Need to Know
12 : 07 : 21

US – With affluent consumers increasingly seeking life-changing travel experiences, space travel company Space Perspective will begin offering luxury balloon rides that take guests up to 20 miles above the Earth. Accommodating up to eight guests, the balloons include reclining seats and a fully-stocked bar. Each ride costs £90k ($125k, €105k) and will last six hours.

While space tourism is conventionally considered an extreme pursuit, Space Perspective is positioning the balloon rides as a more leisurely and comfortable experience. The company explains: ‘The space curious who would have considered it either too risky – or expensive – now have the opportunity to experience the exhilaration of traveling to space.’ Following on from the mindsets we explore in our Untethered Luxurians report, the new service appeals to the luxury consumer's mindset of self-fulfillment over material investments.

Although space travel has previously been reserved for the mega-rich, this tourism experience suggests a future in which beyond-Earth voyages will become more accessible for a wider range of luxury consumers.

Copenhagen – Leaning into consumers’ growing interest in at-home cooking, cult restaurant Noma is diversifying its offering by selling in-house culinary creations as consumer packaged goods. Known as Noma Projects, the two umami-rich, fermented sauces are developed from the ancient tradition of garums.

The two garums capture the culinary expertise of Noma, which developed unique recipes through a process of trial and error to achieve optimum fermentation. While garums are typically made with fish, Noma's creations avoid animal protein to offer a vegan and vegetarian take ‘on a thousand-year-old culinary tradition that we’ve been developing over the past two decades.’ By making these available direct-to-consumer, Noma is echoing the ideas we explore in Anti-intuitive Cooking – cooking gourmet meals at home is now more accessible than ever.

With many restaurants having faced an economic hit during Covid-19, such products also provide an alternative way of reaching consumers to boost revenue and maintain loyalty. The launch also recognises the changing behaviours of Noma's customers, who are likely to continue with experimental cooking post-pandemic.

The economic and social impacts of Covid-19 are prompting people in the Middle East to shift their consumption habits towards eco-conscious brands. According to PwC’s Global Consumer Insights Survey 2021, this behaviour is set to outlast the pandemic, requiring non-sustainable business models to adapt quickly.

The survey found that 65% of consumers in the Middle East are becoming more eco-friendly as a result of Covid-19. And what's more, the region is out-pacing the rest of the world, with a staggering 75% saying they buy from companies that are environmentally conscious, compared with 54% globally; and 72% choosing products with a traceable and transparent origin, versus 55% globally.

With this push towards transparency in shopping behaviours, we can expect to see more innovations in the vein of Evrythng, a start-up with a mission to give all items a unique ID, enter the region.