Gen Alpha Food + Drink Trends: 25/26
Published 16 October 2024
Despite the ascending purchase potential of Gen Alpha (born 2010–2024, aged 0-15) – whose spend will top $5 trillion by 2029 (Fortune, 2024) – the number of global food and drink launches targeting children dropped by 66% in the decade to May 2024 (TheGrocer, 2024). Brands have a plum opportunity to rectify this scenario with appealing and affordable products that bolster longer-term wellbeing.
Supporting Healthy Humans
Superior Sustenance for School Kids
Training Young Taste Buds
Obesity presents a challenge for today’s youngsters. About one in five American children/adolescents are classed as obese (CDC, 2024), while some 40% of Chinese kids will face a similar outcome by 2030 (CCH, 2024). This is partly due to the overconsumption of fatty, sodium-loaded processed foods and increasingly inactive lifestyles. For more on weight management, see Food + Health Trends: 24/25.
Obesity presents a challenge for today’s youngsters. About one in five American children/adolescents are classed as obese (CDC, 2024), while some 40% of Chinese kids will face a similar outcome by 2030 (CCH, 2024). This is partly due to the overconsumption of fatty, sodium-loaded processed foods and increasingly inactive lifestyles. For more on weight management, see Food + Health Trends: 24/25.
Although millions of kids worldwide rely on school meals daily, these offerings have historically fallen short when it comes to wellbeing credentials. Now, governments and industry bodies are taking impactful steps to evolve canteen cuisine. Alongside this, parents, carers and brands are filling lunchboxes with satiating snacks and nutritious nibbles.
Although many Gen Alphas prefer ‘traditional’ kiddies’ dishes (pasta, fish fingers, etc), many will try new and globally inspired cuisines thanks to the experimental culinary proclivities of their foodie millennial parents as well as the proliferation of alluring food content on social media channels like TikTok and YouTube.
Gen Alpha Food + Drink Trends: 25/26
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