This article was originally written for and published by Foodservice Consultant, FCSI’s (Foodservice Consultants Society International) trade magazine, for which Marius writes a monthly column.
Hey Young World,
At first glance, the European foodservice market seems to be doing reasonably well. According to global market research company Circana, spending across the five largest European markets reached €361.2 billion in the year to June 2026. That’s an increase of 1.4%, even as the number of visits declined by 0.7%. The average spend per visit went up, keeping the market growing despite fewer occasions.
Beneath those headline figures, however, Circana sees a market in transition, with significant differences in how generations approach foodservice. The question is what operators should make of those differences, and how much they tell us about the future.
There is certainly something to be said for looking beyond the averages. Gen Z, for example, accounts for 16% of the population across the five largest markets but makes 39% more foodservice visits than its population share would suggest. Baby Boomers, on the other hand, account for 29% of the population but are considerably under-represented in foodservice. There are also differences in health habits, preferred occasions and the importance of branded restaurants. For anyone trying to understand their customers, these are useful insights.
Genuinely generational?
I do wonder, though, how much of this is genuinely generational and how much comes down to being young. Younger consumers are more digitally connected, more accustomed to ordering through apps and often more engaged with recognizable brands. But this is also the world they have grown up in. Baby Boomers were young once, too, and they helped turn branded restaurants and fast-food chains into the successes they became. The habits of younger consumers will inevitably change as they move through life, taking on different responsibilities, forming households and seeing their disposable income and priorities shift. The young consumer who values speed, convenience and familiarity today might be looking for something rather different twenty years from now.
This is where I think we need to be careful with generational marketing, and I say that as someone who works in the field. There is a tendency to treat each generation as a distinct consumer group with its own permanent set of preferences, when some of those preferences may be temporary responses to a particular stage of life. A restaurant that understands the occasion, the budget and the needs of its customers is in a better position to respond than one that assumes everyone born within a particular period wants the same thing.
Of course, not every change is simply a matter of getting older. The world itself is changing, and some of today’s habits may well become tomorrow’s expectations. Digital convenience is unlikely to disappear, even as the platforms and technologies we use evolve. The same could be true of growing interest in health and wellbeing, from high-protein diets to organic products, vegetarian and vegan food, and non-alcoholic drinks. These trends may be particularly visible among younger consumers today, but that does not mean they will remain confined to them. As expectations change across society, operators may find that what once differentiated a concept becomes part of the basic offer customers expect.
Challenges for the labor force
Circana also identifies Baby Boomers as an under-served market, particularly when it comes to branded restaurants. There is an immediate commercial opportunity here, and it makes sense for operators to consider how they might appeal to customers who currently eat out less frequently. Yet there is a longer-term question, too. If hospitality becomes heavily dependent on the spending of an older generation, what happens as that generation gradually leaves the market? Demographic ageing is already creating challenges for the labor force, and consumer markets will also have to adapt to a changing population. A younger generation that is already actively participating in foodservice could help the industry navigate that transition, although its spending habits will naturally change as its circumstances change.
Ultimately, I think Circana is right to look beneath the headline numbers. The important question is how we interpret what we find there. Generational data can tell us a great deal about today’s market, but it becomes less reliable when we use it to predict how people will behave throughout their lives. For hospitality operators, the challenge is to understand which preferences are likely to change with age, which reflect a broader shift in society, and which are simply responses to the world we live in today.
After all, the next generation of foodservice consumers will not remain the next generation forever. The businesses that understand what people need as their lives change, while recognizing when society itself is changing around them, may be better placed to remain relevant long after today’s trends have run their course.
One Love,
Marius | 1520