#21 | MICHELIN Guide Singapore 2021: What’s Trending on Social Media
Find out what made foodies happy and angry on social media over this year's results
Hello newly crowned three Michelin-starred Zen and goodbye Liao Fan Hawker Chan, the erstwhile Michelin-starred hawker stall which is famous for its soya sauce chicken rice dish.
A total of 49 dining establishments received stars this year – 5 more than in 2019 – the last time the awards were held before COVID-19 struck.
Let’s dig into what was trending on social media, news websites and forums in the aftermath of the virtual award ceremony on September 1.
Social Media Mentions
Naturally, social mentions peaked on Sep 1 - the day when the list of starred restaurants was revealed. A total of 133 social mentions of “Michelin Guide Singapore” were recorded across social platforms, news websites, blogs and forums. The number of social mentions saw a milder spike on August 12 when the Bib Gourmand results were released.
What was the biggest news during the Michelin Guide Singapore 2021 results period?
According to the word cloud, which tracks key search terms in social conversations, these were the most prominent terms that surfaced from August 8 to September 6.
Key phrases from the word cloud:
49 Restaurants: Most social posts and news articles had “49 restaurants” in their content, which is the number of restaurants that were bestowed with Michelin stars this year.
Hawker Chan Loses: Given that Hawker Chan has been branded as serving “the world’s cheapest Michelin-starred meal”, news of the Chinatown hawker stall losing its star was widely reported around the world. News websites like CNN, CNBC Indonesia, Mothership, 8Days and Must Share News chose to lead with this news or did a separate story on the loss of the star.
The news reached countries like Russia and Japan (where people loooove Singapore fare like chilli crab and bak kut teh).
And of course, the news also set forums, like Hardware Zone ablaze. Cue the keyboard warriors!
Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle: The famed bak chor mee stall managed to hold on to its coveted one-star rating. The feat was widely mentioned in almost all news articles on the Michelin Star revelation.
Notable food brands mentioned: Les Amis (two Michelin-starred French restaurant), Fei Fei Roasted Noodle in Yuhua Village Food Centre and The Coconut Club (both are new entrants to the Bib Gourmand list).
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Social Media Sentiment
A large majority of the sentiment on this year’s announcement of Michelin-rated eateries was neutral. However, there were more negative sentiments than positive ones. Let’s find out why:
Most of the negative sentiments in social posts were linked to news of Hawker Chan losing its star. Netizens expressed disappointment that the quality of its food has suffered due to its rapid expansion into a quick-service restaurant chain over the years. (P.S. There is a Hawker Chan outlet in Kazakhstan.)
Emotion Volume
Joy was one of the key emotions expressed over the launch of the Michelin Guide 2021 results. The Australian High Commission in Singapore congratulated one-starred restaurants Burnt Ends and Cloudstreet that are run by Australian chefs, while The World’s 50 Best Restaurants sent a congratulatory message on its Twitter account.
Anger was mainly linked to the Hawker Chan news (see above) and some of the results.
*Data from Cision Social Listening, powered by Brandwatch, a digital consumer intelligence platform. Data was taken from Twitter, Tumbr, forums, Reddit, news websites and blogs.
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