PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. -- Not all millennials, boomers, Generation Xers or Zers are created equal when it comes to eating behaviors, according to The NPD Group.
Age, ethnicity, life stage and values also influence current and future eating behaviors, based on a recently released NPD study that uses 30 years of actual consumption data to determine quantitatively what is myth and reality about eating patterns among the generations.
There are eating behaviors and categories where all generations are moving in the same direction, showing cross-generational behavior shifts, NPD found in its “A Generational Study: The Evolution of Eating.”
For example, since 1984, all generations have shown a preference for food and beverage items that are convenient and healthy snacks that double as mini-meals, and they have moved away from other foods, such as red meat, sugar and canned foods.
Then there are shifts in eating patterns that defy traditional aging patterns and have generations going in different directions. More than millennials, boomers are all about convenience and using restaurants.
The study also addresses the question of which eating behaviors are generationally influenced and which are based on life stage.
For example, will millennials change their eating habits when kids enter their households, and will they behave like previous generations? Based on the study’s findings, when kids come along, millennial parents eat differently. They consume more kid-friendly foods; however, they aren’t eating these foods at the same rate of prior generations. Millennial-aged parents also are increasing their consumption of healthier foods compared to previous generations.
“It is undeniable that people of different ages have different eating patterns,” said David Portalatin, vice president and food industry analyst for NPD. “The more important questions we must answer are whether these differences are the results of current life stage and circumstance, or whether an emerging set of new values will have the power to transcend life stage or circumstance. This analysis helps identify the unpredictable behaviors that will be the white-space opportunities in the future.”
Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD provides market information and business solutions in areas including apparel, appliances, automotive, beauty, consumer electronics, diamonds, e-commerce, entertainment, fashion accessories, food consumption, foodservice, footwear, home, mobile, office supplies, retail, sports, technology, toys, video games, watches and jewelry.
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