CHICAGO -- Does Generation Z, the one after those millennials, really love the wacky food mashups operators are investing money in? Maybe not so much after all.
Now that Gen Zers make up the majority of the undergraduate-college-student demographic, studying the changing preferences of these young consumers will tip off operators on what they can expect from the generation that will help determine the future of foodservice.
Here are six ways college students’ foodservice preferences have changed since 2015, according to new research in Chicago-based Technomic’s College & University Consumer Trend Report ...
They’re not wild about unique food mashups.
Just a quarter of students say new or unique ingredients or flavors are important attributes for the food or beverage items they purchase—making uniqueness the lowest-ranked attribute of any measured by Technomic. The students prioritize taste, freshness and portion size over novelty.
Convenient locations are less important.
With the rise of delivery and off-premise business, fewer college-age consumers are demanding convenient locations for foodservice establishments. Just over half of college students (53%) say a convenient location is important when it comes to food and beverage purchases, down from 59% in 2015.
Demand for ingredient substitution is down.
About half of college students (51%) say that the ability to substitute or omit ingredients in their food is important, a decrease from 57% of students two years ago. The uptick in build-your-own and do-it-yourself stations may be responsible for the overall drop in demand, according to the report, as these options reduce the need for substitution or omission requests.
Demand for local brands is down.
Two-fifths of students (39%) wish there were more local restaurant brands on campus instead of only the largest chains—down from nearly half of students (48%) in 2015. This shift could be attributed to either a growing acceptance of large brands or a growing satisfaction with the current number of local brands available.
New ethnic trends are emerging.
French and Indian cuisines are trending up among college diners. About three in 10 students (28%) say they’d be likely to order French food items at least occasionally if offered, up from 23% in 2015. Similarly, 29% say they’d like to order Indian menu items every so often if offered, compared to 24% of students who said the same thing two years ago.
Snacks and apps increasingly pass for lunch.
Nearly a quarter of college students (23%) say they prefer to make their lunch meal out of snack foods or appetizers, compared to 18% of these consumers who said the same in 2015.
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