Sizing Up Generation Alpha

Generation Alpha—those born between 2010 and 2024—is the largest in world history, numbering nearly 2 billion current and future consumers. In a Business FIRST panel session titled “Preparing for Generation Alpha,” Food Technology Associate Editor Emily Little was joined by two leading market research experts to discuss the early indications of how foodservice providers and CPG companies can best position themselves to reach this vast consumer group.

Because the eldest members of this generation are just turning 14 this year, market researchers don’t have “data from actual surveys” to work with just yet, noted Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, associate director, global food analyst at Mintel. But in watching their social media habits and otherwise observing Gen Alpha, she’s noted that they’re multicultural, creative, and even more tech-focused than Gen Z.

Mike Kostyo, vice president at Menu Matters, noted that the eldest members of Gen Alpha were born the year the first iPad came out. “The way they consume content from the day they were born is through a screen,” he said. “That is how they’re going to interact with our products.” They’re also a “creator generation,” he added. “They’re looking up to influencers. They think anybody can be a creator.”

Functional foods appear to be more prevalent in the snacking space than in the past, which Bartelme attributes to the desires of Millennial parents. “We’ve been talking internally about how this generation is going to have the healthiest digestive tracts ever,” she said. And Kostyo added, “Especially with baby foods [containing] prebiotics, probiotics—that’s clearly the parent.”

To distinguish themselves with Gen Alpha, brands need to lean hard into authenticity, Kostyo said. “Younger generations know when you’re faking it,” he said. Authenticity “will break through the noise of, ‘We’re selling you another food product.’”

Given Gen Alpha’s multiculturalism, Bartelme said that “authenticity” does not necessarily have to mean preparing ethnic dishes in their most traditional manner. “A colleague of mine made the observation, ‘This is the way this has always been done in this cuisine,’ is less important,” she said. “They’re already doing [less traditional takes] because their families are combined; their friend groups are combined. The majority of consumers are interested in trying new flavors at least some of the time.”

Kostyo believes that given Gen Alpha’s multicultural nature, foodservice outlets are missing an opportunity by not expanding their children’s menus beyond traditional staples like chicken nuggets, pizza, and mac-and-cheese. “Look at what they’re eating in school,” including enchiladas and sushi, he said. “Their parents are feeding them the same global foods … At the very least, you can have a taco these days.” Or, he added, just “offer a smaller-sized portion of anything that’s on the adult menu.”

To figure out how to reach Gen Alpha given the lack of hard data, panelists suggested looking to their parents and older siblings in addition to what pre-teens and young teens are talking about on social media. “We do have more data about them than other generations in the past” at their current age, Kostyo said. “You can start making some decisions about them.”

“When they get to the place where young Gen Z’s are and have more purchasing power, we are going to keep learning about the things they are gravitating toward the most,” Bartelme added. “We are going to be able to iterate. If we worry about creating a new world for a consumer group that changes its mind so quickly, we’re going to run into trouble.”ft