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Purpose The goal of this paper is to explore the Croatian young consumers' perception of functional food, to investigate underlying attitudes and their willingness to buy functional food in the future. Design/methodology/approach Consumer survey was conducted using a self‐administered questionnaire on a sample of 1,035 young consumers aged between 14 and 30 years. Research questions focused on knowledge about functional food, attitudes and buying behaviour regarding functional food. Data were analysed using univariate statistics, bivariate correlations and factor analysis. Findings About 40 per cent of young consumers are familiar with the concept of functional food, and 27 per cent of them are regular buyers. The usual place where functional food is acquired is supermarkets and most commonly bought are functional dairy products. The most important functional food attributes are taste and price/quality ratio. Consumers are satisfied with functional food health enhancing characteristics and less satisfied with its appearance and durability. Three factors that explain young consumers' attitudes towards functional food are health awareness and confidence, lack of trust for functional food and its price and quality. More than half of respondents are willing to buy functional food in the future (51.8 per cent). Female consumers aged between 19 and 30, living in smaller households with higher income are more likely to be functional food consumers in the future. Research limitations/implications A limitation of this study is the sample including only young consumers. Further research is needed to analyse other consumer groups, and to determine which segments are most appropriate for functional food products marketing. Practical implications Research results indicate a need to increase consumer familiarity with functional food and improvements in some of its characteristics. Overall positive attitudes toward functional food should be reinforced and young consumers can be influenced through targeted advertising. Originality/value This paper gives the first account of young consumers' perception of functional food in Croatia. The results of this research can be used to plan further marketing activities.