FUTURE-PROOFED
GEN Z F&B BRAND STRATEGY

Strengthen and sharpen your brand’s relevance with a Gen Z strategy built for today’s food and drink landscape.

Insight-led positioning, menu direction, digital strategy and consumer understanding for restaurants, FMCG and retail brands.

Book your FREE discovery call!

Build food & drink brands that win with Gen Z

Gen Z are reshaping the future of food and drink — influencing how brands are discovered, how experiences are judged and the wider direction of the food and beverage industry.

To stay relevant, F&B brands need a clear, commercially grounded Gen Z brand strategy rooted in real insight, not just trend chasing.

Our Gen Z F&B Brand Strategy service helps restaurants, retail brands, FMCG businesses and operators understand what Gen Z want from food and drink brands, how they behave and how to build a brand that stands out in a competitive landscape.

Why Gen Z matters to F&B brands

Gen Z are one of the most influential consumer groups shaping menu choices, flavour profiles and NPD direction, and their preferences now strongly influence how food and drink brands compete for attention.

Digital discovery through social platforms and creators
Evolving expectations around sustainability and ethics
Shifting perceptions of value, affordability and quality
Cultural relevance and long-term loyalty signals

If your brand isn’t resonating with Gen Z, you’re missing the audience who define what’s cool, what grows and what gets left behind.

What we offer:
Gen Z-centric brand strategy for food & drink

Gen Z Audience & Cultural Insight
We provide evidence-based insight into Gen Z food behaviour, including:

Identity expression through eating
Convenience culture and low-effort cooking
Social-led discovery (TikTok, creators, micro-communities)
Wellness, function and ingredient interests
Sustainability fatigue and realistic expectations
Hybrid dining and evolving eating occasions
These insights help brands understand why Gen Z make food choices the way they do and how Gen Z is reshaping eating behaviours across the UK.
Brand Positioning & Narrative Development
We create distinctive positioning that aligns your purpose, personality and promise with what Gen Z value in F&B brands.

Deliverables may include:
Brand story and articulation
Value proposition and proof points
Tone of voice and messaging frameworks
Competitive and cultural differentiation
This helps articulate your relevance clearly, especially for brands wanting to know how to improve Gen Z brand perception.
Gen Z Menu, Product & Concept Direction
We translate Gen Z tastes, habits and category expectations into commercially actionable direction - ideal for restaurants, QSR, FMCG and retail brands.

This may include:
Menu and product platform development
Innovation white spaces and opportunity areas
Category evolution mapping
What to launch, keep, evolve or retire
This work is guided by what Gen Z want to see on menus, helping brands understand how Gen Z food trends shape product development and where the biggest opportunities lie.
Digital Behaviour & Social Strategy
Gen Z discover and judge brands online long before they taste anything.

This may include
Content formats that actually convert
Community-building tactics
Social storytelling frameworks
Digital touchpoint analysis
We build digital strategies reflecting how Gen Z discover food and drink brands and what inspires them to share, try or trust an offer.
Value, Pricing & Proposition Strategy
Gen Z are highly value-sensitive, but value means more than price.

We help brands understand:
What Gen Z will and won’t pay for
How value, convenience and ethics interplay
How to package propositions that drive conversion
Ways to protect margin while appealing to Gen Z
This supports brands asking how to price food and drink offers for Gen Z in a commercially sustainable way.
Experience Design & Touchpoint Strategy
Gen Z judge brands holistically, not just by what they eat, but by how the entire experience feels. We help you design branded moments that resonate across environments.

This includes:
Experience principles (layout, energy, sensory design)
Packaging, serveware and tactile touchpoints
Signature rituals and brand behaviours
Digital-to-physical journey mapping
Community-building opportunities on-site and online
We design branded moments that resonate across environments, helping brands deliver experiences aligned with Gen Z expectations in restaurants and retail settings.

See how we can help you succeed!

Schedule a call or meeting

Built to Power Your Next Move

We work with hospitality operators, food brands, retailers and manufacturers to evolve their brand and sharpen their appeal to Gen Z.

Our brand strategies integrate directly with your brand, marketing, NPD, digital and leadership teams, with our wider Gen Z service portfolio providing further depth, including:

Gen Z: Foodstorming Workshops

Gen Z : Menu Development & NPD

Gen Z: B2B Marketing

Gen Z: Food Safaris

Gen Z: F&B Trend Reports

Together, this gives you the clarity, behavioural understanding and tools you need to turn strategy into action quickly and confidently, specifically if you're exploring how Gen Z trends impact food and drink brands or how to engage Gen Z consumers across multiple touchpoints.

With a background in food science and previous roles including Head of Food & Marketing for Leon Restaurants and Head of Hospitality Product Development at M&S, Toph has shaped brands and food offerings for industry leaders.

Toph Ford

Co-Founder | Creative Director

JJ has a wealth of experience in hospitality and the casual dining sector, and extensive experience of menu development, operations and training for PizzaExpress.

Jemma 'JJ' Jackson

Projects Director

Formerly the creative head of The Food People, Kateline leads our creative teams on their mission to bring exciting and relevant ideas to life for multinational retailers, global QSR, manufacturers and F&B brands.

Kateline Porritt

Director of Insights & Innovation

Charlie has invested the last 10+ years in working with start-ups and young businesses such as Farmer J and KERB food, striving on creative and process-driven projects through his expertise in ergonomics, operational pillars, and building from the ground up.

Charlie Casey

Account Director

Jasmin is a creative and strategic hospitality professional with over 13 years’ experience spanning food development, brand, and marketing with roles including Head of Food Innovation at both Wagamama and Prezzo, and brand management for PizzaExpress.

Jasmin Ayling

Account Director

Previously food editor at WGSN, Pure NPD Insights and Food Spark, Tom is an expert food strategist with vast experience translating trends from across the global restaurant and retail scenes into actionable insights for major clients.

Tom Gatehouse

Senior Strategist

Ready to take your
food trend strategy
to the next level?

Schedule a call today!

Get the Insights Lab Food Trend Digest!

WANT A TASTE?
GEN Z FOOD TRENDS HANDBOOK, 2026/27

What to expect from our FREE whitepaper:

Discover Insight Lab's top 10 food & drink trends for 2026/27, forecasted specifically for Gen Z

Follow the foodservice, retail and manufacturing trend paper trails for each of our forecasted trends, featuring targeted examples and actionable recommendations