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Woke Waves Mentions First Insight | Your Grocery Cart Is The New Personality Test
Gen Z is both trading down and trading up
That contradiction is important.
A 2026 First Insight study covered by multiple retail outlets found that Gen Z still prefers national brands overall, but also actively cuts spending in some categories. About 31% said they were most likely to buy store-brand food and beverages to save money. That combination tells you a lot about how younger shoppers think. We are not just spending more or less. We are editing.
We will absolutely buy generic pasta if it means we can also justify the cool chili crisp, the fancy yogurt, the niche soda, or the one beautifully packaged snack that made our week feel less evil.
That is why the grocery cart is such a revealing modern object. It captures compromise and aspiration in the same place. Budgeting and identity. Practicality and fantasy.
Read the full article on Woke Waves.
