In the course of five years, everything seasoning went from something found in New York bagel shops and deep within the aisles of Trader Joe's to a viral hit that every big food name is trying to get behind.
McDonald's (MCD) restaurants in Canada have the everything bagel with butter or cream cheese as part of its breakfast lineup while bagel chain Einstein Bros. now serves the seasoning in shakers alongside its bagels.
Endless variations of the original seasoning are also popping up in the grocery department -- Sam's Club (WMT), seasoning company Simply Organic, and grocery delivery startup FreshDirect all sell their own versions in a shaker mirroring the original Trader Joe's idea.
Burger King Wants Everything Too
The latest fast-food chain to set its sights on the everything hype is Restaurant Brands International (QSR)-owned Burger King.
On Thursday, the burger chain announced that it was testing everything-seasoned buns in select markets in Huntsville, Alabama and Albuquerque, New Mexico from September 12.
Titling the concept its "Everything Menu," the new Burger King items include an Everything Whopper (a grilled beef patty with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, onions, and a brioche bun with everything seasoning) and an Everything BK Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich (the chain's fried chicken sandwich on the same everything-topped bun).
Burger King
The Everything Breakfast Sandwich is also inevitable given bagels' association with breakfast. This is simply the chain's sausage, egg, and cheese on the same brioche bun topped with everything seasoning.
The three sandwiches are a limited-time promotion meant to test popularity before committing (or not) to a wider rollout.
This means that New Mexico and Alabama residents who feel that everything seasoning is the future will need to prove it to Burger King with their purchasing habits.
A Short History Of Everything But The Bagel
While people across cultures have been eating some combination of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and garlic for centuries, the true craze began when New York bagel shops started putting it on what they called the "everything bagel" in the 1980s.
A number of people such as restaurateur Joe Bastianich, catering company owner David Gussin, and Steiner Sports CEO Brandon Steiner claim to have invented the seasoning. But as food site Tasty first reported a few years ago, the seasoning's widespread use and customizability (some add dried onion while others insist on caraway) makes it hard to pin down to a single person.
Another major leap in the popularity of the everything bagel seasoning occurred when Monrovia, California-based grocery store Trader Joe's started selling shakers of seasoning in 2017 it called "Everything But the Bagel."
The idea of putting the popular bagel seasoning on other things appealed to many and, in the next year, the blend started going viral on social media platforms like TikTok. There are videos of popular influencers putting it on everything from eggs and pizza to watermelon.
Even Trader Joe's itself expanded its original concept to Everything But The Bagel chips and crackers.
In the usual evolution from trendy to mainstream, everything seasoning has reached the stage in which it's being picked up by large food chains. Something similar could be observed when, last spring, Dunkin-owned ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins started selling boba tea alongside its ice cream.
While the tapioca pearls placed inside sweet tea drinks have long been popular across Asia, recent years saw it go from something sold in cities' Chinatowns to something eyed by big brands in the U.S.
