When talk centers on the seismic shift in the food industry, the conversation nearly always begins with millennials, who are widely known to prefer fast-casual restaurants over quick-serves and who think all is well with the world if they can identify and support ethical food. There is a link here to politics, but I won’t go there yet. Keep reading.
When asked in a Mintel survey “Regardless of time of day, how important are each of the following factors when deciding which restaurant to visit?” older millennials (aged 27-37) rank highest in preferring a restaurant that actively supports humane treatment of animals (e.g., cage-free/free-range) and a restaurant that is environmentally responsible (e.g., composing, being green, etc.—source: Mintel’s Dining Out: A 2015 Look Ahead—US, January 2015 report). Further, older millennials are the most apt to say they plan to visit more restaurants that use only locally sourced foods.
They think differently than other age groups about what is “healthy.” According to businessinsider.com, millennials rate highest in defining healthy as natural, organic, locally grown, and good for the planet/environment. The article says, “Young customers are more likely than their parents to say they want to visit companies with good social ethics. This could help explain the popularity of socially progressive brands like Starbucks or Chipotle with young customers.”
The food world is responding. Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Panera Bread and Chipotle have promoted the elimination of artificial additives and preservatives. McDonalds is on board with changing to chicken raised without human antibiotics. One of Hardee’s most recent touts is its All-Natural Burger described as “a grass-fed, free-range charbroiled beef patty with no added hormones, steroids or antibiotics…”
This summer Boston Market had a pertinent thing or two to say in a television ad to promote its all-natural rotisserie chicken. Its slogan was “take a side against fried.” Its “All Good” campaign “suggested that fast-food chicken is oversized, over-priced, over-promised, pre-packaged and pretend, with shots of gloopy meat passing through various machines contrasted with Boston Market’s plump, roasted, whole birds that are carved by hand,” (nrn.com).
While you get the picture, the story is even bigger than restaurants. Target stores is revamping its food emphasis. The retail giant told some of its food suppliers (Campbell Soup, General Mills, Kellogg, for example) that it doesn’t plan to promote their products as heavily going forward. According to marketwatch.com, “it wants to do less with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Corn Flakes and more with granola and yogurt. Canned soup, a category facing a long decline, will be de-emphasized… and others will move down the totem pole, while fancy sauces and oils will move up…” The chain plans to be less dependent on packed and processed foods because millennials don’t like them.
That sense of place and closeness to the earth with authentic food sensibilities is rampant.
OK. Now let’s talk politics. If consumers are leaning toward all-natural, non-processed food, don’t you think that mentality carries over into political thinking and will affect the 2016 elections? We’re not talking food here. But we are talking genuineness. Freshness. No preservatives. No prepared stump speeches. No long list of fake answers. Nothing you’d totally expect to hear from a politician’s mouth.
I’m not going to promote anyone here, but I’m just saying, do you think perhaps the public is looking at Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush as super processed? Are their origins, natures and messages fresh enough for the current climate?
Conversely, look at Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Bernie Sanders. Aside from how they might run the country, they obviously have something going on, based on the polls. Whatever it is, it clearly appears less processed. It’s fresh and refreshing to many. It’s fitness water rather than Coke or Pepsi. It’s like a splash of lemon and a bite of granola.
Anyone else coming into the political race must have a genuine story. All the better if they appear organic, non-GMO, with no fake sugar. If Joe Biden can exude these descriptors, he has a chance, regardless of any of the previous political norms. News commentators need to realize this. Right now they are standing back and scratching their heads, mystified with the polls and the politicians. So far this season, it’s almost like Republican and Democrat don’t mean anything. Genuineness is the tape measurer.
Am I right? I guess we will see. Tell me what you think.
Jody
Comments