Millennials Food Choices Driven by Cost, Cravings

CHICAGOCravings, cost control and minimal preparation time are key considerations Millennials consider when making food choices, according The NPD Groups recently released National Eating Trends® report.

According to the report, Millennials are much more likely than consumers in other age groups to use frozen entrees or other food items that are portable and do not require preparation. As with most of these food offerings, there is usually little opportunity for leftovers, which correlates to their relatively low rate of leftover usage. Data reveals a typical Millennial has 68 meals a year that contain a leftover item, but adults in their 30s to early 40s are using leftovers in 82 meals a year. 

Convenience and cost control are major motivations for Millennials, and frozen food and other convenience-oriented food products often provide relatively inexpensive meal solutions.

Cost concern is particularly important to this age group since they have been among the hardest hit by the recession," said Darren Seifer, food and beverage industry analyst for The NPD Group. The unemployment rate for adults under 30 was 19.5% for the second quarter of 2010, a rate more than double the 9.5% seen for the total workforce."

The report notes that one-third of Millennials use mass merchants, such as Wal-Mart, as their primary food store, compared to 23 percent for all adults.

The Millennial generation has grown up in a time of tremendous technological advances, coupled with new societal norms," he said. They are connected like no other generation before them. This connectedness is both an opportunity and challenge for marketers. Communicating withand selling toMillennials requires an understanding of their attitudes and behaviors."