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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Gen Z

When It Comes to Cooking Videos, Gen Zers Love TikTok, Millennials Embrace YouTube

As a former industry analyst, I’m a sucker for survey research exploring how we cook, eat, and shop for food. Luckily for me, word of a new research study landed in my inbox this morning from (of all places) Home Run Inn Pizza. Okay, so not exactly Nielsen, but the study used a good sample size (2,000 US respondents) and had a mix of gender and regional representation. In other words, it seemed to be designed well enough to elicit decent results.

The survey focused on food behavior by Gen Z and Millennials. I’d seen studies like this before – heck, we’ve even conducted them here at The Spoon – but what stood out to me about this one was just how vital the dominant video platforms are nowadays when it comes to gaining cooking inspiration. According to the survey, 71% of Gen Z (between ages 9 and 24) and 67% of Millennials watch cooking videos but differ substantially in what platforms they watch the videos on.

Source: Home Run Inn

According to the study, Gen Zers are more than twice as likely (38% compared to 16% of Millennials) to watch cooking videos on TikTok. A more significant percentage of both groups said they watch cooking videos on YouTube, but Millennials usage far outpaced Gen Z respondents (66% of Millennials compared to 47% for Gen Z). Instagram usage was surprisingly low, with only 7% of Millennials and 4% of Gen Z saying they watch cooking videos on the platform. Neither Millennials (9%) nor Gen Z (3%) watched much traditional TV when watching cooking videos. According to the survey, both generations – 56% of Gen Z and 29% of Millennials – use TikTok for recipe discovery and learning cooking techniques.

Source: Home Run Inn

Another surprising data set was the kitchen gear each used to cook food. According to the survey, both generations rely most heavily on the stovetop, with two-thirds of Gen Z and Millennials saying that was their primary appliance. Interestingly, only 10% of Gen Z and 8% of Millennials said air fryers were their go-to, and an even smaller percentage – 6% for Gen Z and 4% for Millennials – said the microwave oven was their primary cooking appliance. For some reason, the survey didn’t ask about pressure cookers, an oversight, in my opinion, despite the struggles of the pioneering Instant Pot.

Finally, a significant percentage of both generations can be scolded for being poor company when using technology while breaking bread with others. According to the survey, 81% of Gen Z admit they have stared at their phone while dining with others, compared to 60% of Millennials.

If you’d like to see the study’s full results, you can find it here.

SKS 2019: For Gen Z, Eating is all about “Access, Portability, and Fluidity”

When you hear about new trends in the food and CPG space — plant-based, sustainable, snackable, etc. — they’re usually credited to younger generations: specifically millennials and Gen Z. But what exactly are younger eaters looking for, both in and out of the kitchen? And what will they demand next?

That’s exactly what Michael Wolf asked two analysts, Susan Schwallie and Joe Derochowski, from the market research firm the NPD Group at SKS 2019 last week. Schwallie looks into where, why, and how consumers are preparing food and eating at restaurants, and Derochowski focuses on kitchen space — and its appliances.

If you’re at all curious about how younger generations are reshaping dining habits, it’s worth watching the whole video below. But here’s a quick rundown on what millennials and Gen Z are looking for:

Schwallie said that millennials prioritize experiential eating — they want to cook or eat something Instagrammable that will give them what she called ‘The Betty Crocker effect.” Gen Z has some similarities, but above all they prioritize “access, portability, and fluidity.” In short, they want to get exactly the food they want, where and when they want it — be it getting a Domino’s pizza delivered to their park bench or having groceries sent to their doorstep to make a recipe they discovered just an hour before.

Generations may have different dining habits, but Derochowski pointed there are some unifying factors that all groups share — like prioritizing health and wellness and the desire to entertain more at home. These “consistencies between generations,” as he put it, are exactly what kitchen appliance makers are trying to target with convenience products like slow cookers.

Watch the full video below to hear what younger generations are eating, and how companies are hustling to figure out how to capitalize off of changing dining habits. Then keep an eye out for more content from SKS 2019 coming your way!

SKS 2019: Eaters of the Future: A Look at Millennials, Gen Z & Food

Editor Roundtable Podcast: Forget Delivery Bots, Amazon Wants You to Keep a Robot in Your Garage

Gotta give credit where credit is due: Amazon sure has lots of ideas about how to get more stuff to your house.

While everyone thought Amazon was all about about delivery drones, pickup lockers and IoT-connected order buttons (ok, maybe not), the tech giant’s also been brainstorming about putting a robot in your garage that could go and retrieve your latest package for you.

That’s just one of the topics we tackle in this week’s podcast with the Spoon editorial gang. Other topics include:

You can listen to the podcast below, find it on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcast app, or download it directly to your computer.

Study: Gen Z is All About Snack Portability, Restaurant Delivery

I’m at an age where I can recognize the things that are for me (khakis), and the things that aren’t (Snapchat, staying out past 10 p.m.). So I always appreciate market research studies that give me insight into what the younger generations are up to. A pair of reports out recently from NPD Group (h/t to The Food Institute Blog) shed some light on how Genz Z (the eldest of which will be 22 this year) are approaching their food choices.

In its “The Future of Snacking” report, NPD found that what Gen Z cares about most is portability. From the NPD press release: “… regardless of the brand, for Generation Z, if they can’t take a snack with them, it’s not really a snack.” NPD also said, “A large percentage of this generational group have been raised to put a greater emphasis on the quality of food, whether it’s clean, fresh, or nutritionally beneficial, as well as its flavor and function.”

With these data points in mind, it’s not hard to envision a growing market opportunity for upstart, upcycled snack companies like ReGrained, Render and Pulp Pantry, as these socially conscious startups tick off a lot of the boxes Gen Z are looking for.

The convenience Gen Z craves extends to their restaurant habits as well. According to NPD, Gen Zs made 14.6 billion restaurant visits in 2018 and now make up 10 percent all foodservice traffic. But they are also a generation raised on the internet and apps, so they are quite keen on ordering delivery from restaurants. In its Delivering Digital Convenience report, NPD found: “In the year ending December 2018, foodservice delivery orders by Gen Zs amounted to 552 million, just a million shy of Millennials’ delivery orders and only a portion of Gen Zs are old enough to order their own delivery.”

That last bit about age is important. Delivery already makes up 30 percent of the restaurant business. As more Gen Zs become old enough to order their own meals (and booze!), the convenience of delivery is only going to grow. This market lying in wait helps explain DoorDash’s $7.1 billion valuation and why we’ll need more robots and drones to help keep up with delivery demand.

Which is fine by me, as long as they don’t make any noise past 10 p.m.