Mintel at The Flavor Experience

Of the sessions I attended during the event, I found the presentation on “Generation Y” by Lisa Strick and Kara Nielsen of the Center for Culinary Development among the most interesting. Also called “Millennials”, the young people that make up the next generation could be an enormous opportunity for marketers. As Mintel has published in reports such as “Spending Power of the Teen Consumer,” the younger generation spends more today on dining out at restaurants and coffee shops. In their presentation, CCD supported their points with findings from both quantitative – of 1000 participants between the ages of 16-28 – and qualitative studies of representative US samples.

Lisa and Kara tried to help the audience understand some of intangibles involved in Gen Y – how they think, what they find appealing, and how restaurant operators can use these insights to attract this challenging demographic. Young people present a puzzle: they value uniqueness yet want to be part of the “in” crowd; they value personalization yet want ubiquitous brands like Apple and Nike; and they are frequently isolated yet constantly communicate (via text messaging, Twitter, IM’ing, Facebook, etc).

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