Target Uses Organic Food to Target Millennials
June 23, 2015
If you want to stay relevant with younger shoppers, the status quo won’t cut it. That’s the message that Target is sending its suppliers.
Target, the second largest discount retailer in the U.S., is continuing to diversify its grocery offerings in order to — no pun intended — target millennials.
Last month the retailer told its largest food suppliers, including General Mills, Kellogg and Campbell Soup, that they’ll be getting less shelf space unless they start providing more natural and organic options.
Millennials have consistently shown that they aren’t interested in over-processed, unhealthy foods. In essence, they’d rather buy a cereal like All-Natural Gluten-Free Granoleos to Sgt. Soda’s Choco-Honey Marshmallow Krisps. (OK, we made both of those up, but you get the point.) If food suppliers aren’t willing to offer better options, they’ll struggle for shelf space at Target.
Target is making other moves to renovate its groceries for millennials. It’s focusing on the following seven categories that it believes hold appeal to younger shoppers: yogurt and granola; coffee and tea; candy; snacks; beer and wine; fresh meat, and produce.
If brands want to attract millennials — and any business concerned with its long-term success should — they need to follow Target’s lead. Millennials are not terribly young anymore. They’re as old as 35, and they have real purchasing power. Brands can either adapt to the shopping preferences of a new generation, or they can get left in the dust.
This affects packaging as well. Millennials want to know what is in their food. They want to know the environmental and social impact of the products that they purchase. This is all part of the story that your packaging should tell.
Last year, Ernest Packaging president Tim Wilson and retail branding expert Greg Feinberg spoke about how businesses’ packaging needs to evolve if they want to earn the attention of new audiences.
How fresh is your packaging? Contact us to get your packaging on target for a new generation.
