but the cost of your latte probably hasn't. We're all bored of hearing and reading about inflation, but our ears pricked up when we heard that coffee prices are at their highest level for more than a decade, at ~$2.50 per pound.Few commodities invoke emotion like coffee, with 62% of Americans drinking coffee every single day — each one of which gets through 3.1 cups on average.The caffeine bea...

As the demand for personalized marketing grows, AI is becoming a critical tool in enterprises’ technology arsenals. Marketers’ use of AI soared between 2018 and 2020, jumping from 29% in 2018 to 84% in 2020. Marketing automation alone is now employed by 53% of business-to-business organizations today, eConsultancy reports, with 37% planning to implement it in the future.Because AI is adept at...

According to eMarketer’s forecast, US direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecommerce sales will reach $151.20 billion in 2022, an increase of 16.9% compared to this year. And while D2C purchasing will only account for 2.5% of total retail sales in the year ahead, these brands have challenged and successfully disrupted the retail industry by diversifying consumer experience.Originally, D2C referred to digi...

The new glitter is made out of organic materials extracted from plants, fruits, vegetables, and wood.The researchers believe that their invention could provide a sustainable replacement for the plastic glitter particles and tiny mineral effect pigments currently used in lots of cosmetics.Spotted: Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a sustainable, plastic-free, non-toxic, a...

Many entrepreneurs start businesses around the world, but only the most successful new companies become “unicorns”—the biggest startups with a valuation above $1 billion.Some unicorns are little-known companies making quiet but impactful strides in software, healthcare, automotive, and other fields. Others have already become well-known industry leaders, like aerospace manufacturer SpaceX an...

Chemical engineers patent a smart dressing that binds the edges of a surgical incision, delivers medication, and reports on healing progress.It’s long been a staple of science fiction to mock the simple suture as outdated. And why not – the wound-closure technique has been in use for at least 5,000 years.Prof. Hossam Haick’s chemical engineering lab at the Technion – Israel Institute of Tec...

Every year, Benedict Evans produces a big presentation exploring macro and strategic trends in the tech industry. This year, ‘Three Steps to the Future’.The most exciting themes in technology today are transformative visions for 2025 or 2030: crypto, web3, VR, metaverse… and then everything else. Meanwhile, hundreds of start-ups take ideas from the last decade and deploy them over and over i...

Solar panels continuously accumulate dust, dirt and other debris, plus they're often located atop tall buildings or in remote areas – this means that they need to be cleaned, but doing so is difficult. That's why a drone-based setup is now being developed to do the job.The "drone-in-a-box"-type system is being created via a collaboration between Israeli solar farm services company Solar Drone...

Despite a gloomy global economy, China’s luxury market continues to break new ground. Here are three luxury categories with massive development potential.Key Takeaways:Fragrances will help define the tastes of the next generation of luxury consumers, and key market players are investing in them well beyond traditional distribution strategies.Ikea has helped bring affordable design into the hom...