For moms and kids, Father’s Day can be tough. You want a gift that shows appreciation, but he doesn’t seem to need or want anything.
So, to help families make a decision, I looked at what dads say they care about in surveys, then compared that with what people actually bought for Father’s Day.
The research points to a simple answer: dads are most likely to appreciate gifts that feel useful, reliable, and easy to enjoy with the people they love.
For this Father’s Day 2026 Gifting Report, I analyzed five years of father-focused survey data and compared it with internal 2025 Father’s Day purchase data to better understand what dads actually value.
The research found that dads are prioritizing practical, familiar, and experience-based gifts. In 2026, 66.4% of dads said reliable brands matter, 62.7% highlighted eating out and restaurants, and value-related priorities like financial security, deal-hunting, and loyalty programs have all increased sharply since 2021.
Key takeaways
- In 2026, dads prioritize reliable brands, food and entertainment, and everyday value over novelty, with 66.4% citing reliable brands and 62.7% eating out/restaurants.
- Since 2021, dads have shifted strongly toward loyalty programs, eating out, and AI, as loyalty membership rose from 26.9% to 43.1%, eating out from 48.5% to 62.7%, and AI interest from 20.6% to 33.7%.
- Generational differences are sharp. Gen Z is more digital and status‑driven, while Gen X is more reliability‑ and deal‑focused—with gaming at 61.8% for Gen Z vs. 28.4% for Gen X, and loyalty membership at 45.7% for Gen X vs. 21.7% for Gen Z.
What Dads Want in 2026
In 2026, the strongest themes are reliable brands, food, entertainment, everyday usefulness, and value. The chart shows that 66.4% of dads care about reliable brands, 62.7% highlight eating out and restaurants, 62.2% point to movies, 59.3% to television, and 49.8% say they care about brands that improve day-to-day life.
In other words, the best Father’s Day gifts are not always the flashiest ones. They are the gifts that fit into his life, make his day better, or give him something to enjoy with the people he loves.
On the value side, 45.1% of dads say being financially secure matters, 44.4% say they look for the best deals, and 43.1% say they are members of loyalty or rewards programs.
How Dad’s Preference Has Changed Over Time: ‘21 - ‘26
Dads’ interests have shifted over the last five years. The biggest changes suggest they are putting more value on useful benefits, good food, smart spending, and tools that make life easier.
The clearest jump is loyalty and rewards programs, which rose from 26.9% in 2021 to 43.1% in 2026. Eating out and restaurants also increased from 48.5% to 62.7%, while interest in AI grew from 20.6% to 33.7%. Dads are also more likely to care about brands that improve day-to-day life, a trend that increased from 39.7% to 49.8%.
At the same time, some interests have become less important. Beer and breweries fell from 43.1% to 30.2%, computers dropped from 48.3% to 38.1%, and wine and wineries declined from 32.2% to 22.3%.
The takeaway: dads are not just looking for “stuff.” Compared with 2021, they are more drawn to gifts that feel useful, easy to enjoy, and worth the money.
Not every dad wants the same thing. The biggest gaps appear when comparing Gen Z and Gen X. Gaming is a prime example: 61.8% of Gen Z dads are interested in gaming, compared with just 28.4% of Gen X dads. This 33.4‑point gap highlights how much more digital and game‑driven younger fathers are. At the same time, Gen Z dads are far more likely to care about influencers, at 20.3% versus 6.5% for Gen X dads, underscoring a clear divide in how much each group engages with creator culture.
On the other side of the spectrum, Gen X dads lean hardest into reliability, rewards, and getting a good deal. Loyalty and reward membership is 45.7% for Gen X dads, compared with 30.0% for Millennial dads and 21.7% for Gen Z dads, a 24‑point gap between the oldest and youngest groups. Reliable brands also show a strong split, with 67.8% of Gen X dads prioritizing them, versus 54.0% of Millennial dads and 48.1% of Gen Z dads, and deal‑seeking follows the same pattern: 46.6% of Gen X dads say they spend time looking for the best deals, compared with 27.8% of Gen Z dads, an 18.8‑point difference.
Millennial dads tend to sit between these two poles, but they often tilt closer to Gen Z when it comes to technology. They are the strongest group for technology and AI overall, while also maintaining high levels of interest in restaurants and gaming.
Taken together, the data suggest three distinct profiles: Gen Z dads cluster around gaming, esports, influencers, VR, and AI. Millennial dads lead on technology and AI, with elevated interest in restaurants and gaming. Gen X dads are strongest on reliable brands, loyalty programs, research, deal‑seeking, travel, grilling, and DIY.
Dads in different generations rely on different channels to learn about products. Gen X dads are much more likely to be influenced by traditional and utility‑oriented sources, with 38.6% citing TV commercials, 31.9% recommendations from friends and family, 35.1% search engines, and 27.2% emails or direct mail from companies, consistently higher than both Millennial and Gen Z dads on those channels.
Gen Z and Millennial dads, by contrast, lean more toward social and creator‑led discovery. Social media posts reach 31.6% of Gen Z dads and 34.4% of Millennial dads, compared with 30.0% of Gen X dads, while ads on social media reach 33.6% of Gen Z dads and 37.4% of Millennials versus 32.8% of Gen X. Influencer or content‑creator endorsements show a clear gap as well: 15.5% of Gen Z dads cite them, compared with 11.0% of Millennial dads and 6.7% of Gen X dads.
Some newer tools also skew younger: AI‑powered search tools are mentioned by 10.8% of Gen Z dads and 12.5% of Millennial dads, compared with 6.2% of Gen X dads. Blogs and vlogs are cited by around 10–11% of Gen Z and Millennial dads but only 6.5% of Gen X dads.
For shoppers, the implication is simpler. Younger dads may be more receptive to newer products, creator-recommended gear, social-media-friendly gifts, and tech-forward categories. Gen X dads may be more likely to value reviews, quality comparisons, familiar brands, and reliability.
What Families Actually Buy Dads
The internal Father’s Day 2025 purchase data show that when families buy gifts for dads, they often choose simple, familiar items that are easy to enjoy.
Food gifts stood out the most. Among the top 50 Father’s Day items, meat, baked goods, and beer made up 71.4% of orders. Meat was the largest category at 30.2%, followed by baked goods at 22.1% and beer at 19.1%.
That lines up with the broader survey findings: dads tend to value gifts that feel useful, reliable, and easy to enjoy. A meat and cheese basket, baked goods box, snack basket, or beer-themed gift does not require guessing a shirt size, tool preference, or tech spec. It gives him something he can open, enjoy, and share.
Other popular food types included nuts at 6.4%, snacks at 4.9%, dried fruit at 3.9%, wine at 3.6%, and chocolate at 2.9%.
When families are not sure what to buy, food is a strong fallback because it feels personal without being complicated. It can fit into Father’s Day breakfast, a backyard cookout, a movie night, or a game-day snack spread.
Food gifts transcend age and generation
Food may be one of the strongest categories for Father’s Day. Even if dads differ on gaming, influencers, brand discovery, and shopping habits, large shares of fathers in every generation say they are interested in restaurants, cooking, grilling, breweries, and food experiences.
Eating out is the broadest food-related interest. Overall, 60.9% of dads say they are interested in eating out or restaurants, including 53.8% of Gen Z dads, 57.8% of millennial dads, and 61.3% of Gen X dads.
Cooking is also a strong cross-generational category. Overall, 44.1% of dads say they are interested in cooking, including 40.6% of Gen Z dads, 44.2% of millennial dads, and 48.0% of Gen X dads.
Grilling is more generationally uneven but still important. It is strongest among Gen X dads, with 41.4% reporting interest in grilling or barbecuing. Among millennial dads, the share is 36.5%. Among Gen Z dads, it is 27.4%.
The purchase data tells a similar story. Among Gourmet Gift Baskets’ top 50 Father’s Day items, meat, baked goods, and beer made up about 71.4% of orders. The top single item was a baked gift box, accounting for 10.3% of the top-50 item share.
Together, the findings suggest that families are already leaning toward gifts that make sense for how dads actually live. Food gifts work because they are useful without being boring, personal without being risky, and easy to enjoy with family.
If you are not sure what to buy Dad, start with something he can eat, share, or use in his everyday life. That is where what dads say they want and what families actually buy seem to overlap most.
Methodology and Data Sources
This study combines GWI father-focused survey data from 2021-2026 with internal Father’s Day 2025 gourmet gift basket purchase data to understand what dads say they value and what shoppers actually bought.
The GWI survey analysis focuses on the aggregate Father's audience, plus 2026 cuts for Gen Z fathers, Millennial fathers, and Gen X fathers. The approximate father audience bases are 4,651 total fathers, including 396 Gen Z fathers, 1,276 Millennial fathers, and 1,667 Gen X fathers. For the five-year trend comparison, the aggregate Fathers base ranges from approximately 5,832 fathers in 2021 to 4,651 fathers in 2026.
In this dataset, ‘Audience %’ means the percentage of fathers in each group who selected an agreeing response (for example, options like ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ on a Likert scale) to a given interest, attitude, value, or behavior, rather than those who were neutral or disagreed. The analysis focuses on gift-relevant areas, including personal interests, priorities, aspirations, brand expectations, retail attitudes, and travel attitudes.
For five-year trends, we compare 2021 vs. 2026 and report movement in percentage points. Items with incomplete or discontinued labels were excluded from the main trend rankings so changes reflect real movement rather than survey-label changes. For priority questions, only the Important response was used.
The internal data comes from Father’s Day 2025 and covers the top 50 Father’s Day items, food types, order counts, and item shares. Internal order shares are calculated within the top-50 item set, not all company orders.
Together, the two sources show both sides of the story: GWI shows what fathers say they want, while the internal purchase data shows what shoppers bought for Father’s Day.