International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) has just released new consumer research revealing how Generation Alpha — India’s youngest and most digital generation — is reshaping the nation’s relationship with food. Born from 2010 onwards, these 390 million children are not only influencing household choices but are also redefining what taste, joy, and nutrition mean to a new India.
According to the IFF study, Gen Alpha views food less as function or fuel and more as an emotional experience — a source of happiness, connection, and identity. Their preferences are sensory and expressive: flavor-packed, colorful, shareable, and emotionally rewarding.
The findings arrive at a moment when the broader food and beverage sector is navigating a different kind of hunger — for trust, value, and well-being. As PwC’s Voice of the Consumer 2025: India Perspective shows, Indian consumers are becoming more selective about what they eat, more vocal about food safety, and more value-conscious amid inflationary pressure. Together, these forces signal a profound shift in how brands must innovate for both tomorrow’s children and today’s cautious parents.
Generation Alpha: Emotional, Playful, and Demanding
IFF’s study illuminates how Gen Alpha is forging its own food preferences — long before they wield full purchasing power — and influencing household decisions along the way. Key findings:
- Flavor & sensory novelty rule: Over 75% of children say their favorite foods bring joy because they are “very flavorful.” Chocolate is the dominant favorite (80% place it among top three), followed by strawberry, cheese, and playful fusions (mango cheesecake, choco-banana).
- Texture and comfort matter: Foods like pizza and burgers — soft, melty, shareable — are strongly associated with joy, celebrations and social connection.
- Food as identity and emotional language: Kids link food choices to identity (preferring pasta over rice, viewing dal-makhani or curd as comfort) and associate food with love, celebration, and belonging.
- The “gap” between what they want and what they get: While parents lean toward nutrition and simplicity, children crave variety and surprise; more than half say they’d be happier with more indulgence in their meals.
IFF argues that the path forward is not “function vs. indulgence” but “joy with responsibility.” Brands that can integrate emotional flavor and sensory surprise with credible nutrition and transparency may win both hearts and households.
Indian Consumers Under Strain: Value, Safety, Trust
The IFF insights are compelling at the child level, but they can’t be decoupled from broader macro pressures. PwC’s survey provides context:
- Safety over price: 84% of Indian consumers prioritize food safety, demanding clean labels, third-party certification, and clear communication of ingredient provenance.
- Price sensitivity rising: 63% are concerned about food costs. Many respondents report behaviors like switching between grocery stores, bulk buying, hunting discounts, mixing and matching with local retailers to stretch food budgets.
- Health is a switching lever: Nearly 29% of Indian consumers say health benefits factor among the top three reasons to switch brands. Meanwhile, taste and nutrition now sit side by side as purchase drivers.
- Tech, apps, and transparency: 80% of respondents use a healthcare app or wearable. Many consumers are becoming comfortable with AI and digital tools influencing their diets.
- Tradition still anchors choices: 74% say consumption is rooted in cultural and culinary heritage. Much of the newer demand must coexist with or reinterpret tradition.
- Sustainability in the background: Nearly half favor eco-friendly packaging; 73% say they’d pay more for sustainable food. But actions are more limited, especially under cost pressure.
In short: Indians are no longer passive food consumers. Their demands are multi-dimensional — safety, health, value, plus emotional/experiential demands from younger members of the household.
The Food Brand Imperative: From Transaction to Trust
Given the dual pressures and opportunities, what must food brands and manufacturers do differently?
1. Reimagine portfolio architecture: Joy + Nutrition
Brands must balance indulgent-sensory experiences (textures, surprise flavors) with credible nutritional credentials (fortification, less sugar, cleaner labeling). A new product architecture may include “joy-first” SKUs (fun, novel, shareable) and “nutri-first” SKUs (simple, fortified, clean) in the same portfolio. This hedges between Gen Alpha’s emotional demand and adult value/health pressure.
2. Segment with generational empathy
Alpha is not just a future consumer; they’re already influencing family purchases. Strategically, brands may carve “kids-first” or “family-bridge” lines — with packaging, texture, messaging designed for children’s delight, but with built-in nutrition assurances. Use loyalty, gamification, and digital storytelling to bond early.
3. Transparency and traceability as trust assets
With safety concerns at center-stage, brands must double down on ingredient transparency, certifications (FSSAI, third-party labs), QR codes, auditable supply chains. The storytelling of provenance — from farm to plate — will be pivotal to credibility.
4. Tailor price architecture and packs for value stress
Given cost sensitivity, brands will need flexible pack sizes (mini, mid, family packs), judicious promotional mechanisms, and dynamic pricing strategies. Co-creation with trade, regional activation, and micro-marketing can help.
5. Embrace digital and AI-enabled experiences
Food meets tech: from digital meal planners, AI dietary assistants, nutrition apps, to smart vending or gamified snack experiences. As PwC notes, consumers are comfortable with AI quietly suggesting menus or substitutions. Among top-performing consumer companies globally, many have already embedded AI into operations and personalization engines.
6. Leverage trusted traditions with modern upgrades
India’s love for heritage flavors and regional foods is an asset, not a hindrance. Brands can reinterpret traditional eatables (e.g. millet laddoos, fruit-chaat inspirations) through modern formats while retaining authenticity.
7. Build brand loyalty through emotional and ritual touchpoints
Food is emotional. Brands should embed storytelling — emotional moments, rituals, celebrations — in marketing. The IFF study suggests Gen Alpha’s food choices are tied to emotions, identity and belonging. Brands that embed themselves into those rituals win deeper loyalty.
Looking Ahead: What Could Success Look Like?
- Functional snack lines with “taste-first but smart-nutrition” profiles, such as cheesy-melty puffs with added probiotics or fruit-choco blends with micronutrients.
- Ready-to-eat / meal kits for kids with interactive packaging, flavor modularity (spice add-ons, mix-and-match) and QR-based storytelling.
- Generative AI dietary assistants bundled with food apps, offering recipe suggestions based on pantry, taste, nutrition profile, allergy filters.
- Hyperlocal or micro-production where foods are fresher, traceable and co-branded with regional farmers or origins.
- Subscription or membership models for innovation-forward snacks, “flavor drops,” limited-edition lines targeted at younger consumers.
- Nutrition + emotional campaigns leveraging festivals, birthdays, milestones: “Your first cake with me,” “Flavor surprises on Sunday,” linking flavor, surprise and belonging.
The IFF Gen Alpha report is a clarion call: food is no longer just fuel or habit for younger consumers — it’s emotional language. The adult world around them, however, is under cost pressures and safety anxieties. Brands that can play both sides — crafting joyous, sensorial experiences and delivering credible nutrition, transparency and trust — will win in the India of 2030 and beyond.
We’ve arrived at a juncture where food brands must go beyond taste, price and health; they must design memorable emotional experiences that carry generational loyalty. The companies that do this well — marrying technology, agronomy, heritage, and delight — will define the next leap in India’s food evolution.
