Gourmet Business - March 2016

Every year as we approach the opening of the Interna- tional Home + Housewares Show, I pause to re ect on the prevailing trends that I have observed in the mar- ketplace and think about what’s driving them. This helps our team spot the products that we think will be the hot sellers and report on them for you. 

To accurately predict the products that are most likely to sell, we must also understand which group is likely to spend money on products for their home. I think it’s time to take a serious look at the millennial generation and understand how their habits and preferences will impact trends. 

Millennials are the largest generation in the United States, representing one-third of total U.S. population in 2013, according to the President’s Council of Economic Advisers report. The oldest millennials are now 36 and the largest one-year age cohort is now 26. They are the most diverse and educated generation to date, with more than 42 percent identifying their race or ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white. It is also important to note this is the rst generation to have access to the Internet in their formative years, which means that technology plays a major role in their lives. It is also important to note this group is more likely to live in urban areas than earlier generations. 

What’s most interesting about this group to me is that their lives and habits are so different than the generation that I belong to or the generation of my parents. I have been performing an infor- mal poll of my children, friends and colleagues with children to better understand how they eat and entertain. One common observation is that millennials do not entertain friends with sit-down dinners at splendid dining tables arranged with formal place settings. Instead, they opt for informal gatherings where food in presented buffet style (some refer to as tapas style) and often featuring music in the background streaming via Bluetooth from Spotify. 

Because so many live in urban areas where oor space and storage space is minimal, they don’t necessarily plan ahead and prepare the foods well in advance of their gathering. They shop the day of and typically include some prepared foods from the local market or food delivery service. Individuality is important too, choosing products that are “special” and make a statement on their counters because there is little cabinet space. 

Be sure to stop by the Gourmet Business Pavilion during the show to see our display of products for the millennial generation and be introduced to seven new companies displaying their products that are just being introduced to the market. 

David Spencer
Publisher, Gourmet Business
President, HousewaresDirect, Inc. 

dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com