Trend Q&A: How to harness cross-industry trends and more

Gen Z eating habits, utilising industry trends and sustainable e-commerce. That and more on today’s episode.

Want to know what’s next? Listen to the show where our experts from around the globe unpack your biggest challenges. This week, WGSN’s President and CEO Carla Buzasi takes us to Singapore, São Paulo and London. Hear from the friendly faces of our Food & Drink and Consultancy teams.

Watch the full episode below or read on for highlights of this episode:

Q: How will Gen Z eating habits inspire new food product development?
“Gen Z is engaged with food culture both on and offline and they see food as a form of self-expression. Aided by TikTok, the cohort is redefining ‘home-made’ in the kitchen, embracing scratch cooking alongside prepared ingredients for a mix-and-match approach. For example, they are putting their own spin on frozen pajeon, which are Korean-style scallion pancakes, to make things such as breakfast burritos.”
– Rachel Tan, Strategist, WGSN Food & Drink
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Q: What is the importance of trends in other industries to my brand?
“Looking at different markets can be inspiring because consumers have values and preferences that can be cross-category and some industries can be more mature than others. For example, the beauty category can offer rich inspiration on how to incorporate sustainability into packaging, while the tech category has some nice benchmarks in the accessibility universe.”
– Vitor Coelho, Consultant, WGSN
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Q: The e-commerce side of our business is booming. What’s best practice for ensuring our shipping packaging is sustainable?
“Focus on material choice. Paper or plastic options have a much lower carbon footprint than aluminium or glass. The power source of your production factory is also important, accounting for up to 75% of the package’s total emissions. Look to suppliers using green energy to significantly reduce your footprint.

“Finally, consider end-of-life waste streams, particularly for low-carbon options such as pouches, which are not always easily recyclable. Offer a free post return scheme so you can reuse this packaging rather than it being landfilled.”
– Katie Raath, Senior Trend Forecaster for Packaging, WGSN
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