Winning with Gen Z in Food and Drink: Six Trends for 2026

By 2030, Gen Z will account for $12.6 trillion in global spending. That’s 18.7% of world consumer expenditure. We recently attended Lumina Intelligence’s Food Strategy Forum, where one session was devoted entirely to this generation: who they are, what they want and why so many food and drink brands are still getting them wrong. Here’s what stood out.

1. Authenticity over aspiration

Gen Z has grown up with social media. They’re also highly attuned to when brands are performing rather than being genuine. They want real connections and seek out what might be called ‘third spaces’: places that facilitate actual conversation rather than just consumption.

Samsung’s pop-up reality TV sports bar in Sweden is a useful reference point. It wasn’t a product demonstration. It was an environment designed around shared experience, giving people a reason to talk to each other. Food and drink brands in hospitality spaces can do this very naturally, if they’re willing to design for it.

Real stories, real people, real places carry far more weight with this generation than manufactured campaigns. They will see through the latter quickly.

2. Discovery as a brand value

This generation doesn’t just want to eat; they want to find things. They want brands to help them discover new experiences, new cuisines and new rituals, online and off.

A Korean airline lounge in Incheon Airport installed a ramen library offering interactive tasting experiences for younger travellers. It sounds niche, but it illustrates the principle well. Create a moment of genuine discovery and it becomes a story worth sharing.

For UK food and drink brands, this means investing in the experience around the product, not just the product itself. Limited formats, unexpected collaborations and letting people feel like they’ve personally uncovered something all drive strong engagement with Gen Z.

3. Identity signalling through food choices

What Gen Z eats and drinks reflects who they are, or who they want to be seen as. The Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte became a cultural signifier before it became a meme. The matcha trend that’s overtaken it is more than a flavour shift; it’s a statement about values: wellness, discernment, being ahead of the mainstream.

Products that signal quality, discovery, health-consciousness and a global perspective can become genuine identity anchors for Gen Z consumers. Products that feel out of step with those values will struggle regardless of how heavily they’re promoted.

4. QSRs are winning the format battle

Quick service restaurants are genuinely winning with Gen Z through two things: highly customisable menus and limited-time offers that generate buzz.

Pizza Express recently launched a delivery-only concept selling wings and mac and cheese, directly competing with Domino’s territory. It’s a bold move from a sit-down brand, but it reflects a wider pattern: established operators are chasing the QSR formats Gen Z gravitates towards.

Limited-time offers are particularly powerful. They create urgency, generate social content and give Gen Z something to talk about. Brands that run a steady stream of small, buzz-generating product moments tend to stay in this generation’s consideration set far more effectively than those relying on a single hero product.

5. Global influence with a local twist

Gen Z’s food curiosity goes well beyond what previous generations thought of as world cuisine. They’re actively seeking out regional specificity. Not just Chinese food, but Chongqing Chinese. Not just bubble tea, but bubble tea paired with spicy noodles as a single experience.

Zhao Nest, a Chongqing-style restaurant in East London, is winning with Gen Z precisely because of its specificity. The food is genuinely different, genuinely regional and genuinely hard to replicate at home. That combination is compelling.

For food and drink manufacturers developing new products, the implication is to go deeper rather than broader. Consumers who care about global flavours already know the surface-level versions.

6. Health that covers mind and body

Gen Z’s approach to health is genuinely different. It’s not just about macros or calories. It takes in stress reduction, mental wellbeing, calm environments and what might loosely be called optimisation across every area of life.

Concepts like The Salad Project and Farmer J have thrived in food-to-go partly because of the food and partly because of the atmosphere they create. Honest Greens, a Spanish brand now operating in Soho, has installed a Hydration Station with refillable infused waters. Its colourful, calm space is as much part of the offer as what’s on the menu.

Gen Z isn’t looking for diet food. They’re looking for food that supports a whole approach to living well. That distinction matters for brands at every level, from QSR operators thinking about store environment to manufacturers considering how products are positioned.

What this means for your brand

These six themes don’t sit in separate boxes. They overlap and reinforce each other. Gen Z wants to eat well, feel good, explore the world through their plate and find brands that understand them without trying too hard.

The brands getting it right create genuine moments rather than manufactured ones. They go specific rather than broad. They think about the whole experience, not just the product. And they respect the fact that Gen Z’s so-called fickleness is really just a high standard.

Understand what that standard looks like in your category, and there’s significant growth to be had.

Want to talk through your Gen Z strategy? The jellybean team works with food and drink brands across foodservice, retail and consumer markets. Get in touch here.