💬 QUOTED: “Swicy.”

“Swicy,” the Brangelina-style portmanteau of the restaurant industry meant to describe the combo of sweet and spicy, is increasingly taking over restaurant marketing as brands work to appeal more to Gen Z. The Food Institute even dubbed this past summer the “Summer of Swicy.”

• Data indicates ~10% of restaurant menus have “sweet and spicy” items, up 1.8% over the last 12 months. And over the next four years, its menu penetration is expected to rise 9.6%.

The trend is widespread: Shake Shack (Korean-inspired items), Burger King (Fiery Strawberry & Sprite), and Starbucks (Spicy Lemonade Refreshers) have all added swicy items to their menus. As reported by CNBC: common sweet-and-spicy menu items have paired fruity flavors and chili powder, or use sauces like hot honey and gochujang, a red chili paste that’s a popular Korean condiment.

All in on swicy: Over half of Gen Z consumers identify as heat-seeking missiles “hot sauce connoisseurs,” according to a survey conducted by NCSolutions.

🚗 STAT OF THE DAY: Dorrough would be upset – ice cream paint jobs are going out of style. In 2005, more than 50% of all automobiles on American roads were painted a color other than black, white, silver, or gray (including 30+% that were red alone). Today, that figure stands at less than 20%, according to a new Business Insider report based on 1.7 million US car listings.

🤔 DID YOU KNOW? It typically takes around two months to climb Mount Everest from start to finish, including time for altitude acclimatization, rest days, and the actual ascent to the summit. And that’s if Mother Nature, the fickle beast she is, actually plays along.

📰 WORTH A READ: The BBC Show Supposedly So Terrifying That It Was Destroyed → (Atlas Obscura)