Food Companies Are Making Treats Unhealthier To Win Over Gen Z

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Food firms are counting on Gen Z to grow their profits and are exploiting their sweet tooth and penchant for social media trends to boost sales. This content was published on September 3, 2025 - 09:00 9 minutes

I cover food and agribusiness and have a special interest in sustainable supply chains, food safety and quality, as well emerging players and trends in the food industry. A background in forestry and conservation biology led me down the path of environmental advocacy. Journalism and Switzerland made me a neutral observer who holds companies accountable for their actions.

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Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) is sandwiched between Millennials and Gen Alpha. This generation makes up 25% of the world's population and is quickly making its way into being the biggest consumer demographic in history. A joint report by NielsenIQ, GfK and World Data Lab released last year called“Spend ZExternal link” estimates their spending power will grow to $12 trillion (CHF9.7 trillion) by 2030 or 18.7% of global spend.

The Spend Z report also estimates that it will be the wealthiest generation and overtake spending by Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) by 2029. Gen Z spend is expected to grow by 4% over the next decade, which is twice the speed of previous generations.

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While the potential of Gen Z consumers for the future growth of food companies like Nestlé is immense, they will not be so easy to win over as previous generations. They do not feel beholden to brands, with the Spend Z report estimating that 67% feel non-branded products (private label) are just as good as nationally famous ones.

Adding indulgence but also calories

One way into Gen Z's wallets is their weakness for indulgence, especially when they are stressed. A 2022 reportExternal link by the International Food Information Council showed that Gen Z Americans were most likely (33% of those surveyed) to describe themselves as“highly stressed” compared to 29% of Millennials, 25% of Gen X and 10% of Boomers. Another surveyExternal link on Gen Z attitudes to health and wellness published in January 2025 estimates that six out of 10 turn to unhealthy food and drink for stress alleviation.

Making the right food choices is also making them stressed. According to brand agency Method 1 that specialises in working with indulgence brands, Gen Z feels extraordinary pressure to make food and beverage choices that align with their identity and values. Yet this very source of anxiety makes indulgence more necessary and more guilt-inducing, says the agency's recent analysis of Gen Z's tug-of-war between wellness and indulgence titled Being Good by Being BadExternal link .

“While Gen Z posts their green smoothies and workout routines on Instagram, they stress-eat behind closed doors. They'll track macros and meditation streaks by day, then seek out full-calorie, full-flavour experiences late at night when life pressures overwhelm them,” says Allison Arling-Giorgi, head of brand at Method 1.

An example of how companies are leveraging guilt-driven taste for indulgence is the Cornetto Max ice cream launched by Unilever in August. The food giant is clear about who is being targeted with this product.

“Cornetto Max was designed to appeal to Gen Z's love for maximalism, a trend where excess is embraced,” says Unilever on its websiteExternal link .

The new ice cream features a chocolatey disc topping and layers of rich sauces. It also comes with extra calories. A Cornetto Max Hazelnut & Chocolate ice cream is 349 calories per 100g with 19g fat compared to 272 calories and 15g fat for a Cornetto Classico Chocolate Vanilla ice cream. Unilever is not the only food company that has gone the indulgence route. The newly introduced Exträaz range of Häagen-Dazs (a Nestlé brand) ice creams also contain unhealthy desserts such as cookie butter and fudge brownie chunks.

“Launched in Canada, the new Häagen-Dazs Exträaz flavours are specially crafted to deliver exciting tastes and a captivating multisensory experience that appeals to younger ice cream consumers,” states Nestlé's 2024 annual review.

The Exträaz is also calorie-intensive: 430 calories per 3⁄4 cup of Exträaz Cookie Butter Crumble versus 370 calories for a similar serving of the same brand's basic chocolate ice cream. This equates to about 15% extra calories per serving.

Trending on TikTok

Another unique feature of Gen Z is that it is the first generation to have more than half of its purchasing power coming from emerging countries: only 10% of Gen Z are from Europe or North America, with only 44% of spend coming from these regions.

One such emerging country Gen Z consumer is Lock Chun Yie, a third-year economics student at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Lock was among a dozen Nestlé Youth influencers selected by the Malaysian branch of Nestlé to serve as a youth ambassador for the brand in university campuses across the country in 2024.

“My favourite Nestlé product is the chocolate drink Milo,” the 22-year-old told Swissinfo.

Youth influencers are not paid but get Nestlé goody bags and have priority when it comes to work placements with the company. Their role is to generate a buzz around the brand on campus using their personal social media accounts.

“I act as a bridge between Nestlé and the campus community,” says Lock.“I help organise campus events such as career fairs and use Instagram stories to promote Nestlé events so that there are participants and volunteers.”

Food companies are increasingly counting on the power of social media to reach Gen Z and satisfy their craving for indulgent foods. In November and December 2021, independent British foundation Nesta ran a project with 284 young people in the UK aged 13–16 to crowdsource data about the food and drink marketing they saw online. The research showed that more than 70% of the marketing to this group came from just four social media platforms. Furthermore, of the 4,879 food and drink adverts collected, over 70% were deemed unhealthy.

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An example of food companies using social media to sell nutritionally barren products to young consumers is Nestlé's attempt to capitalise on the 'dirty soda' TikTok trend. The trend involves adding syrups and cream to a soda base poured over ice cubes.

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Nestlé partnered with soft drink brand Dr Pepper to create a special creamer (usually a non-dairy product with a long shelf life meant to replace milk or cream) for dirty sodas.

“The new Coffee mate Dirty Soda Coconut Lime developed in collaboration with Dr Pepper capitalises on the viral TikTok dirty soda trend, creating a new consumer occasion for the iconic brand,” Nestlé stated in its 2024 annual review released in February.

One tablespoon (15ml) of creamer will add 35 calories to what is already an unhealthy beverage and contains genetically modified ingredients.

“Nestlé's 'dirty soda' partnership with Dr Pepper as part of the 'dirty soda' TikTok trend shows that the food industry will always put profits before our children's health. An unhealthy diet is a leading risk factor for a range of chronic diseases and this type of insidious online marketing is setting our children up for failure,” says Kathryn Backholer, co-director of the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE) at the Deakin University, Australia.

Backholer is one of the authors of the first scientific study of its kind that looked at unhealthy food and beverage marketing on TikTok. The study titled 'Turning users into 'unofficial brand ambassadorsExternal link ' found that 92% of these videos are produced by users who had not been paid by the brands and 73% portrayed a positive sentiment. This indicates that consumers have been inadvertently transformed into advertising producers and distributors, via user-generated content.

Nestlé denies that it is latching onto viral social media trends to ensure its new products reach minors.

“Nestlé has been taking voluntary measures on responsible marketing to children for many years and has strict standards in place. We restrict paid media advertising to children under the age of 16 through all channels, including on social media. Our policy also applies to partnership with influencers, and we do not contract influencers below 18 years,” says a spokesperson of the company.

However, there are other ways to reach a younger audience without flouting responsible marketing guidelines – like hiring a 35-year-old influencer with a massive following. In May, Nestlé announced a partnershipExternal link with American illusionist Zach King, who has 82 million TikTok followers and the holds the world recordExternal link for the most-viewed TikTok video. King has been roped in to be Nescafé's first-ever global influencer.

“Zach King's fan base is young and diverse, mirroring the spirit of our newly launched Nescafé Espresso Concentrate cold coffee,” said David Rennie, Executive Vice-President at Nestlé and head of Strategic Business Units and Marketing and Sales in the official partnership announcement.

Edited by Virginie Mangin/ts

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