Report just launched two tiny versions of its popular tacos: the Nacho Tiny Tacos with nacho cheese seasoning and ranch sauce, and the Bacon Loaded Nacho Tiny Tacos with all of that and some bacon bits.
What’s A Tiny Taco?
At $3.50 and $4.50 an order, each box comes with 15 single-bite tacos. Each piece is so small that, had it not been for the filling inside, they’d look more like chips than tacos.
While doll-sized versions of foods have been made for centuries as toys and figurines, videos of actual foods being made in finger-sized versions have been rocking the internet over the last five years.
A two-hour YouTube video of one person making everything from a tiny burger and fries to tiny Korean bibimbap has over 70 million views.
Such popularity prompted a 2021 cooking show about who can make the best tiny foods on Discovery Plus and pop-up restaurants that actually serve tiny versions of popular foods.
Is This Just A Trend Or Is Everything Tiny Now?
While sit-down restaurants and catering companies often launch “small bite” menus, fast food chains have generally been slower to respond to the tiny food trend.
Jack and the Box’s new offering aside, White Castle is one of the only brands currently known for having miniature items on the menu. But since those launched in 1921, the concept far predates the internet.
As a 1981 L.A. Times article shows, the trend of “going small” has been going in and out of style for a while now — in the 1980s, Burger King (QSR) – Get Restaurant Brands International Inc Report tried launching mini-cheeseburgers as “Burger Bundles,” while Kentucky Fried Chicken (YUM) – Get Yum! Brands, Inc. Report once had a beloved but now long-discontinued sandwich known as Chicken Little.
But as creating bite-sized versions of foods usually takes more time on the assembly line in exchange for the customer expectation of a lower price, the trend has been difficult to adopt on a larger scale.
While some fast food chains will occasionally experiment with smaller versions of popular menu items, the truly doll-sized pieces you see on the internet remain the domain of food artists and aficionados.
