The Allure of the “Sweet Treat”– Our Unwavering Ability to Justify Coffee and Cake

By Heather McLeod

It is a unanimous fact among students (particularly us Gen-zrs) that there is never a reason too far-fetched to justify getting a sweet treat. Just survived an exam? Let’s go for a sweet treat! Made it to your 9am? You deserve a sweet treat! Managed to survive the week so far? (The fact that it’s only Tuesday is entirely irrelevant), sweet treat time!

Perhaps it’s just my unrivalled ability to consume a superfluous amount of dessert without feeling ill but personally I will never turn down the offer of a sweet treat. Luckily for us, despite it’s size, St Andrews does not disappoint with its abundance of cafe’s where one might acquire a delectable dessert or a crucial cup of coffee.

But what actually is the reason we all snap to attention at the mention of a sweet treat? Is it just that we’re all extremely addicted to sugar? Do we convince ourselves it will motivate us to ‘lock in’? Is it that we need a reward system for completing simple daily tasks?

Picture by Heather McLeod

According to the experts it’s actually a combination of all of these things. As well as the fact that the “sweet treat” has evolved into a social media trend, especially among Gen Z. A morning coffee and muffin have become just as much of a fashion accessory than it is a delicious treat. We seem to love the aesthetic of the sweet treat just as much as the actual taste. Some have turned sweet treat runs into a main feature on their social media page and viewers are eating up this content!

One reason why we crave sweet treats so often is that when we eat sugary foods, our brains release chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine which can leave you feeling motivated, satisfied and ready to unlock your true academic potential. Data from the Virgin Media O2 Business’ Movers Index showed that last year 38% of workers said that a sweet treat helps to boost their energy and 37% said it improves their mood. Almost half of the workers emotionally benefit from a sweet treat and feel helps them to be motivated about their day.

We also like to reward ourselves for our accomplishments, regardless of their significance. This reward system stems from childhood, for example getting a treat for behaving well, but has now grown into an ability to invent any reason to justify a trip to your favourite cafe. A tasty sweet treat is  the perfect reward for meeting important goals or even just for making it to your Tuesday morning lecture.

Furthermore, companies have also started tapping into the link between our love for aesthetics and our love for the sweet treat, with seasonal drinks and food items becoming more and more widespread, and social media being easy free advertisement. For example, exclusive drinks are no longer restricted to Christmas and summer. Recently, marketers have latched onto our capitalist nature by ascribing each holiday and season with it’s speciality food and drinks, as the short-term availability has been shown to increase allure and therefore sales. Even traditions that aren’t as widely celebrated, like Pancake Day, receive special treatment - see Black Sheep’s new Pancake syrup latte. With the help of social media to boost marketing, companies can easily get the word out about these new products quickly, and they feed directly into our intense FOMO meaning that we all want to try it for ourselves.

Once you start going for a sweet treat so regularly that it becomes habit, it doesn’t take long for our brains to start expecting this daily sweet treat run as the new normal and this can make it even more difficult to resist the temptation. Virgin Media O2 also found that 86% of their Gen Z workers purchase small treats at least once a week, highlighting that it has become a weekly ritual for most.

However, these regular trips can really put a dent in the bank account, and you probably won’t realise the extent of it until, horrified, you finally calculate how much you spend in the week on sweet treat runs alone. From personal experience, the findings can be humbling to say the least (especially coming from someone who always keeps her cupboards stocked up on chocolate so realistically shouldn’t need to wander into costa every day, I fear it’s fast becoming an issue).

My sweet tooth and my inability to function without caffeine may be satisfied however my bank account is screaming at me to stop spending £10 in cafes multiple days a week. I’d be a hypocrite if I told you to start limiting your sweet treat consumption. So, if your FOMO is taking over and you don’t mind spending all your money on these sugary dopamine hits then by all means continue to satisfy your taste buds over your financial stability. However, I will warn you to proceed with caution. The sweet, sugary, chocolatey allure may feel irresistible, but unfortunately having enough money to pay your rent is a non-negotiable.