The World Cup is expected to bring a huge boost in tourism spending to host countries across North America. This will represent a significant rebound after political uncertainty drove tourism declines, especially in the US, in 2025. Sports tourism is a significant value driver, and there are critical opportunities around the World Cup.

Euromonitor International attended the 2026 National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago this May. One of the big headlines was the sheer number of vendors looking to bring their AI-based restaurant solutions to kitchens. From menu automation to delivery planning, and even voice-operated vending solutions, AI was everywhere.

As the FIFA World Cup approaches, leading foodservice and delivery players are rolling out strategies to capture consumption beyond the stadium, recognising that most viewing will take place in homes, offices, bars, and restaurants.

Join our experts as we break down the expansion playbooks of leading Chinese and Korean brands, revealing how they adapt to local markets, build ecosystem advantages and leverage authenticity to capture new demand.

Gen Alpha is emerging as one of Asia Pacific’s most influential cohorts. Families with children are predicted to generate USD9 trillion in household expenditure by 2025; and by 2040, the region will be home to an estimated 965 million Gen Alpha consumers, contributing USD3 trillion in spending.

The global energy price shock and supply disruptions amid the US/Israel-Iran war expose Asia’s dependence on Middle Eastern energy, concentrated trade corridors, and highly price-sensitive consumer demand. The immediate disruption is already affecting economies, companies and consumers across the region, but the bigger implication is more structural: energy security, supply chain optionality, and value-driven demand are becoming more central to business strategy in a more volatile operating environment.

Business success depends on your ability to sustain growth. Here are eight data-driven strategies you can use to spot market opportunities that'll help drive top-line gains.

Traditional loyalty KPIs are losing relevance. Metrics such as enrolment rates, breakage and points liabilities increasingly fail to show whether a programme is truly effective. They capture activity, not impact. What now matters is whether loyalty schemes measurably change customer behaviour.

Most claim strategy is trendspotting and activation. Brands scan the cultural landscape for what consumers are currently anxious about or aspiring towards and build claims around that signal. Clean label, gut health, immune support, stress relief; each of these has had its moment, and each has faded or been diluted as the cultural mood shifted and the category filled with me-too competitors. The underlying logic is demographic and attitudinal: find a segment, find their current focus or fear, match your claim to it. There is a more durable, sticky alternative. Alongside following trends, we should follow roles.

The US/Israel-Iran war has delivered a dual shock to global supply chains through production decline and transit disruption, with Gulf crude oil output down approximately 60% (at time of writing). Infrastructure destruction prolongs recovery, while commodity shortages impacting packaging, fertilisers and electronics accelerate ally-shoring and alternative energy adoption. Consumers face price increases and volume decline, with stagflation posing the most significant structural risk.

GenAI’s tendency to agree can skew responses and requires expert human judgement to challenge outputs. Market research is the filter that ensures integrity, keeping decisions grounded in evidence.

As consumers become more selective, claims made about food are now less about driving incremental value and more about maintaining relevance. A clearer “claim ladder” is emerging: baseline nutrition cues at the bottom, and outcome-led propositions at the top that can still justify premium pricing when aligned with category role and sensory appeal.