2023-05-16 18:35:10
Fast food restaurant owners are noticing Gen Z’s tastes are different from other age groups and are updating their menus to match them. In particular, younger visitors prefer spicy food and chicken.
The meals the Zetas choose are more spicy, Fabiola Del Rio, vice president of integrated marketing communications at Panda Express, told Insider.
Generation Z and Millennials are “more willing to experiment and prefer authentic, bold and spicy flavors more than previous generations,” McCormick (spices and sauces maker) President and CEO Brendan Foley said at the Consumer Analyst Group conference in New York in February. Spices accounted for 20% of the company’s total sales in 2022, he said, and their share is only set to grow.
Chipotle told the publication that Generation Z orders more peppery cheese sauce than other generations, while Wendy’s noted that its spicy chicken nuggets are especially popular with the Zetas. Subway is also luring younger consumers with more “sizzling” food options.
But not only the passion for spiciness distinguishes the tastes of the Zetas from other generations. “They overwhelmingly order chicken,” says Dickey’s Barbecue Pit CEO Laura Dickey. That’s why her restaurant added smoked chicken wings to its menu. Taco Bell CEO Mark King also told Bloomberg that Generation Z customers are increasingly ordering chicken over beef.
In a 2022 Morning Consult survey, 13% of 1,000 Gen Z respondents in the US said chicken was their favorite food, ahead of steaks, hamburgers, sushi and french fries, and second only to pizza. By the way, according to the same study, the Zetas spend more on food and drinks than on clothes and entertainment, and are more willing to try new things than other generations, moreover, they are actively looking for new culinary experiences.
Chicken sandwich brand Chick-fil-A also ranked #1 in Piper Sandler’s Fall 2022 teen restaurant brand survey.
Fast food chain executives also told Insider that Gen Zers tend to dine in large groups because they are attracted to influencer marketing and are not afraid to spend money to make food an event.
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