While many Millennials are now meal planning for families, most of Gen Z is still cooking for one.

At the International Fresh Produce Association’s Global Produce and Floral Show in Anaheim, Calif., Oct. 19, 2023, there was a session on ‘Generation-based Produce & Floral Marketing’ with a group of panelists including executives from Equifruit, Fresh Innovations, Dole Food Company, Pure Flavor and Elephant House PR.

Gianna Fiore, a food marketing major at St. Joseph’s University, was the Gen Z representative on the panel, who spoke to her own experience as a college student living in an apartment with roommates.

Sustainable? Yes. Local and organic? Maybe.

A big part of the panel’s discussion was how different generations approach sustainability and locally grown, organic produce.

On the topic of sustainable packaging, Fiore ended up making a comment on convenience. She said that with living in a small space with multiple roommates, “it is important to have less packaging and less waste.”

Market research has found that sustainability is important to Gen Z, but Fiore’s comment on the personal inconvenience of having excess waste in her apartment provides an additional insight into how Gen Z views global, systemic issues like climate change. Because the world we were raised in taught us about carbon footprints and recycling from day one, we grasped the “big picture” quickly. The importance of sustainability is obvious to most of us, so our conversations about it tend to revolve more around our day-to-day lives and how it directly affects us personally.

Another example is food waste. While it is not sustainable to waste food, it is also a personal inconvenience to pay for more food than we are going to need and to have to throw it away when it goes bad. Smaller pack sizes that use as little packaging as possible are ideal.

Gen Z Marketing tip #1

Don’t preach to the choir. It’s likely we already understand and agree with you on big issues like climate change. Approach us laterally, like we’re on the same team. How is your brand making our share of the work easier?

When it comes to locally grown and organic labels on food, Gen Z is less educated.

Part of this is due to the ambiguity of the word “local.” Chris Veillon, chief marketing officer at Pure Flavor, said locally grown can mean different things to different people, whether it is a 400-mile radius or more.

“The ability to determine what local means to you impacts what you are going to buy,” Veillon said.

Fiore said for herself, it depends on availability, but she tries to buy locally grown products when she can.

“If I see something is locally grown, I’m definitely going to go for that,” Fiore said, “But if something is seasonal, you have to go other places.”

The label “organic” can also be confusing for consumers, across all generations.

The panelists discussed education opportunities regarding organic and conventional produce, as many consumers they surveyed prior to the session had made comments about conventional produce being “toxic.” Others did not see the point in buying organic at all and thought it was a waste of money. Fiore landed somewhere in the middle.

“I think organic means less chemicals and pesticides, but I also don’t think conventional means there are toxic things in them,” Fiore said. “I tend to lean more conventional because it is cheaper.”

Gen Z marketing tip #2

Break down the buzzwords. We might tune out words like “organic” if we don’t know what they mean. Explain what makes the extra cost worth it for us personally. 

Kinda cooking

Gen Z cooking is all about taking short cuts, and sometimes it doesn’t mean cooking at all.

Fiore said she is the only one in her apartment who cooks, and when she does, she buys as many pre-cooked ingredients as she can to save time.

“I have a busy schedule, so convenience is a big thing,” Fiore said. “I’m the one who cooks in my apartment. I get garlic that is already cooked and ready to go.”

On the topic of ready-to-cook meal kits, Fiore said she would like to see a wider variety of options with fresh ingredients.

“I think they need to make things that are more accessible — things that are packaged and ready to go, but fresher,” Fiore said. “There are some, but there need to be more of those.”

When asked if she would be willing to pay more for convenient meal kits with fresher ingredients, Fiore said, “To an extent. Maybe not a lot more, but a dollar or two more.”

The panel also discussed using instore educational materials to help make cooking easier and asked if Fiore reads the instore signs at eye level and above.

“If there’s something that catches my eye, yes,” Fiore said. “I’m short, so I might not see what’s above. But if something catches my eye, I pay attention.”

The panel asked Fiore if it would be helpful to see signs about how to store different kinds of produce and other cooking tips.

“I think the store could be very helpful if they put things to help you do it, but I also think there are weird hacks that people find on TikTok,” Fiore said. “You can find anything.”

As the panel discussed how retailers and suppliers can work together with social media hacks, one panelist said, “Gen Z likes lo-fi, bad angles, seeing all of your chins. They will trust you more if it seems authentic. Millennials still like pretty content.”

Fiore added that she thinks Gen Z is easier to win over than companies may realize because we are always looking for hacks and cool new things. If you make something look cool, we will want to buy it, she said.

Gen Z marketing tip #3

If you present something to us as a "hack," we will probably be willing to pay more for it.

In addition to hybrid cooking with value-added ingredients, a lot of Gen Zers just assemble their meals instead of cooking.

A common discussion topic on TikTok for Gen Z and Millennials is whether they were raised in “ingredient-only” households. Those raised in ingredient-only homes grew up without typical snack foods available. Their parents bought groceries for specific meals they were going to cook and did not buy extra groceries for snacking. Their snacks as kids may have been things like a handful of shredded cheese or a whole piece of fruit.

Many Gen Zers who were raised by ingredient-only parents have swung all the way to the other side and as adults are now only buying snack foods for themselves, often joking about forgetting to buy “real” groceries when they get home.

This enthusiasm for snacks, in combination with not having a lot of time to cook, is what led to the Girl Dinner trend.

TikTok trends

As Girl Dinner became mainstream, it ended up being depicted as a cute charcuterie board for one; however, many TikTok creators argue that “real” Girl Dinner is far less attractive and involves a bunch of items thrown together on a plate without much intention.

A classic Girl Dinner from around the perimeter:

• One cup of macaroni and cheese from prepared foods
• One piece of a demi baguette or a ciabatta roll from the instore bakery
• Pickles, apple slices, berries, cherry tomatoes and chopped vegetables from produce
• Random assortment of snack cheeses and meats from the deli

Another recent TikTok trend that didn’t last as long as Girl Dinner was the coquette aesthetic, which ramped up in December and came back down in January.

The coquette aesthetic started as a fashion trend, with content creators putting together feminine outfits with lots of pink bows. TikTokers then began tying pink ribbons on everyday items around their house, which eventually spread to food. Some creators stuck with logic, tying the ribbons around a wrapped tamale or a soda can. Others got sillier and tied bows around individual French fries and pickle slices to fully capture their coquette style.

Another trend that began in 2023 and has continued into 2024 is a satirical take on the overabundance of hacks on TikTok. Creators began posting fake hacks that were nonsensical, such as slicing open a water bottle with a knife instead of unscrewing the cap and pretending it was easier. Other creators would do the opposite by first doing a task inefficiently and then pretending to discover a “life hack” when they did it correctly.

The Kroger Co. hopped on the trend at just the right time and got some playful engagement with consumers in its comment section.

In a video posted April 18, 2023, Kroger showed a half-gallon jug of its private label chocolate milk being held over a bowl on a kitchen table while someone cut through the middle of the plastic jug with a knife. As the milk spilled into the bowl, a voiceover and the caption said, “Stop opening your chocolate milk like this.”

The video switched to a clip of the same product in the same place without the cut from the knife as someone’s hand unscrewed the cap. The voiceover and caption said, “Instead open it like this!”

Less than 24 hours after posting the video, Kroger received thousands of comments from consumers playing along with the joke. This gave the company an opportunity to interact with consumers and respond to their continuation of the joke.

Some of the top comments on the video included:

• “I’ve been doing it wrong all these years!??”
• “Does this work for strawberry milk?”
• “Tried it. Didn’t work. Gonna stick with the Swiss Army way.” 

Gen Z marketing tip #4

Jump on trends early while they are still gaining in popularity. Follow the source material closely to capture the correct tone.

This article is an excerpt from the March 2024 issue of Supermarket Perimeter. You can read the entire Gen Z feature and more in the digital edition here.

About Gianna Fiore

Gianna Fiore is a junior at Saint Joseph’s University perusing a degree in Food Marketing. She has a strong interest in this field because she finds marketing strategies and the way people are influenced to be fascinating. Both of her parents work in Advertisement Sales, and she grew up watching different advertisements to help decide which ones were worth buying air time for. Gianna also works in a retail position, and has learned how important food safety is, how temperature affects quality, and how to handle fresh produce from the moment it gets delivered to the store. She hopes to one day be the reason many people choose a certain product over another.

Source: International Fresh Produce Association