HERSHEY, Pa. – Millennials and Generation Z love dessert, ranking a meal’s sweet ending as a top consideration when deciding where to eat out, according to The Hershey Co. Foodservice team through conducted custom research with The Center for Generational Kinetics.

Quality desserts attract younger generations, and highlights from the research found that 87% think about eating dessert one or more times a day. Seventy-six percent think dessert is essential to special occasions, while 47% have a restaurant they frequent just for dessert.

Fifty-five percent of Gen Z and 54% of millennials are more likely to order an item with branded ingredients they recognize, and 52% of Gen Z are more likely to order an item with a branded ingredient they ate as a child. Finally, 70% of Gen Z and 63% of millennials are likely to return to a restaurant where they enjoyed a Hershey-branded dessert to order another, and more than half believe a dessert is higher quality if it has Hershey ingredients, which results in a willingness to pay a premium.

“This research is great news for foodservice operators,” said Chef Darren Belnavis with Hershey Foodservice, in a press release. “There are so many ways to offer on-trend beverages, snacks, desserts and craft cocktails featuring branded Hershey ingredients. For example, operators can create smoothies or indulgent milkshakes with ‘Instagrammable’ ingredients, [and] offer shareable desserts that allow patrons to taste more than one brand and are portable to take on the go for a midafternoon snack.”