Authenticity

Trend - Companies are implementing mentorship programs to support LGBTQ+ employees entering the workforce. By connecting junior employees with successful LGBTQ+ mentors, these initiatives provide resources and skills, fostering a sense of belonging and empowering career growth.

Insight - As Gen Z becomes a larger part of the workforce, many entry-level employees with diverse identities experience isolation and imposter syndrome from perceived underrepresentation. In response, companies are launching programs that connect senior employees with younger LGBTQ+ individuals, providing vital support during their transition into full-time roles. Businesses that identify these unique hurdles can enhance employee retention and gain valuable insights into their diverse consumer bases.

Trend - Brands are increasingly attending conferences and fairs that promote businesses from diverse suppliers. These events, which typically feature minority-, women-, veteran-, and LGBTQ+-owned companies, foster relationships between large corporations in search of vendors that meet diversity criteria.

Insight - The demand for inclusive business practices has incentivized many companies to reevaluate their supplier diversity strategies and seek new partnerships from historically disadvantaged communities. To address this, many leadership teams are opting for physical experiences to connect with and better understand the services underrepresented businesses can offer. These companies recognize that their customers desire authenticity and want to see that reflected in the brands they support.

Trend - Personal care brands are developing products that address the skin's needs in intimate areas with the same care and precision used in traditional skincare. These products, spanning serums to masks, can be used to soothe irritation, reduce hyperpigmentation, or moisturize delicate skin.

Insight - Consumers are becoming more educated about the skin's unique needs in different areas of the body, primarily due to the increase in accessible information about self-care and body positivity. These products address specific concerns unique to intimate areas, providing solutions that weren't widely available in the past. This shift has led consumers to favor brands that provide targeted, practical solutions, enabling them to care for every part of their body confidently and without stigma.

Trend - Breakfast cereals are now formulated with higher protein content to accommodate various lifestyles and diets. This approach provides health-conscious consumers with an easy way to increase their daily protein intake without incorporating additional supplements or products into their routine.

Insight - Health-conscious consumers often seek products that support their diet or help them achieve specific health goals. However, they often struggle to find options that allow them to prioritize the proper nutrients that align with their individual needs and objectives. Boosting the nutritional value of everyday foods helps these individuals meet these goals without significant dietary changes, incentivizing them to choose and stay loyal to brands that align with their wellness priorities.

Trend - Toiletry companies are launching eco-friendly product lines with recycled and organic materials. Utilizing post-consumer recycled plastics, papers, and bamboo, these products further reduce the environmental footprint of single-use disposable papers, while only marginally increasing prices.

Insight - Environmentally-conscious consumers find pride in using products from brands that align with their personal values. These consumers are far more likely to purchase products with recyclable packaging, recycled materials, and without single-use plastics. These consumers believe in voting with their dollar toward products that make progress toward a genuine greener future. As a result, brands from typically unsustainable industries, such as toiletries, are now turning to recycled materials.

Trend - Brands in the skincare space are launching products designed to be refilled with sustainable pods. These pods both enhance sustainability by reducing single-use plastics, while also reducing costs for repeat customers, as they only need to purchase the main product once.

Insight - Consumers with daily skincare routines are continually seeking ways to reduce the costs and environmental impact of their routines without compromising on quality. While many such consumers take advantage of recurring product subscriptions or loyalty programs, not all may feel they use the products enough to get full value out of these systems. Additionally, recurring deliveries of products have large environmental impacts. Brands are addressing these concerns with refillable, sustainable pods.

Trend - Personal care brands are increasingly focusing on marketing probiotic gut health products to younger women. From products with packaging targeting younger women to full-on marketing campaigns, these brands are aiming to help women get a head start on proper gut health practices to improve comfort.

Insight - Younger women, namely those of the Gen Z and younger Millennial age groups, often do not worry about the perimenopause and menopausal life stages, as these come far later in life. However, in part due to health influencers on social media, these younger women are paying more attention to proper health practices that can help reduce symptoms of menopausal life stages later in life. In response to this, personal health brands are releasing gut health supplements designed for younger women.

Trend - Food brands across Latin America are beginning to launch new options for vegan and vegetarian consumers. Both restaurants and CPG brands are launching vegan options in LATAM countries to be pioneers in the region, with many proclaiming to offer the first vegan meals in their respective countries.

Insight - Both natives to countries in the LATAM region and those who travel there have often complained about the limited vegan and vegetarian dietary options, both at restaurants and in-stores. Consumers with these dietary restrictions instead turn to preparing their own dishes, and are often unable to enjoy restaurant-grade experiences. As more and more consumers adopt this lifestyle, brands are now adapting to offer vegan and vegetarian options in restaurants, fast food stores, and on retail shelves.

Trend - Brands are creating packaging designs with smart solutions for consumers with visual impairments. These solutions include scannable codes or symbols that interact with smart applications to provide either easier-to-read or audio-based information, more effectively supporting shoppers.

Insight - Consumers with visual impairments often face struggles when shopping in-person. Whether faced with overstimulating aisles in the grocery store, or difficult to read labels with fine text on products, these consumers find it difficult to obtain comprehensive information on products, such as ingredients lists. In order to better support these consumers, packaging brands are partnering with technology companies to create smart labels that convey information in alternative, more accessible, ways.

Trend - Packaging brands are creating tech-based solutions for traceability. These enable consumers, and partnered businesses, to trace packaging back to its source. Often via scanning a QR code, NFC touchpoint, or blockchain ID, it is easy for any user to verify stated sustainability claims.

Insight - While many brands claim their packaging solutions are sustainable or recyclable, making claims such as "76% recycled aluminum,' there is no convenient way for the average consumer to verify most of these statements. While some packaging solutions, such as paper-based ones, are more clearly sustainable, some may be more difficult to ascertain. However, consumers who desire to live eco-friendly lifestyles would appreciate further assurance, leading to brands adding traceable packaging solutions.