No longer the new kid on the block, Gen Z has grown to become a juggernaut of global spending. As of last year, Gen Z’s total spending power was $860 billion1, and it’s projected to reach $12 trillion by 2030.1
Dubbed “the foodie generation,” with a hunger for new recipes and fresh culinary inspiration,2 Gen Z is an extremely important market segment for food and beverage brands, manufacturers and operators. But a deep understanding of their needs and expectations is required to tap into this generational powerhouse of profitability.
One of the most eye-opening aspects of Gen Zers is their focus on visual content. Sixty-eight percent always look for visual content prior to making a purchase — the highest among generations surveyed.3
The Eyes Have It: Digging Into Gen Z Visual Preferences
As the first digital-native generation, Gen Z has grown up consuming and creating visual content and has shown an insatiable appetite for visually oriented mobile platforms. In fact, 75% of Gen Zers choose mobile devices as their go-to tech.1
“Having been born into the world of digital technology, Gen Zers are inherently comfortable with it,” said Megan Keleshian, vice president of digital marketing for The Food Group. “They prioritize mobile devices for their media consumption, shopping and social interactions. That’s why, if you want to effectively engage this demographic, it’s vitally important to optimize your digital and mobile presence.”
For product recommendations, Gen Zers savor a steady diet of content from social influencers, especially micro-influencers, and value content created by their peers over traditional advertising.1 A hunger for authentic content that builds brand trust on visually engaging platforms like Instagram and TikTok drives their purchasing decisions.
“Gen Z would rather see their own content and that of peers over that even from a brand,” said Megan. “UGC has an impact overall on driving consumer engagement.”
Last year, 70% of Gen Zers surveyed in the U.S. and U.K. cited TikTok as their go-to social platform for food recommendations, followed by Instagram.4 What’s more, about 40% of Gen Z choose TikTok and Instagram over Google as their main search engine for pop culture and how-to content.1
“Gen Zers are avid users of TikTok and Instagram as search engines for culinary discovery, to explore trends and ideas that appeal to the adventurous foodie in them,” explained Hays Formella, social media director for The Food Group. “Providing visually appealing content for these platforms on a regular basis is a must for increasing reach and engagement within this cohort.”
Bear in mind that Gen Z favors short-form content that offers a feast for the eyes with easily digestible bites of information. The formats they favor consist of memes, GIFs and short videos which reflect their preference for quick entertaining content — a byproduct of the impact that growing up with instant gratification technology like high-speed internet, instant messaging and streaming has had on them.5
Feast Their Eyes: Tips to Tap Into Gen Z
- Engage with UGC: Encourage your audience to share their own food photos to increase trust and authenticity. Create viral challenges or food hack contests and use branded hashtags.
- Influencers and micro-influencers: Partner with influencers who can create genuine and relatable food content. Focus on micro-influencers with strong engagement rather than just large followings.
- Shoppable photography: Use high-impact imagery that includes links to the products shown. Magic Spoon’s website combines splashy photography with playful graphical treatments and animation to create an immersive visual experience.
- Trend-focused food photography: Create imagery that aligns with current food trends, like plant-based or sustainable eating, that are popular with Gen Z. Daiya’s food photography does an excellent job of making plant-based foods look especially appealing.
- Photography that communicates values: Gen Z favors brands that promote healthy and inclusive workplaces (63%) and have sustainable manufacturing practices (62%).1 Be sure to include photography that reflects these values.
Understanding why and how Gen Z feeds on visual content is essential for brands seeking to connect with this growing and influential demographic. Showcase share-worthy imagery, engage through UGC and influencers and highlight the topics, trends and values that are important to Gen Z and to take your seat at the table with this visually hungry target audience.
For more insights into Gen Z marketing, be sure to dig into our posts “How to Maximize Influencers for Food and Beverage Brands” and “Harnessing User-Generated Content: The Key to Authentic Engagement and Increased Brand Loyalty.”
1 Mediatool, “Gen Z Trends 2025: What Marketers Need to Know,” November 13, 2024
>2 PR Newswire,“Majority of Gen Z Believe What They Eat Defines Their Identity,” June 13, 2022
3 Power Reviews, “Consumers’ Growing Reliance on Visual Content - PowerReviews,” 2024
4 Statista, Leading social media platforms for food recommendation for Gen Z U.S. and UK 2024, 2025
5 WeAreBrain, “How Gen Z is using social media,” February 18, 2024