Consumer Insights: Baby Boomers-Never Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll

Baby boomers still wield enormous influence on foodservice’s future.

By Scott Hume, Editor-in-Chief -- Restaurants & Institutions, 12/1/2007

Baby boomers’ love of the spotlight is legendary and often is annoying to anyone who was not born between 1946 and 1964. But in a mass-marketing economy, attention inexorably flows to the biggest masses. In demographic terms, that would be boomers. It’s math, not hubris.

That’s why Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, a retired schoolteacher in Cherry Hill, N.J., made national news in October 2007 just by signing up for Social Security benefits. Born just after the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, 1946, Casey-Kirschling is credited with being the first boomer, and she will be eligible for her first early-retirement Social Security check next month. Her 80 million fellow boomers are lined up behind her.

If boomers are used to attention, it’s because they can’t help making news. They’re the proverbial 800-pound gorilla in the room: difficult to ignore and having a tendency to knock over the socio-economic furniture whenever they move. The rock ‘n’ roll generation already has changed foodservice. Its numbers and mobility helped quick-service restaurants take hold. And boomers remain loyal QSR users.

The generation’s two-income households also bankrolled casual dining’s growth. R&I’s New American Diner Study finds that 14.9% of boomers say they visit a casual-dining restaurant at least once a week. Only 11.6% of Generation Y (ages 26 or younger) say they patronize casual-dining venues that often.

Now in their prime income-generating years, boomers also are the age group most likely to patronize a fine-dining restaurant in any given week, according to New American Diner data. And when gasoline prices rise and younger and older age groups cut back on restaurant spending or trade down to lower-price options, boomers are more inclined to stay closer to home but still dine out as planned.

Environmental Concerns

It isn’t surprising that former Vice President Al Gore is a boomer (born March 31, 1948) because his generation is a driving force behind the green movement. Boomers’ greatest impact on foodservice over the next few years likely will come from their championing eco-friendly operations, sustainable foods and health-and-wellness efforts.

More than one-third (36.8%) of boomers agree or strongly agree that "living a green lifestyle is important to me and my family," according to R&I’s 2007 Tastes of America Study. Smaller percentages of Gen Y and Gen X (ages 27 to 41) respondents say they pursue a green lifestyle. Boomers are most likely to say they purchase eco-friendly products.

A plurality (44.7%) of boomers disagree or strongly disagree with the statement, "Green practices have little to do with restaurants," and a majority (51.5%) say that restaurants should let customers know when green products are offered.

A larger percentage of boomers than of members of other age groups say it is important that restaurants serve locally grown and sustainable foods, according to the Tastes of America research. And 21.9% of boomers say they are willing to spend more for local/sustainable/green products, compared with 17% of Gen Y and 21.6% of Gen X respondents.

A higher percentage of boomers (21.1%) than of Gen Y or Gen X diners say they make a sustained effort to eat healthfully at restaurants. But, being boomers, they’re impatient about being served: 23.1% say they won’t dine at a restaurant if it means waiting for a table.

Senior Expectations

The first boomers may not be eligible for Social Security payments until next year, but a "generational crossroads" already is evident in senior-living foodservice, says Patrick Johnson, regional vice president of operations for Orefield, Pa.-based Cura Hospitality.

Many older residents of independent- and assisted-living facilities still like dinner to be served at 5 p.m. daily and for diners to bring out pearls or a tie for the occasion. And they value presentation over menu variety. However, newer residents—most in their early 60s—want something completely different. "These residents are looking for more choices in meals and in services, and a more-casual atmosphere," Johnson says. "They want to eat at 7 p.m. if they choose. They don’t want to dress up. Sometimes they’d rather have self-service but not from a tray line. They want to know where the facility purchases its vegetables and whether [they are] sustainably grown. They’re Internet users; they know a lot more about food and wellness, and they’re hungry to learn more."

Such expanded expectations are increasingly common and are changing the way senior-living communities operate "from a healthcare mindset to a hospitality mindset," Johnson adds. Debit-card spending plans similar to what contract foodservice offers business-and-industry and college clients are coming to senior living. Some clients even offer curbside meal pickup for townhouse and condominium dwellers in senior communities.

A recent renovation at Cura client Sherwood Oaks in Cranberry, Pa., involved several trend-forward elements. A main dining room was divided into two more-intimate spaces; flexible dining hours were instituted; display cooking and self-serve pasta and salad-toss bars were added; and a grab-and-go market was created in Cafe Sherwood (which also features wireless Internet access).

"Who we hire has completely changed" as a result of such operational shifts, Johnson says. Cura now seeks general managers and executive chefs with a hospitality rather than healthcare background. Training for hourly workers has been intensified "so that it equals what a hotel would provide for front-of-the-house personnel," he says.