A new generation – Gen Z – is beginning to exert its influence on the consumer landscape, making waves across all industries, including food and beverage. It’s essential for food ingredient companies to understand their purchasing behaviors better in order to help position their customers’ marketing efforts for success.
Ways Gen Z Consumers are Driving Changes
- Challenging food marketers – Gen Z consumers are more likely to choose a product based on its taste or performance instead of its brand, giving food marketers a considerable challenge in winning over this demographic.
- Emphasizing quality over quantity – Gen Z consumers are more willing to pay for products that meet their taste, nutrition and convenience expectations. They’re willing to seek more premium products that give them the replenishment they need throughout the day.
- Redefining mealtimes – Snacking is no longer considered a guilty pleasure occasion for junk food. Younger consumers such as Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to view snacking as part of their daily meal intake and use it as an opportunity to gain nutritional boosts rather than just empty calories.
- Ordering online – Using online services to do things like purchase groceries and order food through delivery services is second nature to Gen Z consumers, who grew up with the Internet, whereas older generations are less likely to take advantage of these digital capabilities.
- Seeking cleaner ingredients –Gen Z equates clean eating with an improved quality of life. They’re also more likely to buy from brands that use ingredients that are sourced sustainably or locally and are transparent about how and where their products are produced.
Food and Beverage Companies Must Adapt
Expect innovative products and services to be a top priority for food and beverage companies as they seek to attract the purchasing power of this up-and-coming group of consumers. As Millennials before them drove lasting change to the food and beverage industry, it’s a smart bet that Gen Z will do the same, and the companies that are ready for these changes will be the most successful.
For more information on developing an effective B2B marketing strategy for reaching your target audience, which includes this next generation of customers, please contact us. You can also download our report, B2B Food Ingredient Marketing Tips for Engaging With Gen Zers, to learn strategies to successfully engage with these up-and-coming customers.