The Foods and Trends Behind the Year of the Horse

This month marks the start of the Lunar New Year. On February 17, we enter the Year of the Horse…or Fire Horse, specifically, and begin a 16-day long festival for the over 2 billion people who celebrate worldwide. 

So, what does the Year of the Fire Horse suggest? That 2026 will be a year of action, energy, and movement – a “doing year,” where fire illuminates truth, sparking and accelerating innovation. The overall spirit is about blazing a trail and taking bold risks – with speed. 

Sounds good to us.

With the U.S. Asian population having more than doubled since 2000, to over 25 million, the Year of the Horse observance is most prevalent in states with large Asian populations, like Washington, California, Texas, New York, and New Jersey.

But in a world more globally connected, exposure to culturally significant celebrations has increased. Today, we note growing, mainstream interest in events like Dia de los Muertos, Diwali, and of course, Lunar New Year. In fact, U.S. social listening demonstrates an increase in all three holidays, with Lunar New Year exhibiting the fastest growth.

Celebration	Social Discussion	Menu Mentions	Recipe Posts
Dia de los Muertos	-6%	+22%	+1%
Diwali	+6%	+3%	+3%
Lunar New Year	+11%	+52%	-8%

Source: Tastewise

The top foods most mentioned (and growing) in Lunar New Year posts?

As you can see, the above foods reflect a variety of regional, Asian cuisine. It’s important to note that while regions may have distinct traditions or meals, they are united across three pillars during the festival: family reunion (and its corresponding feast), cleaning and decorating (to rid the home of bad luck and welcome the good), and giving money to children and elders via the traditional red envelope.

Here are a few examples of the differences:

Population	Spirit	Tradition	Food	Holiday Name and Phrases
Chinese	Loud & bright (firecrackers, lion dances, intense red)	Watching the CMG New Year’s gala together	Dumplings, sticky rice cake, and fish	Chūnjié (春节), or Spring Festival.   Cantonese 恭喜发财 gong hei fat choy (wishing you prosperity and good fortune) Mandarin 新年快乐  xīn nián kuài lè (Happy Chinese New Year)
Vietnamese	Floral and serene (yellow apricot and peach blossoms)	Visiting temples and considering the first person to enter your house after midnight determines your luck for the year	Square sticky rice cake with mung bean and pork, wrapped in banana leaves	Tết or Tết Nguyên Đán.   “Chúc mừng năm mới!” (Happy New Year!) “Vạn sự như ý” (May all things go favorably)
Korean	Traditional and respectful	A formal bow to elders while wearing traditional clothing (Hanbok), followed by receiving “blessing money”	Tteokguk (sliced rice cake soup), galbi jjim (braised short ribs), mandu (dumplings)	Seollal (설날) 새해 복 많이 받으세요  (Saehae bok mani badeuseyo)
Filipino	Chinese and Filipino fusion	The preparation of 12 fruits to represent prosperity for each month of the coming year	Sticky rice cake, often sliced, dipped in egg, and fried	The Tsinoy Lunar New Year 恭喜發財  Kong Hei Fat Choy is the Cantonese phrase used commonly in stores/sales.   恭喜新年 Kiong Hee Sin Ni or 恭喜發財 Kiong Hee Huat Tsai are the Hokkien (language) versions of Kong Hei Fat Choy used in that community

Source: Google Gemini AI

Now let’s look at how food-oriented brands are participating in the festival, by way of LTOs.

Aside from the obvious use of red (symbolizing luck, happiness, prosperity…and fire), there is a distinct lean into “energy and motion” – particularly horses in motion. We note horses in mid-gallop, manes flowing in the wind, tails lifted, or in a stance that signifies they are about to advance.

We also see special menus.

And a quick peek outside of food provides a few more.