We live in a culture of indulgence – and Generation Z treats itself to snacks | Arwa Mahdawi

TThe last time I happened to be in Los Angeles (not a place I go often), I did what every visitor to La-La Land is now required to do: I went there The most contemporary grocery store in the world will amaze you. Anyone who knows Erewhon already knows exactly what I’m talking about. For those who don’t, Erewhon is a celebrity-loved high-end supermarket that sells, among other things, $19 smoothies made from powdered beef giblets and raw milk. TikTokers regularly flock there to spend small fortunes on fancy snacks and film themselves unwrapping their “loot.”

Erewhon, as you may have noticed, is also a literary reference. The brand is named after a 19th-century satirical novel by Samuel Butler about a society full of beautiful people where crime is treated leniently and viewed as a “disease,” but poverty and illness are criminalized. In Erewhon, people go to great lengths to appear healthy.

What would Butler have thought if a fancy supermarket full of influencers desperate to see and be seen had been named after his book? I can’t tell you: I strolled through the somewhat sterile hallways of Erewhon in search of enlightenment, but emerged with only a croissant.

But I can tell you this: Americans, especially Generation Z, seem to have an insatiable appetite for indulging in quality snacks. “The creators of TikTok have brought ‘Little Treat Culture’ into the zeitgeist, and we’re on board,” Whole Foods writes in its 2024 food trends roundup. (Of course it is.) Little Treat Culture is exactly what it’s cracked up to be sounds like: rewarding yourself with nice little things, like an extremely Instagrammable smoothie for $19, just for existing in these difficult times. Basically it’s the lipstick effect.

While these small luxuries don’t always have anything to do with food, groceries have become a common category for a (relatively) affordable indulgence. And it’s not just in the US: recent research from Deloitte shows that consumers are much more likely to say that their “last luxury purchase” was food or drink, not personal care products. A McKinsey & Company survey also found that food is the “new most luxury category.” Snack manufacturers are paying attention and are profiting by developing higher quality, individually packaged indulgent products. Let them eat organic, highly stylized cake!