2027 — a [cafeteria] report

Back to the experience

we asked 1,423 young consumers about the year ahead

60,240 answers

5,393 voice notes

277 hours of conversation

50% female · 48% male · median age 20

here’s what they said.

if i was to build the best concert of 2027, i would say the headliner would be…

female · 20 · Goleta, CA

1. LINEUP
2. J. COLE
3. JUSTIN BIEBER
4. DRAKE
5. NBA YOUNGBOY
6. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
7. STEVIE NICKS
8. ARIANA GRANDE
9. TAYLOR SWIFT
10. SABRINA CARPENTER
11. AUDREY HOBERT

if taylor swift, sabrina carpenter, and audrey hobert sang “sue me”, i think that would

female · 17 · Miami, FL

BREAK

the internet

female · 17 · Miami, FL

okay, i freaking love this song so i will sing it now, it goes like…

male · 19 · Naperville, IL

…something like that.

male · 19 · Naperville, IL

Shoes

the next pair of shoes i want are

male · 18 · Deerfield, IL

GOLDEN GOOSE

i don’t care what style, what color i just need a pair because i feel like they’re so cute

male · 18 · Deerfield, IL

i love how they’re already worn in

male · 18 · Deerfield, IL

and they’re just giving like…

male · 18 · Deerfield, IL

MONEY

the shoes that i want next are

female · 20 · Mesquite, TX

RICK OWENS

in the black and white

female · 20 · Mesquite, TX

and i also want about two pairs of tory burch sandals

female · 20 · Mesquite, TX

i want the coach kitten heels

female · 16 · Slidell, LA

i see a lot of onitsuka tiger ads on my instagram

male · 20 · Melbourne, FL

Spend

i’m really getting into

female · 17 · Herrin, IL

TJ MAXX

MARSHALLS

OLD NAVY

all of the stores that i used to think were like oh my gosh, this is so 30-year-old-mom coded

female · 17 · Herrin, IL

if you don’t want to go thrifting because you don’t really want to go through the stress of not finding anything good that day same prices and they’re new and they’re cute

female · 17 · Herrin, IL

i would say

male · 21 · Long Beach, NY

NIKE

i’m always buying their clothes like literally non-stop they just never break

male · 21 · Long Beach, NY

probably aritzia i’ll have a big girl job by then

ARITZIA

Collabs

i love it when like a more expensive brand kind of does a collab with a more affordable brand

male · 20 · Hattiesburg, MS

EXPENSIVE × AFFORDABLE

en route jewelry. if they could cross over with, like, paige or something

female · 19 · Nashville, TN

1. STARBUCKS × CHICK-FIL-A
2. STARBUCKS × SANRIO
3. LOUIS VUITTON × ABERCROMBIE
4. STRANGER THINGS × BALENCIAGA
5. HAZBIN HOTEL × CONVERSE
6. EN ROUTE × PAIGE
7. SWAROVSKI × ZARA LARSSON
8. PANDORA × ADDISON RAE
9. PRADA × ZENDAYA
10. ADIDAS × SIMONE BILES
11. NEW BALANCE × SERENA WILLIAMS
12. ARITZIA × SALT & STONE
13. TARTE × DIET COKE
14. DUA LIPA’S “DIRTY COKE”
15. AMAZON × URBAN OUTFITTERS
16. AMAZON × JETBLUE
17. HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS × IHOP

really cool, like, studded and bedazzled and stoned jeans

female · 19 · Nashville, TN

i’ve never seen anything like that

female · 19 · Nashville, TN

Life

especially at this point in my life in my 20s to feel like i’ve progressed in life i cannot spend

female · 25 · New York, NY

HOURS

lose so many hours of my life on my phone

female · 25 · New York, NY

hey ai, can you please summarize this book that i purchased

in a small Alabama town in the 1930s, Scout Finch watches her father,

the lawyer Atticus, defend a Black man falsely accused of a crime.

through the trial and her fascination with the reclusive Boo Radley,

she learns how prejudice works — and what real courage looks like.

that, oh man, i couldn’t just put aside the time to read for?

male · 23 · Montclair, CA

LAZY

COMPLACENT

it’s what those people in wall-e ended up suffering from when they went into outer space

male · 23 · Montclair, CA

we all have the capacity for art in some way we just have to do it

non-binary · 25 · Salt Lake City, UT

ai is stealing that

non-binary · 25 · Salt Lake City, UT

it can be used as a tool to get maybe inspiration but honestly, i think people should use their fucking brains

non-binary · 25 · Salt Lake City, UT

i wish people still, like, wrote letters

female · 20 · Mesquite, TX

the most meaningful gift i’ve ever received was probably from my girlfriend and she wrote all these letters

male · 18 · Kansas City, MO

but i could only open them when i felt a certain way

male · 18 · Kansas City, MO

so there was one about missing my friends from my hometown there was one about missing my dog one about my first day at college just all these different times

male · 18 · Kansas City, MO

Self

i also definitely want to improve my relationships in general with my friends

male · 14 · Chambersburg, PA

having friends is one of the best feelings of community and everything you could have because without them you don’t experience things

male · 14 · Chambersburg, PA

in 50 years i’m not going to look back and be like oh my gosh, i’m so embarrassed that they saw me do that

female · 17 · Herrin, IL

in 50 years i’m gonna look back and be like oh my gosh, i

female · 17 · Herrin, IL

WISH

i had done that

female · 17 · Herrin, IL

i think that’s energy we should all take into

female · 20 · Berkeley Heights, NJ

2027

what 2027 looks like, in numbers

sounds brilliant. be brilliant.

2026 · data: [cafeteria] 2027 predictions tables · 1,423 people, ages 14–26 (median 20) · 50% female, 48% male, 2% non-binary · 44 states + DC · Aug 18 – Oct 9, 2026 · teamcafeteria.com

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