Just put the fries in the bag, bro.
Unwrapping the Deep-Fried Quadrangle of Fast Food.
Whaddup y'all — I'm Quinten, a senior director of content at Artemis Ward. Welcome to my column, where I get lost online and return with a new way of understanding what’s going on in the world around us. This week's topic: fast food.
Trade wars notwithstanding, there’s never been a better time to be in the restaurant business. At least, that’s what the latest reporting from the National Restaurant Association seems to indicate. The industry surpassed $1 trillion in sales for the first time ever in 2024 and is projected to hit $1.1 trillion in 2025. Why, then, does it feel like food is in the midst of a profound identity crisis? Sweetgreen is selling french fries, Chili’s is making Lifetime movies, and KFC is moving its corporate headquarters from Kentucky to Texas. What gives? Why has an industry built on providing predictable, universally appealing meals suddenly gotten wacky?
You guessed it. Gen Z.
Like most industries, fast food is trying to keep up with the unpredictable tastes of Gen Z. However, unlike most industries, when it comes to fast food, Zoomers wield much more economic power than their older counterparts. For starters, they have a global spending power of over $800 billion, and by 2030, that number is projected to hit $12 trillion. Furthermore, recent data shows that 50% of Gen Z reported visiting fast food restaurants more frequently in the past month compared to Boomers and Xers who are visiting restaurants less frequently — and spending less when they do. With the oldest Zoomers now becoming parents, restaurant brands are looking to capture their attention now.
Gen Z has a dramatically different relationship with fast food than their older siblings, parents, and grandparents — a relationship that’s complex and often contradictory. It’s this relationship that’s fueling a quirky absurdism that’s infecting restaurants nationwide, from Popeyes’ Pickle Menu and Denny’s NVIDIA Breakfast Bytes to Taco Bell’s Dirty MTN Dew Baja Blast. And yes, while gustatorily, “pickle-glazed” chicken sandwiches, pancake-wrapped sausages, and ice-cold Mountain Dews topped off with sweet vanilla cream couldn’t be any more different, they each point to the industry’s willingness to do whatever it takes to check all of Gen Z’s boxes, even if that means creating “pizza caviar.”
Pizza Hut’s pizza caviar
The Deep Fried Quadrangle
To help make sense of things, I’ve created what I’m calling “The Deep Fried Quadrangle”: a simple framework for understanding the tensions in what Zoomers want from their food and the market’s attempts to deliver it. And while the Quadrangle is specific to food, it might also explain Gen Z’s relationship to consumption writ large.
You’ve likely heard of the “Iron Triangle” theory of project management: good, fast, cheap — pick two. The Deep Fried Quadrangle is basically the same idea, but with an additional vertex (hence the quadrangle). When it comes to food, Gen Z has four must-haves: novelty, value, convenience, and healthiness. While fast food has long delivered on value and convenience, Gen Z’s tastes (pun intended) are forcing brands to serve up health and hype, leading to some very inventive offerings. And like the triangle it riffs on, the Deep Fried Quadrangle raises the question: can you ever really have it all?
Novelty, value, convenience, and healthiness: pick three.
Novelty
Zoomers are hungry for the new and different, the limited and the unanticipated. According to market research company Knit’s Gen Z Restaurant & Dining Report, 55% of Gen Z has somewhat or very favorable feelings about what the industry calls “Limited Time Offerings” (think McDonald’s McRib, or Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte). Even more telling, a study from Rubix Foods shows that 87% of Zoomers want more global flavors at chain restaurants, and 48% would choose the spicy version of a menu item over the original version.
These shifts toward novelty could be why sauces have become a go-to play for restaurant brands in the last year, as they’re an easy way to put an “exotic” spin on an otherwise traditional menu item. In an interview with Business Insider, Taco Bell CMO Taylor Montgomery described the brand’s recent obsession with sauces as permissible exploration: “You don't have to fully commit to a flavor profile that's different, but you can dunk something into it, or dip something in it. America's getting more diverse, and our consumers' tastes are changing. I think sauces are enabling that." In many ways, sauces allow diners to swipe right on novelty without having to make a commitment, making them the perfect fit for the Quadrangle.
Value
While craving novelty, Gen Z is also intensely price-sensitive. And who could blame them? The average chain restaurant has increased prices by 42% since 2020, nearly double the rate of general inflation. That financial pressure is felt most at breakfast time, with restaurants like Waffle House and IHOP increasing their prices by 96% and 82%, respectively, over the last five years.
With 80% of Zoomers saying they’d eat out more if they could afford it, companies are getting creative about making their offerings affordable — or at least making things feel that way. Doordash recently announced a partnership with Klarna, giving its users the option to finance their food delivery. And with the average American carrying $21,500 in non-mortgage debt, ‘eat now, pay later’ is likely here to stay.
Convenience
In an era of instant gratification, speed isn't just nice — it's non-negotiable. According to a recent study from Mondelēz International, 73% of Gen Z prefers to eat many small meals throughout the day, as opposed to a few large ones, and 85% see snacking as “[their] way of treating [themselves] after a productive day.”
This could hint at why we’re seeing an explosion of nugget-style foods across the industry. Nuggets represent the perfect convenience format: one-handed, dippable (hello novelty sauces!), sharable, and incredibly easy to eat on the go — or while doom-scrolling TikTok.
Healthiness
According to research by the point-of-sale company Toast, 71% of people in their twenties actively seek restaurants that prioritize health-conscious choices. Even more striking, Attest reports that three-quarters of Zoomers believe that their food and beverage choices directly impact their mental and emotional wellbeing, indicating that health is a non-negotiable for this generation.
The fast food industry’s relationship with nutrition has always been a complicated one, and accordingly, we’re now seeing brands experiment with different ways of positioning their food as a healthy option. Start-ups like Los Angeles’ Everytable and Chicago’s Sizl are looking to disrupt the industry with fresh meals cooked from scratch. And Steak n’ Shake has decided against seed oils, announcing that they now cook their french fries in 100% beef tallow.
The Quest for the Quick-Service Holy Grail
This is the dilemma of The Deep Fried Quadrangle. Novelty, value, convenience, and healthiness — values that on their face are inherently at at odds with each other — all drive Gen Z’s dining behaviors. How are restaurants supposed to cater to an audience that wants everything while sacrificing nothing? Is there a menu item out there that’s equal parts novel, affordable, convenient, AND healthy? Can we invent one? Do we have the technology?
Sweetgreen’s french fries are certainly novel and convenient. But while they’re healthier than traditional french fries, at nearly $5 a pop they’re certainly not affordable. A dirty soda from Swig, QSR Magazine’s breakout brand of 2024, is novel, convenient, and cheaper than coffee, but can a 32-ounce soda pumped with flavored syrup and topped with half and half be healthy? And, earlier this year, KFC brought its Australian Mashies — think hush puppies but with mashed potatoes instead of cornbread — stateside. Convenient? Check. Novel? Check. Affordable? You bet. Healthy? C’mon now.
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So What Does All This Mean?
The trillion-dollar fast food sector is engaged in the most expensive game of demographic Tetris ever played, trying to fit novelty, affordability, health, and convenience into the same bite-sized package. And as as easy it would be to mock that Dirty MTN Dew Baja Blast Dream Soda as empty trend-chasing or a flavor-of-the-week gimmick, you have to admire the strategic chutzpah behind it. Fast food brands are showing what it looks like to engage with Gen Z on their own paradoxical terms, not by resolving those paradoxes, but by embracing them. And anyone who wants to stay relevant should be paying attention.
KFC’s Australian mashies
Fast food brands aren't simply selling food anymore — they're selling contradiction, while trying to navigate our complicated relationship with consumption itself. Novelty without commitment, affordability without compromise, health without sacrifice, and convenience without guilt. Sound familiar? It's the same tension we're seeing in tech, entertainment, fashion — wherever Gen Z is spending time and money. This is a generation that craves newness but hates waste, wants things fast but ethically made, and expects timelessness and personalization all at once.
So no pressure, Taco Bell, but your next sauce packet might just save the free market. Would you like a side of existential crisis with that?
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