How to
Feed Your
Millennial
Pleasing the Palate of this
Influential Demographic
By Jessica Hausman
What unites locally sourced ingredients,
outstanding products prepared with passion,
and buzzy locations designed to facilitate
social interaction? Answer: Luxury hoteliers
bent on giving millennials yet another reason
to write home (or post on social media).
And why not? According to Jeff Fromm, the
president of FutureCast, nearly one quarter
of U.S. adults making an annual household
income of more than $500,000 are
millennials 1 .
1 Fromm, J. (2016, March).
Luxury travel trends shift as
affluent millennials act on
their aspirations. Forbes.
Retrieved from http://
www.forbes.com/sites/
jefffromm/2016/03/29/
luxury-travel-trends-shift-
as-affluent-millennials-act-
on-their-aspirations/
38 ILHA
When these open-minded explorers travel
the world, what dining stories will they tell on
Snapchat and Instagram? For insights, I read
millennial–focused travel blogs and leading
trend reports, including Teneo Hospitality
Group’s Top 10 Food & Beverage Trends for
2017.
Major themes include local and sustainable
products, minimally processed foods, new
cuts of meat, using the entire animal,
vegetables in place of meat, non-traditional
fish, healthier snacks, bolder flavors,
cocktails, eye-catching non-alcoholic drinks,
and savory, ethnic-inspired breakfast items.
Factor in hybrid cuisine, house-made and
artisan items, such as complimentary gifts
for hotel guests, and mobile apps to allow
travelers on the go to access menus and
order meals, snacks, and drinks to pick up.
And, because millennials are diverse and on
a continual quest for novelty, the watchword
is ‘customized’. Menus customized to satisfy
sophisticated diners who may be well-
informed on topics such as food production
that reduces Earth’s carbon foot print.
Next, I reached out to management at
several luxury properties to find out how
they’re pleasing the millennial palate. Here
are three examples: