QSR September 2022

E D I T O R ’ S L E T T E R

Chasing a New Generation (Again)

I ’m one of those millennials people call an “old soul.” Is that a badge to wear with honor? Or do I belong on one of those Progressive ads where I can’t pronounce quinoa and I’m more worried about the parking lot than the football game? But I will say this: In my time covering restaurants, early on, mil lennials were perhaps the A1 concern of every marketer in America. And it was a dicey slope. In hindsight, I think we can agree chasing “the next big thing” led to a lot of brand drift, especially in casual dining. We think of this today as the “all-things-to-all-people” trap. Or trying to be good at everything and end ing up great at nothing. So many brands sought that golden egg only to end up at a place where core guests couldn’t rec ognize them anymore. And so began a multi-year stretch ( again, this is particu larly true of casual dining ) where brands recommitted to equities. Put differently, they remembered what got them to the dance in the first place. Either way, we find ourselves today talking far less about millennials. COVID-19 is one reason why. The other is Gen Z. Generally speaking, this group includes anyone born after 1997. Yet, from the restaurant perspective, what’s critical to note is this is the first digitally native generation. Even myself, a griz zled millennial, didn’t discover Facebook until I was in college. Twitter wasn’t on my newspaper’s radar until about three years into my professional career. Gen Z consumers are often described as social and environmental idealists, with mobile phones as ubiquitous as water, and, notably, with estimated buying power of some $150 billion. Research company Knit, which empowers Gen Z to share

Gen Z guests aren’t millennials. But we can learn from past mistakes to meet them where they want to be.

thoughts via video, recently released a restaurant and dining report to dive into preferences. Here were some key points: Among the most inf luential decision criteria for Gen Z ( in order ) was: price, deliciousness of the food, convenience of location, quality and freshness of food, and cleanliness of the establish ment. Of the surveyed Gen Z consumers, nearly 80 percent recognized price as an impactful criterion. That instant gratification rumor you hear of Gen Z? Accurate. For the group of consumers who have become accus tomed to getting almost anything at their fingertips with the click of a button, nearly 48 percent of respondents cited the speed of ordering and receiving their food as highly important, and another 24 percent marked ease of ordering via digital channels as an important con sideration. Now, let’s look at their eating habits. Within the surveyed population of Gen Z consumers, 44 percent identi fied as healthy or “clean” eaters, while only 20 percent acknowledged they were overeaters. In addition, a sizable portion self-identified with one of the following restrictive dietary habits: low-carb (13.2 percent ) , vegetarian (13.2 percent), vegan ( 5 percent ) , and keto (4.3 percent ). The last point I’ll surface goes back. Gen Z demands stronger voices and social stances from restaurant compa nies. Roughly 15 percent noted the social impact and view of a company is some thing they factor into their decision when deciding where to eat out. The overall thread here is Gen Z is paying attention. It’s on us to prove we’re listening.

DANNY@QSRMAGAZINE.COM QSR MAGAZINE

Danny Klein, Editorial Director

ROSIE ROSENBROCK

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SEPTEMBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com