Because Millenials are now coming of age where their spending power is making more of an impression on marketers, corporations are responding to their preferences. This article on Upworthy.com lays out clearly what those preferences are and how they are changing the food industry, including:
Millenials want information about their food such as where the food comes from and how it was grown and processed. This desire for some information means the food companies are now aware that a certain transparency is necessary to gain customer trust. They are also aware of what happens when they get caught in a lie and that information can go viral. Given the ease of transferring information, one would think that no one is foolish enough to say "No one's ever going to know." As a baby boomer, I would have thought my generation would want that same knowledge, but evidently only 65% of us do compared to 80% of Millenials.
Millenials are considered "aspirational" in that they believe in the power of their purchasing dollars to improve the environment and society. Forty percent shop local and 75% will pay extra for sustainable products. That statistic right there gives me hope for the world.
The name of the game is brand loyalty and with Millenials that means that a company needs to take a stand on some political, social, or environmental issue. Whether that results in giving back a percentage of corporate profit to local non-profits, corporate sponsorship, or investing in good production practices, companies are recognizing that Millenials are as interested in the why and how as much as that what--perhaps more so.
At HMI we are excited about young people taking an interest in agriculture. That's why we developed our Hands On Learning Program, to collaborate with other agriculture educational NGO's to provide residential agricultural training for new farmers and ranchers as well as help them learn how to manage holistically.
We also started the Terry Gompert Scholarship Fund to help fund training for young agrarians who want to get their hands dirty and learn how to be a successful farmer or rancher and provide nutritious food to their communities while healing the land.
Whether you are a baby boomer or a millenial, there is opportunity for all to help heal the land and produce and support a sustainable food system.
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