Multigenerational Households Are Redefining Food Retail—and Fueling the Grocerant Niche

 

More than a decade ago, Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® documented an early but powerful shift: the rise of multigenerational households was accelerating demand for mix-and-match meal components and driving growth in Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared foods. That observation has not only held true—it has intensified.

According to the most recent Pew Research Center data, approximately 59 million Americans—nearly 18% of the U.S. population—now live in multigenerational households, up from 12% in 1980. The growth is most pronounced among adults ages 25–34 and those 65 and older, where roughly one in five Americans now lives in an extended-family arrangement. This is no longer a niche demographic—it is a structural shift in the American household.

Even more significant for food marketers, multigenerational households are increasingly multiethnic, multicultural, and multigenerational in taste preferences. Census and Pew data indicate that nearly half of multigenerational households now include at least two cultural food traditions, a reality that continues to fuel experimentation, variety-seeking, and demand for globally inspired prepared foods.

Why the Family Meal Is No Longer the Center of Gravity

The traditional three-meals-together household has largely given way to activity-based eating. School schedules, hybrid work, caregiving responsibilities, and time-starved lifestyles have fractured mealtimes. Breakfast is portable. Lunch is asynchronous. Dinner is increasingly assembled—not cooked.

At the same time, Foodservice Solutions® research consistently shows that household cooking skill sets have not evolved at the same pace as household palate expectations. Consumers want variety, customization, freshness, and global flavors—but lack the time, skills, or desire to execute them from scratch.

The result: continued momentum for the grocerant niche, where fresh prepared foods bridge the gap between restaurants and retail.

The Structural Forces Behind the Shift (Then and Now)

Pew originally attributed multigenerational household growth to four drivers. All four remain relevant today—amplified by new pressures:

1.       Housing affordability constraints, especially for younger adults.

2.       Sustained immigration and cultural diversification.

3.       Delayed marriage and child-rearing among millennials and Gen Z.

4.       An aging population requiring in-home caregiving.

Layer onto this inflation fatigue, labor shortages, and ongoing value sensitivity, and the appeal of flexible, portion-appropriate meal solutions becomes even clearer.

The 65-Inch HDTV Syndrome—Still at Work

Foodservice Solutions® identified the “65-Inch HDTV Syndrome” years ago: seniors are among the least likely consumers to switch brands, but when caregiving shifts purchasing power to younger family members, brand loyalty is suddenly in play.

Today, that influence extends beyond television to streaming platforms, mobile ordering, loyalty apps, and meal decision-making. In multigenerational homes, the person holding the phone—not the remote—now controls food choices.

True, Current Examples Across the Food Retail Landscape

Convenience Store Sector
Casey’s General Stores has quietly become one of the largest pizza sellers in the United States—not through dining rooms, but through freshly prepared, heat-and-serve pizzas designed for family sharing. Casey’s reports that prepared food now drives more than 40% of gross profit, with pizza functioning as a multigenerational meal solution that fits varied schedules and budgets.

Grocery Sector
H-E-B and Wegmans continue to expand chef-driven fresh meal programs with modular proteins, sides, and global sauces, explicitly designed for mix-and-match family meals. Industry data shows that fresh prepared foods in grocery now generate margins rivaling fast casual, while also increasing trip frequency among households with five or more occupants.

Chain Restaurant Sector
Costco’s $4.99 rotisserie chicken remains one of the most powerful foodservice loss leaders in America. It functions as a center-of-plate anchor for multigenerational meals, often combined with prepared sides, salads, and bakery items. Costco does not market it as a restaurant meal—yet it routinely replaces one.

Channel Blurring Is Not Consumer Confusion

Consumers do not see channels; they see solutions. The line between restaurant, grocery, c-store, and drugstore exists primarily in the minds of legacy operators practicing brand protectionism.

Fresh prepared food is now sold everywhere:

·       Grocery stores

·       Convenience stores

·       Drug chains

·       Club stores

·       Dollar stores

·       Non-traditional vending formats

This competition is not theoretical—it is transactional, daily, and growing.

Packaging, Portability, and the Rise of Non-Traditional Meal Occasions

Advances in packaging—vented containers, dual-compartment trays, microwave-and-oven-ready materials—have unlocked new consumption occasions. Meals are eaten in cars, between activities, at different times, and by different generations under the same roof.

This has reset the price–value–convenience equation, favoring retailers who can execute across Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s:

·       Product

·       Packaging

·       Placement

·       Portability

·       Price

The Consumer Is Driving Format Change—Not the Other Way Around

Multigenerational households are not waiting for legacy brands to catch up. They are already buying dinner from wherever it fits best into their day.

The fastest-growing segment of retail foodservice continues to be fresh prepared foods sold outside traditional restaurants, with convenience stores and grocery leading the charge.

 

Three Insights from the Grocerant Guru®

1.       Multigenerational households will increasingly demand “assemble-to-order at home” solutions, not full meals. Retailers who design components—not combos—will win share of stomach.

2.       Prepared food will become the primary loyalty driver in grocery and c-store, eclipsing center-store promotions. Dinner, not detergent, will define brand relevance.

3.       Restaurants that remain confined to four walls will lose relevance, while those that rethink packaging, portability, and off-premise meal assembly will remain competitive in a blended food ecosystem.

The consumer is dynamic—not static. Brands that fail to evolve alongside multigenerational households will continue to watch others capture their margins, their meal occasions, and their customers.

Steven Johnson
Grocerant Guru™
Foodservice Solutions®
Tacoma, Washington

Success today is no longer about protecting the past—it is about designing food solutions for the household that actually exists.