Millennials changing US restaurants

Providers inspired to offer convenient, healthy and visually-appealing food

When it comes to what to eat, 24-year-old Wall Street banker Misty Xia has a fixed routine: A homemade breakfast of oatmeal and chopped fruits, which takes no more than 10 minutes to prepare, and two takeout meals for the rest of the day from nearby restaurants. Most of the time, the takeout meals are a salad or other low-carbohydrate, low-fat options,

Xia is a millennial - someone born from 1981 to 1996. People in this group are on the way to becoming the largest consumer group for food and beverages in the United States, according to research done this year by real estate service company CBRE. And they have roughly $4 trillion in spending power.

These time-starved, wellness-focused, social media-savvy individuals are causing changes to the restaurant and food sectors, inspiring food providers to offer convenient, healthy and visually-appealing products.

"Millennials are and will continue to be important to the restaurant industry," said David Portalatin, food industry expert of market research company NPD.

Though the US restaurant sector has been suffering from flat, if not slipping, traffic growth in recent years, millennials, especially those with children, have become a driving force in the industry. The group's restaurant visits increased by 5 percent year-on-year in 2018, outpacing other groups, according to NPD's 2019 report.

"Not only are they a large generational group, but their attitudes about food and eating, which they've taken through life's stages, have a tremendous influence on the food-service industry," said Portalatin.

The millennial generation, those aged 22 to 37 in 2019, is not only set to surpass baby boomers to become the largest living adult generation in the US this year, but is becoming the largest component of the US labor force as well, according to the Pew Research Center's March 2018 report.

They are "moving into the busiest times of their lives, juggling spouses, kids, and a career," said Portalatin, and are making convenience a significant concern when it comes to what and where to eat.

When it comes to food purchases, convenience is a top driver for millennials, higher than that of baby boomers, according to the International Food Information Council's 2017 Food and Health Survey, which found that 55 percent of millennials ranked convenience as important, higher than that of baby boomers.

Big food producers are listening to their demands for transparency about ingredients and sources, and they want to know how their food is made so they are paying more attention to food labels.

While older shoppers may check the labels for calories and the amount of fat, millennials are more interested in how the food was sourced and grown, and how that affects their carbon footprint. Millennials' awareness of environmental issues has influenced food manufacturers to institute better earth-friendly practices.

As for restaurants, they favor those that are fast-casual and quick-service, according to market research company Mintel's 2017 report on millennials' food consumption. They also want food that's natural, organic, and locally sourced, so many restaurant menus now list the farm where your lettuce was grown or offer organic options.

"'What to eat can be a time-consuming question for today's busy millennials, and they really favor restaurants that minimize that decision-making process," said Zhao Yong, co-founder and CEO of fast Chinese food chain Junzi Kitchen, which started near the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and has now three outlets in Manhattan.

Brands that acknowledge and help with the time-consuming nature of meal planning and eating should find particular appeal among millennials, according to the research. Almost half of millennials report spending more time than they would like to think about meals and eating occasions, the highest among all researched age groups, said market researcher Mintel.

Millennials also want convenience so they are a driving force behind today's booming food-delivery industry. A 2018 report by investment bank UBS found that millennials are three times as likely to order in than their parents, and it forecast that delivery sales will rise an annual average of more than 20 percent to $365 billion worldwide by 2030.

While fulfilling the pursuit of convenience by embracing a fast-food format that diminishes the ordering and waiting time and offering free delivery service, 34-year-old Zhao, himself a millennial, decoded the "convenience" that millennials need as much more than time-saving.

"Healthiness is itself a part of that convenience," he said, as millennials are seeking food that can easily provide a balanced diet and have all the needed nutrients.

Wang Chao, chef-owner of New York-based restaurant Hunan Slurp, said that millennials pay more attention to health-related factors, which caused his restaurants to increase the use of vegetables and organic ingredients.