Thematic Reads: Week of September 16, 2019
Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes.
Aging of the Population
The global demographic shift towards a more senior population
- Over 50 and Freelancing to Fill the Gaps in Retirement Funds (The New York Times)
- Why working has become the new retirement (NextAvenue)
Cleaner Living
Growing demand for items that claim to be better for you and the planet:
- PepsiCo Accelerates Plastic Waste Reduction Efforts (Yahoo!Finance)
- Beyond Meat replaces grilled steak on the Just Salad menu (MarketWatch)
- Confectionery in Asia is increasingly taking up the clean label challenge, as consumers seek out better-for-you indulgence products (FoodNavigator-Asia)
- Terramera raises $45 million for its technology to reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture (TechCrunch)
- Tyson Embraces Faux Fish by Backing Maker of Plant-Based Shrimp (Bloomberg)
Digital Infrastructure
The Buildout and upgrading of our Networks, Data Storage Facilities and Equipment
- Microsoft will test xCloud game streaming in Korea next month (Engadget)
- Memory demand for datacenters to pick up (DigiTimes)
- How 5G will reinvent “working from home” (Quartz)
Disruptive Innovators
Business models designed to transform an entire industry and leap-frog over incumbents.
- Verizon Ventures Prepares for 5G Startup Wave (WSJ)
- Kroger to speed order fulfillment with Ocado robotics (The Dallas Morning News)
Digital Lifestyle
The increasingly digital landscape that now underpins the entire consumer experience.
- As Gucci Tripped on Social Media, Sales Fell (WSJ)
- How Consumers Use Connected Devices To Shop And Pay (Pymts)
- NVIDIA’s game streaming service comes to Android this fall (Engadget)
- Rise of the ‘nocturnal shopper’ (FT)
- GameStop closing up to 200 stores globally (Chicago Sun Times)
- Online grocery sales see double-digit growth (Chain Store Age)
The products and services people will consume no matter the economic environment.
- New York to ban sale of flavored e-cigarettes by emergency order (CNBC)
- Vaping fears cast cloud over US tobacco industry (FT)
- Untapped growth levers among pillars to fuel Hostess (Food Business News)
Those things that bridge the gap between want and ability at every socioeconomic level.
- Superpremium ice cream set for continued growth (CNBC)
- Next Trump Tariffs May Soon Hit Europe’s Luxury Exporters (Bloomberg)
Consumers trading down when and where possible or looking to stretch the disposable dollars they do have.
- It now costs $350,000 a year to live a middle-class lifestyle in a big city (CNBC)
- White House to roll out tax cut plan mid-2020 (Reuters)
Reflecting the evolving needs across individual, cyber, corporate and homeland security.
- Facial recognition tech is a problem. Here’s how the Democratic candidates plan to tackle it. (Vox)
- Google AG probe: States want answers on privacy and antitrust (Cnet)
- Oklahoma Pension Fund Cyber Attack Shows Rising Risk for Munis (Bloomberg)
What Else We Are Loving
Other reads, experiences, products, services and the like that we enjoyed so much this past week we just had to share
- As some of us get ready to enjoy these – Oreo’s Halloween 2019 Cookies Feature Seasonal Colors & Spooky Designs (elite daily), let’s hope that this is an elaborate prank – Hostess gets creative with peanut butter and pickle Twinkies (KMOV4)
