Why Younger Consumers Are Looking for Higher Quality—and Healthier—Snack Options

Convenience stores appeal to a broad cross-section of the population looking for everything from a simple beverage to a meal. People of all socioeconomic statuses are busy and frequently on the move, so convenience stores appeal to a variety of consumers.

And the Millennials, or Generation Y, are a critical consumer group, so it’s important for retailers to stay on top of their needs and preferences. This generation is looking for on-the-go snacks, but their knowledge of health and nutrition means that they want snacks that not only taste good but have quality ingredients.

When it comes to choosing snacks, 94% of Millennials from the ages of 19 to 36 consider freshness important or very important, followed by craving (89%), comfort (86%) and healthfulness (83%).

Younger Millennials tend to have a “snack throughout the day” lifestyle, rather than following a schedule of regular meals, and convenience stores tend to be their venue of choice for snacks.

Millennials in the middle of the age range snack the most during the late afternoon and before dinner, and they also favor convenience stores for their snack stops, along with quick service restaurants.

The oldest Millennials enjoy cheese, nuts and bakery items as snacks, usually in the mid-morning and late afternoon.

And now Generation Z—kids born from the early 2000s to present day—is starting to grow up, and their parents are looking for good-for-you snacks that not only give kids what they want, but feed them what they need. They know that children’s eating habits are formed well before they enter the school system, they want to create an awareness of healthy snack options, and research has proven that children as young as two years old hold food preferences based on their parents’ dietary choices.

So how can you target today’s nutrition-savvy young adults and the upcoming generation of parent-educated snackers? By providing the types of products they’re looking for: healthy alternatives to fatty chips, preservative-filled cookies and sugary candy. Mister Snacks provides a convenient assortment of dried fruit, various nuts, trail mixes, pretzels, roasted almonds, yogurts, granola and different healthy seeds. For times when a sweet tooth can’t be denied, many of our trail mixes contain healthy dark chocolate.

Give the people what they want! To help satisfy the needs of your younger consumers, put Mister Snacks’ snacks on your shelves!