Bill Granger, the Australian chef credited with bringing avocado toast to the mainstream, died of cancer at 54 on Christmas Day in a London hospital. His legacy includes cookbooks, television shows and restaurants in multiple countries; but his simple breakfast dish took on a life of its own, often used as an example of millennials’ frivolous spending.
Affectionately called the “King of Breakfast,” his avocado toast became a staple around the globe after originally selling at his cafe, “bills,” for around $12. He said he created the breakfast dish because of the way he lived as a chef with a family, including his wife and three daughters.
Expensive toasted bread with smashed avocado soon became a meme for why people in the millennial generation — born between 1981 and 1996 — couldn’t afford to buy a home.
The fire sparked in 2017 when Australian luxury property developer Tim Gurner blamed smashed avocado toast as the reason young people can’t get into home ownership.
“When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn’t buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each,” he told “60 Minutes Australia.”
Since the now infamous interview, social media millennials have used the opportunity to poke fun at the breakfast that is supposedly holding them down.
The picture, of course, is more complicated than simply overspending on breakfast items to fuel the day.
The median sales price for homes in the U.S. is up more than 450% over the last 40 years, from $78,000 in 1984 to $431,000 in 2023.
Meanwhile, wages are up roughly 260% over the same period; from $16,000 in 1984 — according to the Social Security Administration — to $58,000 in 2023, according to analysis from ZipRecruiter.
Despite the data, talkers outside of the millennial and Gen Z generations, like Dave Ramsey, will continue to take issue with the millennial love for the creamy fruit.
Another factor at play limiting home ownership is the $1.7 trillion in student loan debt held by Americans, according to a 2019 report by the Federal Reserve. The central bank found student loans alone can realistically be blamed for more than 20% of the overall drop in homeownership among young adults.
The Fed added, however, that the “central cause” for the decline is tighter lending standards following the 2008 housing crisis, which is still in effect to this day.
More recently, rising interest rates over the last two years have pushed mortgage rates from around 3% to as high as 8%, severely affecting buying power.
Rising rent has also taken a toll on the all-too-important down payment. Rent has increased nearly $400 per month nationwide, or 24%, since January 2020, according to Rent.com.
Despite concerns over his lasting legacy, Bill Granger never bought into the idea that his creation was the cause of the millennial housing crisis.
“As my father said, ‘It’s always been impossible to buy a house. Always!’” he told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2020.
