Three Gen Z Food Trends

STATE OF THE YOUTH NATION
Gen Z
Three food trends
Originally produced by YouthSight*
SAVANTA.COM
m a k e b e t t e r d e c i s i o n s

G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
Who are Gen Z
in 2022?
We describe Gen Z as the generation
of young people born from 1995
onwards.
As of today (2022) the oldest are
currently 26 years old.
*This eBook was originally produced
by the YouthSight team - who are
now part of Savanta
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G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
No other research agency
knows more about Gen Z
Our bespoke research is informed by exclusive
tracking data from the UK's leading Gen Z
insight tracker, State of the Youth Nation.
This eBook provides the stories and patterns
that have emerged from our tracking data to
reveal why young people are so into food, what
brands are doing to facilitate their experiences
and how your organisation should respond to
these trends.
Covering:
• Food with friends
• Flexitarians
• Food envy
Savanta was born when eight best-in-class agencies, all specialists
in their fields, joined forces to offer big agency benefits, while
retaining a refreshingly boutique mindset.
Since conception, we’ve expanded our sector expertise by adding
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The result? A full range of integrated intelligence services at global
scale, married to deep sector, issue and methodological expertise,
delivered with an entrepreneurial spirit and client-first mindset.
All to help our clients. Make Better Decisions.
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G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
Trend 1: Food with friends
Having a wild social life isn’t the same
signifier of status it once was. Young people
are drinking less, being more careful about
drugs, and staying in to watch Netflix
instead of going to the pub.
However, the one thing they will spend
money is food – in fact, it has become the
main way of socialising for young people.
One fifth say it’s the most important thing to
them at the moment, while four out of five
say they like to try new types of food and
drink (Source: State of the Youth Nation).
They’re working with limited budgets, and
choose to spend their money on eating out
rather than a night out drinking.
And it’s not just eating out – getting a
takeaway with Deliveroo or Uber Eats means
young people can socialise with friends with
the food they love, wherever they want to be.
We know from our State of the Youth Nation
data that 57% of young people eat out regularly
in their free time.
This is vs 39% of young people who regularly
go out partying or drinking and21% who go out
to nightclubs
57%
Eat out
regularly
39%
Partying
or
drinking
regularly
21%
Go to
nightclubs
regularly
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G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
CASE STUDIES
Brands that are capitalising on
socialising via food
SEEDLIP
Non-alcoholic spirits that allow young
people to be part of the fun and have
the taste of a cocktail without getting
drunk.
WAHACA
This Mexican chain has its own app
enabling groups of friends to quickly
and easily split the bill – meaning no
more squabbles over who ordered extras
or who is terrible at paying mates back .
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G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
CASE STUDIES
CREPES & CONES
The new opening from Krept and Konan (the
London grime duo) was heavily promoted on
social media as being ‘not your average
dessert spot'.
In addition to Instagrammable dishes and a star-studded opening, they recently
launched a mobile Crepes and Cones bus to take their dessert show on the road.
REACTIONS
Krept and Konan spotted that the perfect content marketing
channel to promote their new restaurant would be a music
video. By staying relevant and delivering a message in a way
they know will be well received by their audience, the video
has now racked up almost 2.5 million views.

G E N Z UF ON OL ID K ET LR Y ECN DO SU P L I N G
What this means
for you?
No matter what your category, young
people’s changing attitudes to
socialising affect how they engage
with you.
It’s crucial to recognise the problems
this might cause and try to solve
them with innovative takes on trends
(like Seedlip) or by partnering with
relevant youth figures.
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G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
Trend 2: Flexitarians
Veganism is in
As well as flexitarians, veganism is on the
rise amongst young people, with celebrities
and influencers increasingly talking about
their vegan diets.
Veganuary had 168,542 people in the UK
sign up this year – this has increased
hugely from back in 2014 where it only had
1,500.
Twitter has reported an 85% increase in the
number of posts containing #veganlife
since 2016. So not only are people trying it
out, they’re talking about it too.
Define flexitarian
35% of people in Britain identify as semivegetarian
(Mintel, 2017).
Young people are broadly cutting down on
the amount of meat they are eating –
they’re concerned about health and
environmental benefits, even if they don’t
want to give up meat full time.
The rise in flexitarians is prompting
companies to develop products for people
who have traditionally been meat eaters
and like the taste of meat, but want to cut
down on the amount of meat they eat.
Beyond Quorn and cauliflower steaks, the
options for vegetarians are everexpanding.
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G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
THE BEYOND
MEET BURGER
CASE STUDIES
This looks and tastes very similar
to a regular burger but is actually
made of plant-based products.
IMPOSSIBLE
BURGER
This texture fake bleeds, to give the
real authentic feel to the fake burger.
They’re now working on a plant-based
cheese to top it all off.
CLUB
MEXICANA
These carnitas tacos by Club
Mexicana at The Spread Eagle in
London are actually made from
jackfruit – not surprising as this is
London’s first fully vegan pub.

G E N Z UF ON OL ID K ET LR Y ECN DO SU
P L I N G
What this means
for you
Acknowledge that young people
are trying to live well, and avoid
judgement around lapses. It
doesn’t matter if they’re not
strictly veggie full time - it’s the
thought that counts! Show that
you understand this and support
them in their choices.
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G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
#brunch
Trend 2: Food envy
The trend of young people In the past Instagramming
photographing every meal your food meant taking a
has moved on – it’s a bit picture of your lunch. Now
more nuanced than that young people are looking
now (but they still want to for something unique that
show it off!). With so much will give them social
innovation in food, it has cachet. Andi it's even
captured the imagination
better if it’s personalised!
of a generation. The
standard food shot just
doesn’t cut it any more.
It’s true that young people are still
posting pictures of food to
Instagram. Over 12 million
Instagram posts have the hashtag
#brunch and 113 million
#foodporn.
On Pinterest, ‘food and drink’ is the
most popular category with over 13
billion pins.
#mukbang
First gaining popularity in South
Korea, Mukbang involves the host
recording themselves eating large
quantities of food while interacting
with their audience. Viewers are
able to vicariously enjoy a plethora
of foods, and some videos rack up
millions of views.
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UNICORN
FRAPPUCINO
Starbucks recently played up to the unicorn
trend with its multi coloured unicorn
frappucino. It changed both flavour and
colour and was only available for a limited
time, adding to its appeal.
UNICORN
TOAST
Food stylist Adeline Waugh created unicorn toast,
which is specifically intended to be photographed and
Instagrammed. It’s regular toast and cream cheese,
dyed to make the pretty pastel rainbow colours that
scream ‘Insta-aesthetic’ and rake in the likes.
MAGNUM
Their pop up shop the ‘Pleasure Store’
allows young people to create their own
unique topping and Instagram it then and
there.
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G E N Z UF ON OL ID K ET LR Y ECN DO SU
P L I N G
What this means
for you
To make the cut on social media,
activations must go beyond quirky to
genuinely fun to interact with and look at.
It doesn’t have to be a unicorn – but it does
need to stand out enough to earn a place
on their Instagram without heavy branding.
Personalisation is a good way to do this –
this trend shows no sign of slowing down
as we've seen with Nutella and Coke's
personalised labels.
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G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
Our take:
Food is about fun for young people.
It’s a safe and exciting way to experiment
without getting drunk or spending loads of
money. It facilitates shared group experiences
with friends in the moment, and also provides
perfect social media posting opportunities.
Brands that recognise that food is about fun
and enjoyment, not worry or stress, and
provide moments that facilitate these fun new
experiences will win with young people
looking to have fun, show off a little, and be
responsible and ethical at the same time.
To win over the elusive youth market, you
need to stay on top of emerging trends and
the evolving consumer landscape.
Furthermore, make use of research to avoid
wasting budget on a fad versus investing
money into a real trend.
We've helped brands position themselves
correctly to win over 16 - 30s with clever
industry knowledge.
The insights from this ebook have been
pulled out of our State of the Youth Nation
insight & data tool. Read on to find out
more.
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G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
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G E N Z F O O D T R E N D S
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