Young, diverse Generation Z giving restaurant industry plenty to chew on
When Teghann Taylor has dinner out with her friends, they often end up feasting on sushi.
“I do sushi about once a week because I have a Japanese friend who takes me to all the most authentic places,” says the 19-year-old suburban Vancouver student. “I also like Indian because my boyfriend grew up with a lot of South Asians and he used to eat at their houses and then he introduced me to that kind of food.”
Taylor is a member of “Generation Z,” and according to Ipsos Canada, this cohort born after 1996 is the most ethnically diverse generation in the country with 15 per cent hailing from a visible minority background. Like Taylor, who is white, members of Generation Z are also more likely to have friends from a variety of ethnicities, who expose each other to a veritable smorgasbord of cuisines, Ipsos data suggests.
As these fearless foodies come of age, they are giving the restaurant industry plenty to chew on.
“(Their diversity) is certainly something that influences their food choices, simply because they look outside of a typical North American diet,” says Kathy Perrotta, vice-president, marketing at Ipsos Canada.
Perrotta studies this post-millennial demographic, which numbers roughly eight million in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. She says ChineseCanadians make up the largest visible minority within Gen Z, followed closely by South Asians.
“They have an enormity of choices available to them,” she says of the overall demographic.
These choices come courtesy of what Perrotta refers to as “cross-acculturation,” the effect new Canadians have had on overall Gen Z food and beverage choices, as well as the impact that Gen Z preferences have had on new Canadians.
“Choices are much broader among these consumers, given their exposure to one another,” she says.
Perrotta adds that those choices aren’t necessarily skewed toward fast food.
“There’s a wider consideration set that extends to independent restaurants,” she says.
Independent establishments are more likely to offer a diverse menu, which Gen Z is open to and knowledgeable about, says Perrotta.
Restaurants Canada vice-president Mark von Schellwitz says his organization’s research reveals a similar trend.
“In our quarterly Restaurant Outlook Survey of our operators, 28 per cent of them said that guests are becoming more adventurous with their food choices than they were just a year ago,” he says. “And there’s no question that that trend is snowballing, and certainly the Gen Z’ers and the millennials are driving that trend.”
He says chefs, particularly younger ones, are becoming more creative with their menus and focusing much more on fusion. Von Schellwitz cites Vancouver restaurateur Vikram Vij as a prime example of a chef who was successful at blending cuisines.
“What you have is a hybrid Indian cuisine, (creating) almost a whole new cuisine,” he says of Vij’s style.
Beef short ribs marinated in kalonji seed and curry, anyone?
While Taylor’s crowd is enticed by the diverse fare served up at independent eateries, fast-food restaurants are feeling the pressure to whet these sophisticated appetites, adding items such as chipotle chicken and butter chicken pizza to their menus.
Perrotta also points out that Gen Z diners are more about “we” than “me” so they are also concerned about the environment and the implications of their actions. A recent Zeno Group survey, for example, revealed 78 per cent of them read food labels and are drawn specifically to ingredients that are organic, hypoallergenic, fairly traded and ethically sourced.
“I buy organic fruit, especially if it’s on sale,” says Taylor. “But I’ll spend extra money on stuff that’s sugar-free.”
Perrotta says these environmentally conscious youngsters are different from teens of the past.
“I don’t know if it’s born out of the social consciousness of that generation or the amount of information available to them and how they digest it,” she says, noting Gen Z are also more likely to be vegetarian or vegan. “Part of that could be connected to the ethics of meat. Part of it is likely due to the amount of vegetarianism around them, and that could be because of a visible minority population’s choices, or the availability of vegetarian options, which are far more today.”
But while this generation, which has never known a world without the internet, consumes with a conscious, they want their food choices to be fast and easy, says Perrotta.
“Everything is available at their fingertips, so they’re used to having things when they want them and how they want them,” say says.
That means viewing menus, ordering and paying online.
“Oh, yeah, I’ll never go anywhere new without checking out the menu online first,” says Taylor. “I don’t want to get all the way there and find out I don’t like anything, or that it’s too expensive.”