Presentation held at Research Chefs Association's annual conference 2015. What are the most important Generation Z trends, and how will they impact the food industry?

2. Why Do People Differ Across Age?
Age effects
People Change
Cohort effects
Circumstances Change

3. Last Four Generations
Boomers (1946 – 1964)
The first ”modern” children, adolescents and adults. Holds the current
definition power in Western societies. Will never grow old.
Generation X (1965 – 1982)
The latchkey kids who became helicopter parents.
Grown up in the shadow of the counter cultural movement and the Boomers
Millennials (1983 – 1995/2004)
Children of doting helicopter parents. Great optimism and strong ego. More
diverse and tolerant, but also more narcissistic.
Generation Z/ Homelander (1996 – 2010 or
2004+)
Googlito Ergo Sum: I google + Google knows me = I exist

4. Society
Technology
Environ-
ment
PoliticsEconomy
Food Gen Z
Context
Multi-Generational
S.T.E.E.P.

5. Demographics and Social
▪ Culturally and ethnically diverse
- racially mixed (54% Caucasian)
- living without both parents(31%)
▪ Baby bust: birth rate dropped 10% since 2007
▪ Parenting: from helicopters to drones -
millennial moms not as indulgent?

6. Social and Cultural
▪ A less “delinquent” generation (booze & drugs
are down)
▪ Halted/reversed child obesity
▪ Look up to parents
▪ Mental stress/eating disorders up
▪ But failure is increasingly an option

7. ▪ Digital Natives
▪ Multitask between 5 screens
▪ 8 seconds’ attention span
▪ Communicate in pictures
▪ Expect
- customizable interfaces,
- instant gratification
▪ But troubled by loss of privacy
▪ and prefer Face-to-Face!
Technology

8. Environment
▪ Will be 9 billion people when grown up
▪ Will face climate change and resource
depletion
▪ Innate sense of sustainability
▪ Wholesome, bio-diverse
▪ Attuned to “green-washing tactics”
▪ Generation Z girls more likely to be
vegetarians for ethical and diet reasons

9. Economics
▪ Financially cautious and realistic
▪ More entrepreneurial, less college-bound
than Millennials
▪ Expect flexible payment options,
e.g. mobile payment
▪ Open to the “sharing economy”
▪ Prefer “access” over “ownership”

10. Little Foodies
▪ Generation Z nutritionally conscious
▪ More inclined to cook from scratch
▪ Eating in beats eating out
▪ Ethnic, cross-over, fusion foods
▪ Demand transparency
(environment, animals, people)
Good-bye McDonalds, Hello Chipotle!

11. Emerging Food Snobs?
She brings plain green
tea for lunch - not top
grade Matcha Tea like
we do!

12. Wildcards & Speculations
▪ Increasing interest for ‘urban homesteading’
▪ Food cart/trailers, pop-up restaurants?
▪ Science backlash? Anti-GMO/ Anti-Vax
▪ Vertical farming
▪ In-vitro meats
As future parents:
▪ Continuing breastfeeding trend
▪ Might choose “less bad” to balance cost concerns

13. Thank You!
To learn more please visit
Afterthemillennials.com
@aftermillennial
512-568-4941