The Airport Appetite: Why Food and Grocery Brands are Winning in OOH

Air travelers come from all walks of life, live in destinations across the world, and fly for a wide variety of different purposes. One thing that all travelers have in common, however, is the fundamental human need to eat.

Combined with the inherent captive nature of this audience and the brand-building, consumer-driving benefits of Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising, this core truth means that the airport environment can be a powerful medium for brands in the grocery, food, and restaurant industries.

The vegan food market is a huge and quickly growing industry, valued at over $22 billion in 2025, and naturally, meat and seafoods represent over a third of this market. The increasing demand for products catering towards alternative diets represents a major opportunity for vegan alternative brands- if they can maintain brand awareness and market share as the industry becomes increasingly crowded.

Airport advertising campaigns can be the ideal space for brands looking to create or maintain a foothold. Impossible Foods is doing just that; their campaign, launched across Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in advance of the 2026 Natural Products Expo West, ensures that their brand will remain top of mind with not just traveling industry leaders but also the airport’s consistently massive audience.

Impossible Foods’ campaign messaging aligns directly with their aim to appear as a food- and taste-forward, better for you and the planet alternative that appeals to meat eaters. This strategy, aimed beyond the world of vegan, vegetarian, or ‘flexitarian’ eaters, is a great fit for the audience passing through LAX. Not only is Los Angeles the ‘de-facto vegan capital’ of the U.S., where residents eat vegan options 187% more than the average American, but the airport’s audience reaches a high-volume of both health-conscious travelers and foodies. According to TransUnion mobile phone signals, 1 in 5 LAX travelers are food enthusiasts- interested in cooking for fun, dining out, and viewing food as an ‘experience.’

For nationally recognized franchises as well as local food establishments, gaining access to the captive, primed-to-spend audience in the airport environment is a highly lucrative opportunity. In fact, a study of airport shopping habits across the U.S. found that hunger is the number one motivator for spending in the travel environment- and two-thirds of travelers don’t bring their own food to the airport.

Airports are often very large, complex environments, where directional signage and clear information is important and expected. Clear, contextual, drive-to-store messaging in this environment therefore gains access to consumers already primed to be on the lookout for direction. Leveraging targeted messaging in Orlando International Airport (MCO), Auntie Anne’s is using this strategy to direct travelers to locations at nearby gates. Data from the OAAA shows that this is a nearly guaranteed way to get in on travelers’ in-airport spend; not only do 70% of consumers who notice a place based digital out of home (DOOH) ad immediately visit the business after viewing the ad, but 89% of those visiting the business made a purchase!

Local grocery chains may not at first glance, seem to be the most expected fit for the airport advertising environment. But the savvy brand H-E-B has looked past this initial impression to discover the actual value airport out-of-home can bring to their already popular business.

Recently, a Neilsen study of frequent fliers and their response to airport advertising proved that frequent flyers want to see local advertising in their hometowns- in fact, 88% want to see ads from local businesses, making this the most desired category across all ad types. This actually translates into action. Among frequent flyers exposed to airport advertising, over 6 in 10 actually visited the advertised location, and 53% visited the brand’s website. With digital advertising campaigns across three of Texas’s largest airports (Dallas Fort Worth, George Bush Intercontinental, and Houston Hobby), H-E-B is maximizing their reach with a massive, captive audience who is ready and excited to engage with their advertising.

Capturing the engagement of consumers is the first step in building a strong consumer base- but maintaining brand loyalty is an equally important, and often more difficult challenge; on average, consumers now belong to 18 different loyalty programs- with two to three for grocery alone. H-E-B is already excelling in this regard. Despite being a Texas-only chain, H-E-B has ranked as the country’s number 1 most-preferred grocery store for four straight years. Their choice to activate airport advertising is one of the ways H-E-B is committed to maintaining their excellence.

Airport advertising is an excellent tool in H-E-B’s arsenal to continue standing out from the competition in their existing markets, and has also been a crucial tool in expanding their brand awareness with new consumers. In conjunction with their late-2025 expansion into Dallas, H-E-B leveraged innovative airport advertising to make a big splash with Texas travelers during the 2025 holiday season. Their single-day pop ups at IAH, HOU, and DFW guaranteed that these consumers had their brand top of mind at exactly the right time; solidifying their position with existing consumers as well as positioning themselves to capture an audience with new access to the popular Texas chain.