Good morning and Happy Friday!
A busy and exciting week for KAM was topped off yesterday with a speaking slot at the fabulous Propel Multi Club event. If you don’t already subscribe/attend their events- you should- drop Paul a line- paul.charity@propelinfo.com for more details- if you work in hospitality, the newsletter is a MUST!
My presentation yesterday was an amalgamation of our Generation Z and Plan to Plate reports, so I thought I’d take the easy option for today’s blog and simply share a few slides- I hope you find them useful!
From our Generation Z report, we know that 2 in 5 18-24 year olds describe themselves as teetotal, more than twice the number of UK adults in general. However, government statistics show that liver disease and diabetes, alongside the number of young people seeking help for alcohol related problems in A&E departments, is on the increase. Why?
The underlying insight suggests a polarisation amongst the younger generation; between those who abstain or drink significantly less than the recommended 14 units per week, to those who over-indulge.
This is a key trend that we see across other areas like ‘healthy v indulgent eating’. It’s all or nothing at both ends of the spectrum, with Gen Z choosing between abstention and binging with little grey area in between.
In fact, diving deeper into the research we see that of those 6% who claim to drink more than 14 units per week, the average units consumed is 23 (the equivalent of over 11 pints). That being said, the increased awareness of alcohol and tobacco related health concerns is clearly having an impact on consumption levels, it seems as if cigarettes and alcohol are perhaps not deemed as ‘cool’ as they used to be.
For a generation with a relatively low disposable income v older generations it may come as a surprise to see that 78% of Gen Z have eaten out at a restaurant in the last 4 weeks, especially when you consider that this is higher than the number visiting a pub, coffee shop or cinema– perhaps the more traditional destinations for similar age groups in years gone by. For Generation Z, eating out is the new ‘going out’.
The fall in alcohol consumption and the influx of affordable dining options hitting the high streets means that going to a restaurant represents the ideal opportunity for Generation Z to hang out and have a good time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENY4bdS8nXE
And here’s what we got up to at KAM in February- warning- Katy is wearing a rather fetching cycling outfit in one clip- all the gear, and no idea!!
As you read this, I’ll be on my way up to sunny Yorkshire for a day of trade visits and meetings, and I’ve got Mr Katy (broken foot and all!) in tow as we plan to stay up there for the weekend in a little cottage about 10 miles outside of Skipton. We are both pretty immobile but have a good taxi number and a lot of tenacity, so please recommend any pubs/bars/restaurants/things to do in that area- otherwise it’s DVDs/Scrabble/fizz in the hot tub for the weekend!
Katy
Follow me on Twitter @katykammedia
