The Story Wave 47

Food & Beverage: An Industry Snapshot

Our recent report on the food and beverage industry explores Americans’ thoughts about organics and breakfast habits. A few key takeaways include:

• Organics glow in a health halo: 59% of young adults (Gen Z and Millennials) agree that all organic foods are healthy.
• Priced out: 76% of US adults agree that they would buy more organic foods if they were less expensive.
• Don’t skip breakfast: 70% of US adults agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
• Perform at the top of your game: 81% of Americans agree that they eat breakfast to boost their focus during the first part of the day.
• Morning multi-tasking: 12% of US adults typically eat breakfast during their morning commute.

Over-Index Report: This month’s over-index report uses data from QuestBrand by The Harris Poll to list 10 food and beverage brands that over-index with each generation of US adults. See below for a few brands that made Gen Z and Millennials’ lists:

Gen Z Shoppers Turn To Costco For Supersized Savings – Brand Story

Amid rising consumer prices, Gen Z has entered the bulk buying game. In recent months, wholesale retailers, like Costco, have grown in esteem among these young cost-conscious shoppers.

• Costco’s lower per-unit food costs are attracting young shoppers — as well as their family and friends — who are looking to reduce their individual grocery bills by bulk buying in groups and splitting items.
• Despite many groups purchasing groceries under a single membership, Costco has seen an increase in net sales and perceived brand quality among young shoppers.
• Observing data from QuestBrand, we can see that Gen Z adults significantly more often described Costco as “premium” (+6.8) “confident” (+6.0), “visionary” (+6.0), and “customer-centric” (+5.5) in the first half of 2024 than they did in the second half of 2023.

Read the full brand story now.

Artificial Intelligence: UK Insights

It feels like every company is integrating artificial intelligence into its product or service offerings. While businesses are clearly interested (and invested) in, AI, we wanted to see how UK consumers feel about these AI advancements.

Using data from QuestBrand’s custom questions functionality, our latest AI report explores what British consumers think about the role, and future, of AI. A few key insights include:

• Interest in tech advances: Four-in-10 (41%) UK adults agree that they are excited by AI integration.
• Too much hype?: 67% of respondents agree that companies often overestimate their interest in AI-infused products and services.
• Impacting the purchase decision: 22% of UK consumers say that they are more likely to purchase a product that incorporates AI, but 29% are less likely to purchase an AI-integrated product.
• Skepticism abounds: 72% of UK adults agree that AI has become companies’ latest marketing ploy.

Interested in checking out even more AI-insights? Revisit this Axios article that explores Americans’ trust (or rather mistrust) of social media companies using AI.