LSN : News : WeWork is launching a food start-up incubator

Rory is a telehealth brand for menopausal women

Rory, US

US – Ro, the health company behind men’s wellness brand Roman, will provide products for women going through the menopause.

Rory is aimed at women aged 45 to 65 who are seeking more knowledge around their personal health at this life stage. The platform offers prescription and over-the-counter products for hot flushes, vaginal dryness, insomnia and loss of eyelashes – menopause symptoms that the brand says women often overlook.

Women are encouraged to fill in their details online, which a medical professional will then review to determine the appropriate treatments. For a more personal consultation, customers can pay $15 (£11.44, €13.36) for a video appointment with a physician. ‘Menopause and puberty are the only things every single woman will go through at some point in life, but there are very few resources online,’ says Rachel Blank, co-founder of Rory.

To see how businesses can play a part in aiding these integral but often inconvenient parts of a woman’s life, read our microtrend Life-stage Brands.

Retailers pledge to scrap paper receipts

Beat The Receipt by Flux, UK

UK – The Beat the Receipt campaign is partnering with leading UK retailers to reduce the waste and environmental impact of paper receipts.

With around 50% of paper receipts containing the same chemicals used in single-use plastic, and 90% of the 11 billion receipts printed in the UK each year lost, thrown away or fading beyond use, Beat the Receipt is encouraging both brands and consumers to end their reliance on these paper slips.

In response, Flux – the agency behind the campaign – has won commitment from retailers including KFC, Itsu, EAT and Pure to reduce their paper waste, highlighting the digital and opt-in alternatives that retailers can provide. ‘But the solution lies not just with technology. It lies in the hands of everyone who shops and everyone behind a till. We can all create change,’ explains Matty Cusden-Ross, CEO of Flux and BeatTheReceipt.

Coinciding with this, Flux has launched an online petition for the public and brands to sign, landing at a time when both consumers and retailers are increasingly conscious about the waste linked to buying and selling.

Whole Foods cleans up beauty with ingredients ban

Austin, Texas – The grocer’s new Body Care Standards will help perplexed consumers better navigate the ingredients commonly found in beauty and body care products.

Having compiled a study that found 59% of consumers rarely read the labels on beauty products, and 33% do not recognise the ingredients commonly used, Whole Foods Market has launched and applied its Body Care Standards to all the beauty and body care products it carries. With this, Whole Foods has banned more than 100 ingredients from its shelves, including phthalates, parabens, microbeads, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, triclosan, and aluminium chloralhydrate.

To educate consumers about its standards, Whole Foods Market will run its Better Beauty Swap across stores in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Tapping into the education-led growth of Prescription Supermarkets, shoppers will be able to learn more about safe ingredients and have an opportunity to swap empty beauty products for ‘cleaner’ alternatives.

Madara

WeWork is launching a food start-up incubator

We Work Food Labs, US

New York – The WeWork Food Labs will offer R&D spaces specifically for those working in the food industry.

The space, which will open in New York’s Chelsea neighbourhood later this year, includes an innovation lab that will contribute $1m (£763k, €890k) in equity investments to a number of start-ups. Although the space doesn’t include a commercial kitchen, members will be able to gain access to shared kitchens at a discount.

According to Roee Adler, global head of WeWork Lab, the brand isn’t looking for the next big food brand but hopes that companies will find solutions to the food industry’s biggest issues such as farming and sustainability. ‘One of the most interesting areas of innovation in the world today is food, and we are uniquely positioned to support the next generation of food and agriculture startups,’ says Adler.

Read our microtrend Edible Incubators to see how the food and drink sector is drawing inspiration from Silicon Valley, with new incubators opening that foster collaboration.

Stat: Societal attitudes around cohabitation are changing

Cohabitation among unmarried adults is losing its stigma, even among older generations, according to a study by Bedbible. Some 54% of the Silent Generation, those born between 1925 and 1942, say that cohabitation among people who aren’t married doesn’t make a difference in society.

This viewpoint is even more common among Generation Z and Millennials, with one-in-five saying cohabitation is good for society. When it comes to solo parenting, however, just 15% of these consumers view single mothers as a positive thing for society, highlighting the opportunity for brands to empower single mothers by transforming how they are perceived.

In our latest macrotrend Uncoupled Living, we explore how brands can tackle important societal trends such as Modern Cohabitation and Single Parents Empowered.

Thought-starter: What’s shaping the future of beauty?

From a sunbed designed for wellbeing to fungi shampoo, discover the most forward-thinking launches at this year’s Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna.

Beauty and wellbeing brands continued their focus on holistic products as Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, combining natural ingredients with science-led, efficacious formulas and applications.

Eurosun introduced its Eva tanning bed, which has been devised with as much focus on wellbeing as on transforming appearance. Combining collagen-enhancing red light therapy with traditional tanning rays, the machine taps into growing interest in red light therapy – also known as photobiomodulation – which is reported to lower blood pressure and combat acne and skin ageing.

Elsewhere, Body Sculpture launched Beauty Fuel, a new range of tonics that combine active ingredients like pine bark extract and ascophyllum seaweed, known for their high levels of vitamins and nutrients but not necessarily their taste, with white grape and cherry juices to create a desirable beauty drink. Also tapping into natural ingredients, Mádara Organic Skincare’s new Grow Volume Shampoo is made with chanterelle mushrooms, ingredients said to improve blood circulation to the body and scalp, while boosting the production of keratin.

Read the full listicle here.