The New Foodie Generation: Gen Z

Defined as “Fresh Foodies”, the genre “Generation Z” covers the people born between 1996 and 2010. To learn and understand how Gen Z positions their food-related behaviours and preferences is very important for segmenting them as a target market. Although the term “foodie” has been recently promoted by popular culture and then gastronomy literature, as a niche market, foodies have to be studied on a theory-based perspective in terms of market research. Foodies are described as people who love and have a passion for eating, are interested in learning about food. To determine and specify the position of Gen Z foodies is also necessary for marketing activities, because they will change food and beverage industry and thus tourism industry with their technology addiction. For these reasons, this study aims to determine whether members of Gen Z are foodies or not and how their food-related activities affect their travel behaviour. As a result, the foodie behaviours and characteristics of Generation Z are explained and discussed in detail and some practical implications are suggested.