NACS 2025: The Next Decade is all about Gen X

It appears that the “forgotten generation,” those of us born between 1965 and 1980, are finally getting the recognition we deserve in the world of consumer packaged goods marketing. It’s about time. 

There are 1.4 billion Gen Xers navigating the globe today, according to Wolfgang Fengler, chief executive officer of World Data Lab, who spoke alongside Marta Cyhan-Bowles, chief communications officer and head of global marketing at NielsenIQ, at NACS 2025, the c-store conference and expo that took place this week in my amazing home city of Chicago. (We are a resilient city and taking care of ours during these insane times.) 

“They’ve got trillions and you’ve got blind spots,” said Fengler, when describing Gen Xers. “In 2025 alone, Gen X will drive $15.2 trillion in global spend.”

Most Gen Xers are or getting close to being empty nesters. Yet, they are the sandwich generation, as they still influence the purchases their parents and their adult kids make. 

“Gen X’s unique identity is as the CFO of three generations,” said Cyhan-Bowles. “Gen Xers spend on elder and dependent care, and education, have clearly positioned them as ‘caretaker consumers.’”

Most Gen Xers are at the peak of their careers and energized. They’ve made it this far and refuse to be forgotten anymore. Gen X wants to have fun!

“They straddled both analog and digital domains,” said Cyhan-Bowles. 

And dang, we are resilient and flexible when it comes to navigating how we spend our money. For the record, I’m Gen X, and proud of it. We grew up independent, many of us as latchkey kids with both parents working. We witnessed the rise of MTV, grunge culture and personal computing. We are just as comfortable inserting a floppy disc into a computer as we are a memory stick, and now just saving to the cloud. 

Gen X is brand loyal, especially when it comes to the few brands that have marketed to them. If Jennifer Aniston endorsed it, I’m buying it. 

Eleven percent of Gen X says, “I am able to spend freely,” while 44% say “I love comfortably and am able to buy things just because I want them.” These are your customers! This is the majority of Gen X. 

“This is the Gen X decade,” said Fengler. “While there are more Millennials in this world, they have much less money to spend. Gen X is the number-one spender and growing. By 2033, their global spending power will reach $20 trillion, and approximately $7 trillion in the U.S. alone. 

“[If you are not marketing to them], you’ve not missed the train, just the opportunity,” said Fengler. 

He explained that currently the countries with the largest Gen X populations are in Europe and Asia. In the next year or two, it will be the U.S. 

“These are your most overlooked and most valuable customers,” Fengler said. 

Cyhan-Bowles added, “And they don’t need Costco anymore.”

They want convenience and portion control. She said that Gen X is less about clean-label foods—we were the first generation to grow up with Tab and other diet sodas—and more focused on calories and health. 

This likely explains why the plethora of dairy-based, high-protein beverages that have recently debuted in the market use artificial sweeteners to better deliver on taste, mouthfeel and price, as compared to like products that only use natural sweeteners. 

“This presents a unique opportunity for convenience store retailers and brands that can successfully capture Gen X, and their high degree of brand loyalty,” said Cyhan-Bowles “The intersection of ease of use, convenience and function positions c-stores (globally) to win with Gen X. They’re willing to pay a premium for products that assist or complement their stretched realities.

“Within c-stores, Gen X is the highest-penetration generation across the three leading c-store categories (which are non-alcoholic beverages, salty snacks and candy/gum/mints,” she said. She recommends that brands consider new formats and claims for caregiving, longevity and convenience.

Congrats to all the many brands who exhibited at NACS 2025. Dairy rocked the expo. If you are not marketing to Gen X, now’s the time to consider. And when considering, keep portion control and nutrient density top of mind. 

That’s because, “GLP-1 is not a killer of convenience. In fact, I would argue that convenience is a big friend to GLP-1 consumers,” said Sally Lyons Wyatt, global executive vice president and chief advisor of consumer goods and foodservice insights at Circana. “When you look at the categories that have gained positive shifts in convenience among these customers, it screams that the portion-control convenience offers by having single-serve sizes works.”