Boomers Are The Next Big Consumer Culture Frontier

Brands are obsessed with the young, but older consumers are a far more lucrative market.

- Andrea Felsted

Consumer companies can cope with the baby bust. They just have to pivot to baby boomers.

Birth rates falling to historic lows across the developed world, combined with people living longer, are reshaping the global market for the things we eat, wear and put on our skin.

Yet despite the fact that older people have more purchasing power, the consumer goods world is still far more obsessed with catering to the young. It's time for manufacturers to pay more attention to the silver economy—where there's a market for everything from food and personal care items to toys and fashion.

Japan has long been the epicenter for catering to an aging population, from having dedicated malls for seniors to employing robotic carers. But populations are also aging in Europe and the US.

Although children still outnumber older adults in the US, the gap is narrowing, according to the Vintage 2024 Population Estimates, released in June by the US Census Bureau.

Consumer goods companies are already starting to acknowledge this population shift. One of the most successful examples has been diaper manufacturers investing more in incontinence care. Demand for incontinence products is growing faster than that for nappies.

What's more, many of the items for older people aren't just bought by consumers—they are also purchased by facilities caring for the elderly, such as nursing homes, that will become even more prevalent as society confronts aging populations.

That's a lesson for other product categories. Infant nutrition could follow the same route. That explains why Nestle, the world's largest food manufacturer, and smaller rival Danone, both of which have big baby milk businesses, are increasingly developing products for adults, including the elderly, with specific dietary needs.