Millennial and Zoomer consumers are making expensive purchases, but it's not on restaurants, gym memberships, or new cars. Let's find out how they are putting their money where their mouths are.
According to Mckinsey, a well-respected business consulting firm, Millennials, and Zoomers are splurging on expensive food brands and snacks. While this may be true, the reasoning behind this data wasn't very clear, so we're calling cap! It sounds like the same old argument about the youth spending on avocado toast and lattes instead of saving to buy a house. Sorry Boomers but no one can afford to buy a home at today's prices while interest rates are skyrocketing whether they eschew Starbucks or not. The truth is young people are worried about skyrocketing food inflation, shrinkflation, and an ever more volatile job market, just like everyone else. Just ask them. The idea that looking for quality food is an "indulgence" reeks of some old dude with his fist in the air yelling, "In my day, we ate cheap TV dinners and we didn't complain about them!"
Are Young People Overspending On Food?
McKinsey asked 4,000 plus folks that ranged from Boomers to Zoomers about what they felt they could spend more on this year. Millennials and GenZ consumers said that costlier supermarket buys would be more likely than gym memberships, new clothes, or grooming products. But what they don't get into is you can be fine without a membership to Equinox or a new pair of AllBirds but you HAVE to buy food. And if the adage about "you are what you eat" is true, you're better off buying pricier quality goods from a health standpoint than processed foods that may be cheaper but are loaded with saturated fat, sugar, and salt. We also need to take into account that, unlike past generations, younger shoppers care about people and the planet, so they are more likely to buy fair trade-certified, sustainable food brands. Sadly, these products cost more in many cases.
Millennials Are Becoming Parents
Aside from their own reasons for spending more on food, Millennials are also starting to pop out ankle-biters and don't want to feed them the same processed gruel their parents fed them out of a microwave. This isn't "splurging." This is dietary upskilling. This is an investment in their family's well-being, and frankly, it's a little off-putting that the report would position quality food as some luxury like a pair of new heels. We should all be pushing toward cheaper AND healthier food options, not punching down at people making smart dietary choices.
Young People Deserve A Break
Beyond all that, why shouldn't young people have the option to buy that pricy smoothie or a craft candy bar from a quality chocolatier? It sometimes seems as if older generations are looking at treating yourself as a comfort they never took part in. The fact is that quality food improves your health both physically and mentally, even when it comes to snacks.
Look, we are ALL spending more on groceries these days. Sad but true. That said, Boomers and Xers need to stop and remember how older folks finger-wagged at them when they were in their 20s and 30s. Nobody likes a scold so let's try to keep our inner curmudgeons in check when it comes to young folks and their spending habits...now you kids get off my lawn!!!
