Emerging Trends: CaaS, Neurodiversity, Canned Wine, and More

CaaS: Collectibles as a Service

Blockchain technology has revolutionized opportunities in the collectibles market, worth over 370 billion USD (1). The world of collectible as a whole is making waves and among emerging niches include CaaS: collectible investments as a service.

For instance, Vinovest is opening the wine investment opportunity to a bigger market, a space that has long been limited to wine experts. It helps people interested in investing in fine wines but have no idea where to start or how to collect them.

The startup manages the entire process from authentication to selection, from insurance and storage, with a starting price of 1,000 USD. Vinovest’s “simple, modern wine investing” is gathering a lot of interest with over 370k+ site visitors a month, as per Similarweb (2).

As per Vinovest, fine wine has outperformed the S&P 500 by 1000% over the past two decades.

Many other collectible niches can benefit from the investment as a service:

• Rare Whisky, 586%+ growth in the past decade (3).
• Virtual skin collectibles: There is a growing demand for gaming skins and their marketplaces (4).
• Retro video games: 130%+ ROI in 2020 (5); recently, a sealed copy of Super Mario 64 netted 1.5 million USD (6).
• Comic Books, 60%+ ROI (7)
• Cultural Assets, 60%+ ROI (8)

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Air Conditioners are Getting Hotter, er, Cooler!

While we are going through some cool winter months, the heat will be back, and our summers are getting hotter (9).

Air conditioners have always witnessed significant growth over the past few years, minus last year, and the demand is rising again (10).

Analysts suggest that the Indian air conditioner market will grow at a 10.7% CAGR between 2021 and 2027. A report from Statista also indicates rising penetration of air conditioners across the country, up from a mere 2.5% in 2005 to about 12.4% by 2026.

Another report published in IndiaSpend suggests that people will purchase more than 300 million ACs in the next two decades (11). As of 2019, only 8% of Indian households had air conditioners. And when we consider the rising need for thermal comfort, the numbers are likely to grow over 40%, indicating a peak in demand for ACs in the upcoming years.

Businesses can plan now to enter the AC retail, whole, or installation in time for the summer rush. In addition, there are also opportunities in the annual AC maintenance market and other common add-ons like refrigerants.

As air conditioners become permanent and common in Indian households, businesses can also focus on the servicing industry, such as platforms connecting customers with AC technicians and lead generation for installers.

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Neurodiversity

Businesses have started to focus on being inclusive at an exponential rate. Besides the obvious moral reasons, being inclusive comes with significant financial implications.

According to an Adobe survey (12), 34% to 58% of customers stop using a brand that does not represent its identity in its advertising.

One inclusivity niche now emerging is neurodiversity, and it is a concept that some developmental “disorders” are normal brain variations (13).

The Reddit community r/neurodiversity is expanding at an exponential rate. There is also a growing push to focus on the differences of our brain and not deficits. Also, people with relatively common disorders have some unique strengths (14).

For instance, individuals with ADHD may struggle with time management; however, they often have high drive, passion, and creative thinking levels.

Businesses can leverage the neurodiversity trends by offering children’s books, apps, and other learning programs incorporated with neurodiversity. You can also offer products with certain variations, such as productivity apps that harness the creativity of individuals with ADHD.

Other areas of focus include:

• Educational short-form video content for ADHD, Autism, Down syndrome, etc
• Guides to build a conducive environment for individuals with neurodivergent features since they may need more adjustments with their work environment, manage social impressions, and block distractions
• Positive psychology merchandise that celebrates differences, examples include Redbubble and Teepublic

Another key area brands like Gucci and McDonalds adopt includes inclusive ads (15).

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Canned Wine

The global canned wine market is witnessing exponential growth as people look for more convenient, single-serve, and portable beverages amid the pandemic. It is expected to grow from 211.4 million USD in 2020 to over 571.8 million USD at a 13.2% CAGR in 2028 (16).

As the trend looks set to keep on, it paves the way for a cohort of new opportunities:

Boxed Wine

Boxed wine was once referred to as tacky and cheap. However, today, there are plenty of decent wines available this way.

A report from Wine Intelligence highlights fading stigma around wine drinkers (17), with over 42% considering purchasing canned wine in 2020, a rise from 33% back in 2017.

While a bottle only stays fresh for a few days, boxed wine lasts six weeks after opening (18). It makes boxes ideal for restaurants that serve by the glass and discerning drinkers.

While there have been some major improvements in the quality of boxed brands, there are still gaps in the market for premium products, particularly in larger formats for bars and restaurants.

Entrepreneurs can also leverage the canned wine trend with premium wines for high-end events and a rising number of single adults who may not wish to open a full bottle (19, 20).

Other opportunities include doubling luxury boxes as gift bags for events like Father’s Day, weddings, and even corporate.

Higher Credentials for Wine with Alternative Package

Notably, alternatively packaged wine has eco-credentials, with cans being recycled at a higher rate than glass and 1/2 emissions from boxed wine compared to bottles (21, 22). The demand for organic wine is also on the rise (23).

According to research (24), people are more likely to purchase wines labeled “sustainably produced” or “environmentally-friendly.”

There are several businesses already targeting “conscious” wine lovers:

• Vegan Wines, offering, well, vegan wines
• McBride Sisters, supporting women in the wine industry
• Mysa Natural Wine, partnering with a food bank
• Plonk Wine Club, offering small-batch organic wine subscription

One area you can focus on is a subscription service with social and environment-friendly boxed wines. You can also combine it with plant-based meal delivery services or organic vegetable subscriptions and restaurants with sustainable eating.

Conscious individuals may also be interested in groceries like oils and sauces in the box format or even boxed dishwashing soap or liquid hand wash.

If you want to look beyond boxes for sustainable solutions, there are options like wine bottle refill service and refillable wine kegs.

Wine Spritzers and other Low-Cal Drinks – h3

The no/low alcohol drink market will likely grow about 31% by 2024 (25) as more people seek low-calorie alternatives and reduce their alcohol consumption.

Entrepreneurs can focus on offering wine spritzers since they tick both boxes. While a medium wine glass contains 13% alcohol and about 150 calories, spritzer products contain less than 7% alcohol with below 100 calories.

You can also look into canned spritzers that leverage the RTD, ready-to-drink beverage trend, the fastest-growing product category (26).

You can explore opportunities like RTD cocktails in large boxes for restaurants and parties. Offering boxed spirits with measurements and built-in dispensers will help bartenders do a stocktake and measure shots.

Other Opportunities

You can also leverage cartons and cans for youth-target and innovative branding.

For example, Bandit Wine uses its carton to feature national parks.

Another brand that is leveraging it is Babe wines that use spinoffs from White Girl Problems Twitter account.

Single-serving boxes are suitable for hikers and campers since they are light and can be easily flattened once empty.

On the other hand, resealable cartons are ideal for in-flight service since they can be easily stowed in case of any turbulence or you wish to get up. They also protect women from getting their drinks spiked in clubs.

Cans are suitable for events and sports venues where people need to carry multiple drinks.

There is a significant saving bar infrastructure by offering canned wine vending machines at festivals, motels, and theaters. However, we are unsure about the legal framework, which is still evolving and varies by state.

It would also be wise to keep focusing on sparkling wines since they will likely remain popular (27).