What consumers searched for in 2014

12/30/2014 - by Monica Watrous

This year, consumers asked Google: "What is a Cronut?"

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. — Chia seeds and goji berries topped the list of health foods searched on Google in 2014, kicking last year’s kale and quinoa to the curb, according to the search engine’s review of the year’s trending topics.

“New health foods may have increased in search this year, but old favorites remain huge,” Google said in its Year in Search report. “Pizza was searched more than the World Cup.”

In addition to searches for goji, the highest-spiking superfood of 2014, consumers asked “what is a Cronut?” The croissant-donut hybrid rose to No. 17 on the list of global recipe searches after its introduction last year.

Searches also indicated a shift from home cooking to dining out, as consumers sought “recipes” less and “restaurant” more. Among the most popular recipes searched were chicken, meatloaf, banana bread, pancakes and chili.

As for global fare, Chinese food led the number of entries, followed by Indian cuisine and French food.

“Foodies in Japan searched French food more than France, hungry folk in Australia searched Argentine food more than Argentina, and spice-loving Brits searched Indian food more than India,” Google said.

Among diets, the Paleo plan generated the most interest, followed by Atkins, gluten-free, Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet. Google users wanted to know how many calories are in bananas, pumpkin pie, apples, eggs and avocados, but the top trim-down questions were “how many calories should I eat in a day” and “how to lose weight.”

Also on the rise in 2014 were searches for iced coffee, buffalo wings and pies, particularly around the holidays, when cookie recipe searches also surge.

Top adult beverage searches included margarita, martini, sangria, mojito and mimosa, and the most searched beer brands were Budweiser, Corona, Keystone, Miller and Blue Moon.

On Google Maps, the top searches included Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Target and McDonald’s.

Finally, how do Google users take their eggs? According to the trending searches, deviled is most popular, followed by Scotch, scrambled, pickled and boiled.