Divergence

Trend - Businesses are increasingly investing in fully constructed and finished bathroom units to streamline project delivery and sustainability goals. These units, which are built off-site in a factory-controlled environment, are delivered and installed at construction sites as ready-to-use modules.

Insight - Businesses operating under tight deadlines are increasingly seeking solutions to expedite project completion without sacrificing the quality associated with on-site construction methods. Modular units offer an effective solution for large-scale projects that require efficiency and reduced on-site disruptions, allowing builders to focus on other critical development aspects. Therefore, these companies desire reliable, aesthetically pleasing services that enable them to meet client expectations.

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 - 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 - Brands in the smart home space are releasing smart air conditioners designed to adapt to the needs of the residents. Some such air conditioners feature modes that monitor a user's body temperature and use AI algorithms to ensure their comfort, while others enable personalized app connectivity.

Insight - Some of the most common symptoms women experience in the perimenopausal and menopausal stages are hot flashes, or in some cases cold flashes. While these women often resort to traditional means of controlling body temperatures by using heated blankets or cooling pillows, the introduction of AI in the smart home space is making body temperature control more natural and intuitive. Brands are addressing the needs of these women with smart air conditioners that adjust based on body temperatures.

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 - Beverage brands that specialize in electrolyte-based hydration drinks are now creating more health-conscious options for consumers with diabetes and other conditions with strict dietary restrictions. These drinks are available in pre-packaged and mixable formats for convenience and accessibility.

Insight - Many consumers with diabetes begin to adopt more active lifestyles in order to control and counteract the condition as much as possible. However, increasing activity levels requires adjusting one's diet alongside it to yield optimal results. Particularly when being physically active, it is important to maintain proper hydration levels through beverages with electrolyte formulas. In order to appeal to these consumers, brands are creating electrolyte drinks with fewer sugars.

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.