UK – A new range of plant-based breakfast drinks is packaged in compostable bottles made from sustainable sugar cane.

Due to be launched in April, Earlybirds encourages healthy convenience while promoting eco-friendly packaging. By focusing on both the contents and the container for its products, the London-based start-up aims to differentiate itself from other ready-to-drink products, which are often heat-treated, high in sugar and sold in plastic bottles.

In contrast, Earlybirds’ three breakfast drinks are cold-pressed to preserve nutritional content, contain fibre and are lower in sugar than many competitors. Flavours available are Mango Baobab, Spiced Apple and Strawberry Banana, all of which are made with either coconut, almond or oat milk as a base, a portion of fruit and vegetables, and oats, flaxseeds and plant protein.

Through its material innovations, the company says its goal is to ‘support the increase in supply of plant-based packaging that will encourage the introduction of a third disposal stream across the UK’. For more on the materials of tomorrow, read our Material Far Futures report.

Amsterdam – The airline is using technology to allow travellers to exchange local tips, making use of dead airport time.

The new travel experience, Take-off Tips, has been installed in airports in Amsterdam, Oslo and Rio de Janeiro. It connects fliers to a hologram of someone in the airport of the city they are flying to, with people encouraged to have a conversation and swap local tips and cultural insight.

By using technology to spark conversations between strangers who would otherwise never have met, KLM is making use of the hours spent waiting at airports while also injecting serendipity into the flying experience.

As globalisation makes the world feel smaller, the very concept of nationality is becoming more fluid. Read more about how this is affecting the travel industry in our macrotrend New Bricolage Living.

As workplaces continue to evolve, the increasing importance of soft skills is being recognised. Data from LinkedIn’s 2019 Global Talent Trends finds that prospective employers and hiring managers are prioritising soft skills alongside hard skills during the recruitment process.

The rise of automation means that creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability and time management have emerged as the most in-demand soft skills. Despite their growing value, companies struggle to formally assess these skills, according to the report, and 68% of talent professionals say they gauge soft skills by picking up on social cues during interviews.

Brands such as Crowne Plaza are already training their staff to be emotional intelligent, and in Brand Culture 2020, we explore how brands can create a future-fit workforce that balances soft skills with the benefits of automation.