we are so back (to school) — consumer trends led by college students
College is a breeding ground for cult-like consumer trends, so here's a list of the latest products college students are loving
Yes, I’m a little jealous of my friends starting their senior year because the vibes of the first couple weeks of school are simply unbeatable!! Given the season, I thought it might be fun to round out with products that college students are obsessed with ( or should be obsessed with).
consider this a back-to-school guide for all my fellow college students but also a summary of consumer trends that Gen Z is following.📚🛍️
This is Part 1 of my trend list. Part 2 will be out next week!
A list of startup events happening in September — let’s get you plugged into the Minnesota startup ecosystem♥️
Startup Events & News
9/13 - 9/20: Twin Cities Startup Week
Today’s Breakdown (Part I):
Food: Good Culture Cottage Cheese
Alcohol: Buzzballs & BeatBox
Skincare: Hero Patches & Starface
Health & Wellness: Owala Water Bottles
other fun consumer products you should check out
Good Culture Cottage Cheese
This wave of achieving 100+ grams of protein daily and hitting our “macros” hasn’t stopped yet, probably because it’s one of the few diets prioritizing a sustainable and nutritionally-focused way of eating. And cottage cheese fits right in with this lifestyle.
About a decade ago, cottage cheese was a dead market. Now it’s valued at $1.52B. There’s a reason why Good Culture is leading this market. There’s always about 2-3 tubs of Good Culture in my fridge. It has this tight texture that prevents it from getting liquidy, with the perfect amount of salt to keep me wanting more. It’s guaranteed to convert any anti-cottage cheese person to start loving cottage cheese.
Good Culture took over social media by offering a versatile, high-protein alternative to anything — pancakes, flatbread, ice cream. The brand just hit 100M+ in revenue just last year, and Spins has shown that Good Culture’s sales have grown 97% year over year, which is incredible for a CPG product. You have to admit, the branding is also incredible and a significant feature of their success. Modernizing an old product isn’t easy, but Good Culture positioned its brand well to get in front of young consumers. The price point, paired with the convenience and nutritional benefits, are defining hooks to keep us interested. I expect cottage cheese to be a staple in grocery lists, and it should be in yours.
BuzzBalls & Beatbox
Despite the rising trend of NA drinks, alcohol is embedded in college culture. So I’m not going to ramble on about all the non-alcoholic beverages you can try (check out my market map for NA beverages). Instead, I wanted to talk about how Gen Z shapes the way brands are developing and marketing their drinks to attract a crowd of freshly legal adults.
Gen Z seeks out flavor-forward drinks, ones that spark interest in a crowd. BuzzBalls and BeatBox have done particularly well when it comes to offering unique flavors in attractive packaging. Let’s talk about BuzzBalls first. I’m obsessed with the origin story. This $20M company was founded by a high school teacher who thought of the idea when she put her cocktail drink in a plastic container instead of a glass cup. She took a bet on the ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail market in 2009, way back before RTD really existed, and took a creative spin on the packaging. It looks like you’re drinking out of an ornament and they have the most creative cocktail flavors to mimic a luxury drink at a convenient price. Because Gen Z college students typically drink at social settings, they prefer ready-to-drink cocktails and hard seltzers. In short, we don’t judge anyone drinking an espresso martini out of an ornament. An espresso martini is an espresso martini.
BeatBox is a little different. Founded by three guys who love music festivals, the brand was built on transforming the RTD market too. The biggest pull factor for young consumers? Value for money. In addition to a flavor-packed drink bringing us back to the “fruit punch” days, it also has ABV of 11.1%, equivalent to four light beers. The Shark-Tank-backed company generated $100M in sales last year and is set to double that in 2024.
Hero Patches & Starface
First off, I’m proud of my generation for normalizing acne breakouts!!! I struggled a lot with my skin throughout high school and my early years of college, and it always seemed like a lonely battle to fight. However, the topic of skincare has grown in the past five years. According to Google trends, search for “skincare” has tripled compared to five years ago.
Pimple patches, specifically, have been a recent phenomenon because of their immediate effect on treating new acne breakouts. Not only this, two brands selling pimple patches are destigmatizing the shame people feel around acne. Enter Hero Cosmetics and Starface.
Hero Cosmetics offers a more concealed appearance with transparent patches, whereas Starface sells brightly-colored, star-shaped patches to mimic face stickers. The superior quality of both brands has helped amass a following from big-name celebrities and influencers, such as Anne Hathaway and Alix Earle.
Both brands have been equally powerful in transforming what a skincare regimen means to Gen Z. These patches have empowered consumers to take care of their skin throughout the day as they wear them while running errands or attending class. No longer is skincare limited to a morning or nighttime routine. It begs the question of how can we encourage other consumer brands, in other sectors of health (i.e mental health, women’s health, etc), to think about how their consumers can feel empowered with their products.
Owala Water Bottle
It’s crazy that we’ve seen brand turnover for water bottles become increasingly quick. We went from Hydroflask to Stanley to now, Owala. But I will say that I do believe that Owala is truly the best water bottle brand I’ve used so far.
The functional features are superior, for example:
dual mouthpiece to sip through a straw or drink from the bottle
easy to transport (in a backpack! I’ll never understand how people liked walking around with their giant Stanleys in their hands)
spill-proof
stainless steel to keep the water cool (the bare minimum at this point)
All of these features bundled into an affordable price too, as the water bottle retails for around $25-35. And it’s safe to say, college students are hooked. Here’s a photo from my friend:
This can’t be a coincidence. Of course, knowing our generation, there will be another water bottle trend underway, but I’m not sure what could beat this one!!
some other consumer products you should check out
Gush Korean Pear Juice - the next best thing to prevent hangovers
Stakt - a more functional, versatile yoga mat
Jukebox - clean deodorant & soap for women ( in case you don’t like Native anymore)
Kulfi - a South-Asian inspired makeup brand that JUST launched in all Sephora stores in US and Canada!!!
Thanks for reading,
I’ll share a post-grad diary in part 2 :)
Sanjana