The food and beverage industry is undergoing major shifts as U.S. consumers gravitate toward natural, whole foods diets.

Shoppers are scrutinizing nutrition labels more closely, opting for groceries made with fewer, simpler ingredients. Although gluten-free foods are still a hot item, consumers are increasingly aware that gluten-free doesn't always mean guilt-free.

Meanwhile, the popularity of meal kit delivery services continues to soar, as more and more companies roll out subscription offerings for consumers seeking convenient home-cooked meals.

Read on to learn more about these trends.

The US travel services industry, which includes both traditional and online travel agencies, increasingly faces a new source of competition for booking services: the airlines and hotel operators themselves.

A growing number of airlines and hotels are adopting strategies — such as loyalty programs, fees on third-party bookings, or discounts on direct bookings — to encourage consumers to book services directly with them.

The future of motorcycles is being forged today. Leading manufacturers are developing new technologies with the potential to revolutionize the riding experience. 

This wave of innovation, however, has garnered sparse news coverage. The media has focused on developments in the automotive industry such as self-driving cars and electric vehicles, paying little attention to similar trends in motorcycles. 

Retail clinic locations have increased 38 percent in the last five years, according to Kalorama Information, a leading publisher of healthcare market research. Retail clinics are positioned for significant growth in the future, as patients continue to seek out convenient, low-cost healthcare services.

Because doctor's offices are usually only open during business hours on weekdays, it can often be challenging to make an appointment, take time off work, and sit in the waiting room before being seen by a medical professional. In contrast, retail clinics offer walk-in services seven days a week, including evenings and weekends.

You may not realize this, but the newspaper industry has long been in the advertising business, deriving the majority of its revenue from the sale of ad space in print publications. In exchange, businesses purchasing these ads were assured a broad audience of readers. For many years, it was a win-win situation for both sides.

But the digital revolution has changed that. Between 2005 and 2015, newspaper publishing revenues fell at an average annual rate of 7.0%, largely due to advertising losses. In 2015, advertising services accounted for 55% of publishing revenues, down from 71% in 2005.

Five days after the close of a month, I sit at my desk and go through our P/L (profit and loss) statement looking for signs, messages, trends, clarity.

I suspect many in the political world are doing the same.

I print out all the pages that show what we call the “monthly trend” so I can see how we’ve done in previous months, with a final column comparison to the budget.

I take out a wooden ruler from my drawer, and I follow each line asking myself questions about what I expected. Does it jive with what I was told? Does it go along with the narrative I heard over the previous 30 days?

If the election were my P/L, here is what I would consider:

During the final two presidential debates of 2016, the candidates broadly discussed trade. In a brief exchange, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton asserted that the dumping of steel and steel products from China, Japan, and South Korea into US markets has damaged the domestic steel industry.

Now that he is the President-elect, Trump’s plans for the beginning of his presidential term include tenets that reflect these concerns, such as withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and working with the Secretary of Commerce to end unfair trade. 

Long reliant on advertisements as their primary source of revenue, internet publishers, broadcasters, and search engine providers face mounting challenges to their ad-supported business models.

In particular, the rising use of ad blockers – software programs that prevent internet ads from being displayed – by consumers is threatening to undermine the industry’s key source of revenue.

What core skills should researchers build in order to excel? How can researchers stay relevant and impactful long into the future, as technologies continue to evolve?

A variety of thought leaders in the marketing and research sectors shed light on these questions in the new report Towards an Insights Driven Organisation from the MRS Delphi Group.  

According to the report, a passion for the customer and rigorous objectivity are just baseline skill sets. Researchers of the future must also develop the following attributes and abilities.

In October 2016, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that provinces must develop a plan to reduce carbon emissions by 2018 or face a C$10 tax per ton of emissions. This figure would increase by C$10 per ton each year until 2022, when emissions would be priced at C$50 per ton. This tax will only be imposed if provincial leaders fail to come up with a plan to limit emissions of their own.

The new carbon pricing scheme is part of the government’s effort to comply with the Paris agreement. Signed earlier this year, the agreement aims to limit the global temperature increase this century to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. While further reductions will be needed for Canada to fully comply with its international commitment, the proposed carbon pricing scheme is seen as an important first step.