Trendy Churros: The Next in Stylish Food?

A few weeks back, we had blogged about the trends taking place in the branding of cupcake shops. Since then, it has come to our attention that a new treat has already emerged as the next contender in trendy food – at least in Los Angeles, the cupcake is so2008.Xooro (pronounced “sure-oh”), recently launched two upscale churro shops in Santa Monica and West Hollywood. Since churros don’t necessarily scream gourmet, not only did they have to brand a store, but had to rebrand a food that was probably not considered a premium product before to most consumers.

The premise of Xooro is to take the typical low-brow carnival food and elevate it to a more premium (and trend-worthy) one with a healthier cooking oil and gourmet flavors such as Tiramisu, Dulce de Leche, and Turkish Hazelnut – there is even a gluten-free version. As with any rebrand, naming and tagline development is key to communicating the attributes of the product and brand in a fast and succinct way. With this in mind, the Xooro churros were dubbed “premium Spanish fritters” for a more upscale feel.

As with the trends we previously talked about with yogurt and cupcake shops, Xooro seems to hit the winning formula of the friendly logo, clean packaging design, and modern interiors seen in the other successful treat brands. The letterforms in the logo seem to connect visually with the appearance of a churro (I mean a premium Spanish fritter) from the side view, with the colored in “o” letterforms being the filling.

So if cupcakes are the new yogurt, and churros are the new cupcakes, it’s anyone’s guess on what will be next. But if the churro is successful with it’s new upscale facelift, we still have hope for the fruit cake.