There’s probably a large number of readers out there closing their eyes, covering their ears, and telling us to shut up about pumpkin spice already—and it’s not even October. Unfortunately for those readers, pumpkin spice has, over the past two decades, grown to have an undeniable influence upon not only the food industry, but the retail sector as a whole. For being a simple combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and only occasionally actual pumpkin, it sure has American society by the throat. And no one knows this better than Google.
Google Trends has released new data that tracks searches involving the term “pumpkin spice” so far in 2023, which it then used to determine the most uniquely searched pumpkin spice food in every U.S. state. The metric “uniquely searched” means that a significantly higher number of Google searches for these terms were occurring in certain states compared to the rest, which explains why something like “pumpkin spice latte” isn’t on the map—everyone’s searching for that all the time.
Still, there are many delicious and unusual pumpkin spice foods that don’t get the glory of the #PSL, and this map is a good reminder of all the seasonal delicacies that await us. Here are some highlights:
- Alaska: Pumpkin Spice Cheerios. Back again this year, these Cheerios are a great example of a product whose natural oat-forward flavor perfectly complements notes of pumpkin spice. That could explain why they seem to stick around longer every year. This was also the top search in Utah, Missouri, Massachusetts, and Maine.
- Colorado: Pumpkin Spice Donut. Residents of Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Tennessee might be pleased to learn that Krispy Kreme’s Pumpkin Spice collection is back in stores until October 8.
- Arizona: Pumpkin Spice SPAM. We knew Arizona wouldn’t let us down.
- Hawaii: Pumpkin Spice Dump Cake. As we’ve discussed, dump cakes are the perfect lazy weekend baking recipe, and a 9x13 pan full of fall flavor will go a lot farther than a homemade PSL.
- Delaware: Pumpkin Spice Deer Jerky. So here’s the funny thing about this one: It doesn’t appear to be a snack that people are seeking out, but rather a popular meme, one evidently crafted by rugged outdoorsmen to mock pumpkin spice obsessives online. The meme, in its many forms, usually says something like, “It’s not pumpkin spice season, it’s deer jerky season.” There’s even Etsy merch, if you’re into that kind of thing.
Perusing the map, it’s hard to find any instance of pumpkin spice that doesn’t sound delectable to us (yes, even the SPAM). Where once it was seen as a novelty flavor, now pumpkin spice sits comfortably beside stalwarts like chocolate, vanilla, and berry in the broad landscape of consumer packaged goods. And it’s not unreasonable to think that, like those classics, it might eventually just stick around all year long.