Any good marketing plan starts with a solid base of research. Many of our clients with food-related products or services come to us looking for information on food trends and generational tastes. Between their diversity, their changing view of snacks, and their weird trends, we love a good millennial target audience.
Here are some of our favorites resources when we’re looking for information on millennial food trends.
1. PubMed
This one is for the science geeks. With PubMed, you can search anything about food or health and all scientific papers that have been published will come up. It’s a great website if you are looking for facts and concrete evidence about health or food.
2. npj Science of Food
npj Science of Food is an online-only and open access journal publishes high-quality, high-impact papers related to food safety and security, integrated production, processing and packaging, the changes and interactions of food components and the influence on health and wellness properties of food. Basically, it’s got a lot of good science-based information for your research.
3. PopSugar
Not every resource has to be an academic paper! It’s literally the job of millennial-friendly food sites like PopSugar to stay up to date on millennial food trends and snacking news. It’s definitely opinion based, but it manages to be both fun and informative for staying on top of trends. Some interesting articles include:
- The Surprising Truth About Refrigerating Butter
- Somebody Invented Seedless Avocados, and We Have SO Many Questions
Did we mention they’re also a great resource for headline and blog title inspiration?
4. Mercola
This is a website that has daily articles written by a trusted doctor in the Functional Medicine community. He runs workshops, hosts and appears on popular podcasts and speaks about trending health and wellness topics. Everything he writes about is backed up by scientific studies.
The site is searchable and there are videos, articles, recipes, quizzes and much more. He even has a section of the site dedicated to Pet Health. Here are some very “Millennial” topics he talks about regarding Millennial Health and Food Trends (all from the past week):
- Poop Pills Can Combat Deadly Infections
- Is Eating Eggshells Beneficial?
- Creamy Avocado Deviled Eggs Recipe
- Bad News for Fast Eaters
5. J. Walter Thompson Intelligence
This is a lifestyle blog/website based on scientific research. It also boasts a large library of Trend Reports. Categories include tech, health, culture, retail, food + drink and more. This is a great resource for finding trends based in science rather than opinion.
6. Epic Meal Time
Epic Meal Time is the YouTube channel your college boyfriend watched every day. Now it’s your millennial food marketing resource! If you’re looking to pull a food-related marketing stunt (i.e. make the world’s largest cannoli), start here for inspiration on pulling it off. Oh, and by the way, Epic Meal Time also has over 7 million subscribers on YouTube and does sponsored videos. Keep them in your marketing repertoire if you’re willing to pay the big bucks for some exposure.
Plus, honestly, these dudes are just fun to watch. Don’t we all want to mess around with our friends and then eat a chicken sandwich bigger than our heads?
7. Online College Courses
Want to learn everything there is to know about Food Science? From videos of kids experimenting with cheetos and milk, to video guides teaching about the properties of Chocolate, to information on organic farming and the raw food movement, there are many opportunities for inspiration from this site. A blend of fun and education, Online College Courses covers some very millennial-centric topics while staying based in science.
8. Refinery29
Similar to PopSugar, this pop culture giant has food news (generally based in opinion) and is a great resource for scoping out millennial food and snacking trends. We had the pleasure of hearing Piera Gelardi, one of the founders of Refinery29, speak at HubSpot’s INBOUND conference this past year and she was incredible. Refinery29 never disappoints.
9. James Beard Foundation
The James Beard Foundation gives annual food and restaurant awards and provides food news and trends, a restaurant finder and much more. Here’s some information you can find on the site:
- Educational initiatives
- Food industry awards
- Scholarships for culinary students
- Publications with food news
- Chef advocacy training
- Thought-leading convening
A global leader in food news and the food industry, the James Beard Foundation is a great resource for anyone wanting to dive deep into the world of food and stay on the very cusp of industry happenings.
10. Google Scholar
A classic. If you’ve never used Google Scholar for your research, we suggest you start! Free academic papers and peer-reviewed journals all in one place at no cost. Search terms like “millennial food trends,” “millennial snack marketing,” or “marketing to millennials” and see what you can find.
11. Bonus! Our eBook “How To: Millennial Snack Marketing”
Shameless plug! For information pulled from some of these sources and more, check out our eBook on marketing snack products to millennials and how to improve your targeting and perfect your buyer persona.
