Nils-Gerrit Wunsch
Research expert covering foods trends in North America, Europe, and the global food system
U.S. Baby Boomers' grocery shopping behavior - statistics & facts
The Baby Boomer generation comprises all people who were born during the post-World War II baby boom (roughly birth dates beginning in the mid 1945s to the early 1960s). A more precise definition puts everyone born between 1946 and 1964 in this generation. The so-called Boomers followed the Silent demographic cohort and precede Generation X. If we follow the precise definition, the last of the Boomers will turn 60 in 2024. Currently, over 69 million Baby Boomers are living in the United States.
Grocery shopping behavior
The grocery market of the United States has been growing since 1992. The only interruption in this growth trend was the year 2009 following the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. Currently, the market has reached a value of over 680 billion U.S. dollars and will likely grow further. The Boomers, once the largest living generation in the United States, will further shrink in the coming decades at an accelerating pace. However, for now, Baby Boomers still make up slightly less than a quarter of grocery buyers. Before the pandemic, about 18 percent of Boomers had ordered at an online-only retailer for groceries.Eating behaviors
Over three-quarters of Baby Boomers agree that meat is part of the American identity. They share this sentiment with the members of Generation X, who believe it equally strongly. And while the Boomers are the generation least likely to have tried plant-based alternatives to meat, the share who have is still over 45 percent. They are also the generation that is least willing to pay more for products that do not harm the environment.
