While many CPG companies chase Gen Z with TikTok-ready snacks and bold flavors in a bid to win life-long shoppers earlier, Conagra Brands is betting retirees – and their quest to age healthy – will drive the next wave of household penetration.
Data from Conagra Brands shows that this group is far from niche. Rather, this cohort represents a sizable portion of the population and their needs overlap with other emerging groups, including budget-conscious and low-income shoppers and consumers taking GLP-1 drugs or seeking smaller, more nutrient-dense foods and beverages. Their taste preferences and sense of adventure often rivals that of Gen Z – further amplifying the marketing potential of this group.
But to successfully innovate for and reach aging consumers, brands must first recognize that, like other demographic groups, this one is far from monolithic.
Understanding how aging adults’ needs overlap with other key demographic groups
Approximately 62 million adults are older than 65 years in the US – accounting for about 18% of the population, according to the Urban Institute, which predicts this group will grow and include more than 80 million by 2040 and nearly 90 million by 2050.
“Aging adults will be the fastest growing cohort of consumers for the next 30 years,” and while many are “slowing down a little bit, that is not where the growth is going to come from,” Conagra Brands CEO Sean Connolly told attendees at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York’s annual conference this week.
“Growth is going to come from active adults,” he said. “These are folks that are retiring with the most money of any generation in the past. They want to live and act like they are Gen Z. They want to go surging, they want to go mountain climbing. They want their food to be portable. They have all new definitions of health and wellness. This is really different than any generation before.”
To support their active lifestyles, aging adults will seek more protein to help them maintain their muscle and energy levels. Conagra Brands’ Mega Breakfast Bowls under the Banquet brand check this box with a whopping 30 grams of protein as does its Birds Eye Protein Veggie Sides, which offer 15-20 grams of protein per serving and play in a $30 billion category that have grown 9% in volume over a year ago, according to NIQ data provided by the company.
Even active aging consumers are increasingly focused on portion control and nutrient density, priorities that mirror those of GLP-1 users. Both groups prioritize portion control, protein density and nutrient efficiency, allowing innovation in frozen and snacks to serve double duty.
“When you’re on GLP-1s, you are taking in less calories, so every calorie has to work harder to deliver the nutrition you need. People are focused on portion control, certainly high protein, fiber-rich, more fruits and vegetables in their diets to key their systems still working,” Connolly said.
Based on “the data we’ve been analyzing around GLP-1 users, we’ve seen certainly advantages in the frozen space. A lot more portion-control in meals with protein, a lot more frozen appetizers and certainly a lot more nutrient-dense snacks,” he added.
Conagra Brands’ new Sweetwood Ranch Angus Cheeseburger Sliders with 20 grams of protein per two sliders meet these demands, as does the company’s Frontera branded Beef Barbacoa and Cheese Empanadas, which have 7 grams of protein per serving and make global flavors convenient and easy to eat on-the-go.
Budget bites
While modern retirees are exiting the workforce with more money than previous generations, they are still on a fixed income – which means how they shop and spend may differ from middle- and upper-income consumers.
“The middle class is shrinking and the dollars they have to spend have been shrinking,” so that growth is driven by higher- and lower-income consumers at opposite ends of the spectrum, Connolly said.
“Lower-income consumers are made up of two large groups. The majority of them are younger consumers just getting started” without a lot of money coming in, and the “other large group are retired folks on fixed-incomes,” he said.
“They are using their own hard-earned dollars to stretch out their meal needs. And because these dollars are short, they shop really basket-to-basket or even meal-to-meal. They buy much smaller baskets and they buy a lot fewer items,” he added.
Conagra Brands answers this demand with price-pack architecture that gives consumers a choice about a lower entry point or savings on bulk purchases. It also leverages frozen’s cost-per-serving advantage and offers added value with family-size options.
Upper-income consumers, including retirees with more savings on ongoing income, are investing in their pantry. They are 66% more likely than lower-income consumers to buy on promotion in frozen and twice as likely to have multiple freezers which means it is easier for them to stock up for later, Connolly said.
Lower-income seniors go digital
A common strategy for managing food budgets is to shop online – where consumers can see their total spend before they hit the buy button and they can choose the “best bundle” for their budgets, Connolly said.
The extent to which aging adults are part of the lower-income demographic, which over-indexes in e-commerce, suggests retirees are not digitally disengaged.
How to reach aging adults
While lower-income retirees may over-index in e-commerce as a budgeting tool, their media habits still skew toward television, suggesting brands must differentiate between digital shopping behavior and digital media consumption.
According to data from Conagra Brands, 66% of 50- to 67-year-olds watch at least three hours of television a day, whereas Gen Z averages five or more hours a day on social media.
That said consumers older than 50 are more likely to watch television compared to younger generations who spend more time on social media, according to data from Conagra.
For both groups, “you have got to create content that breaks through and catches their attention,” Connolly said.
Taken together, these trends suggest that as the population ages, CPG growth may increasingly depend on designing products that serve both longevity and affordability. And, the brands that win won’t treat aging as niche, but rather as a cross-cutting innovation filter.
