globalEDGE Blog Archive September 2020

For years, retailers have been criticized for having their employees work long hours between Thanksgiving and Black Friday. This year, retailers have been forced to reevaluate what their holiday shopping will look like amidst a global pandemic.

If you are unfamiliar with the social media app TikTok and how they make money, check out my blog post from this past February.  Since that point, TikTok’s platform has continued its ascension into the mainstream and the company has experienced rapid growth in active users across the world.

When we think about chocolate, we usually refer to three kinds: white, milk, and dark. These treats have been a part of our lives for decades. From snacks to drinks, chocolate satisfies the craving of millions of people around the world. It is estimated that every year, about 7.2 million metric tons of chocolate are consumed worldwide. Being such a mature market, no one expected an addition to the family. However, in 2017, a Swiss chocolate maker Callebaut announced the existence of a fourth type of chocolate—Ruby Chocolate.

Many markets are fluctuating through today’s current wants and needs in the world. One market that has grown is the tea market. But, even through it’s growth, this market is facing many problems.

After a sixteen-month investigation, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has announced that major banks throughout the world have taken part in allowing dirty and illegal money to pass through their institutions. The ICIJ’s investigation has concluded Bank of New York Mellon, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan, and Standard Chartered Bank as the five main financial institutions responsible for authorizing the moving of crime-financing funds.

In this day and age, there are countless channels available to consume media.  From the radio to television to social media networks, we are constantly bombarded with information and can access any content at our fingertips.  New channels are cropping up all the time as well.  One way to consume media that has skyrocketed in popularity is listening to podcasts.  Podcasting is expected to be a $1 billion industry by 2021 and listeners are expected to top 100 million in the United States alone.  Let’s dive into the podcasting industry and how it looks around the world.

Water is a necessity for life and is one of the most valuable resources on the planet.  Each year, close to four trillion cubic meters of freshwater is consumed around the world and almost every daily activity or good requires water to use or make.  This fact is often overlooked, as the use of water is typically only thought of in terms of physical consumption and cleaning.  In an exploration of the plethora of ways that society uses water, its role in the wellness industry is rapidly growing.

2020 has been an extremely volatile year. The year started with stock markets hitting all-time highs before the Coronavirus pandemic closed down much of the world’s economy, negatively hitting many industries. The insurance industry, despite taking on large amounts of risk when writing policies, is considered to be pretty safe and stable. How has it held up to the pressure applied this year?

Since the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors and scientists have told the public that a vaccine will be the most effective way to stop the spread of COVID-19. More than 6 months later, the United States, China, Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom all have vaccines going through testing in phase 3.

One staple of entertainment for over a century has been attending movie theaters.  However, the introduction of the COVID-19 pandemic stagnated movie theater operations, not to mention the entire film industry as a whole. Major release films such as No Time to Die and Wonder Woman 1984 were delayed until the end of 2020, and there are still questions regarding how they will be distributed.  

Perhaps one of the few industries not affected by the COVID pandemic is the dietary supplement industry. Like hand sanitizers, the demand for supplements, especially immunity-related, saw a huge surge after the outbreaks. Although a portion might be due to panic-buying, the overall demand and awareness for these products have skyrocketed. In fact, the nutraceutical market had a very strong forecast before the pandemic even took place. And, being a relatively new industry, innovation can be seen everywhere in dietary supplements, from marketing campaigns to selling methods. However, as with every industry, there are always still opportunities for growth.

While the coronavirus pandemic rages on, new battles are rearing their faces. As people search for more and more news about current events, they flock to online media sources. Traditional journalism is not happy. The most recent battleground for these face-offs has been Australia.

Throughout the past two fiscal quarters, the global markets have been in cahoots in relation to what is forthcoming for the world’s financial sectors. With the pandemic’s conclusion remaining unknown, the vulnerability of the global economy increases by the day.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that the world around us can change before our eyes.  In mid-March, people retreated to their homes, economies crawled to a halt, industries took massive hits, and countries rushed to develop policies to combat the spread of a virus many of us had never even heard of.  Now, in early September, many of us have settled into remote work, pushed off our travel plans, and adapted to practices like mask-wearing to adjust to living in the midst of a pandemic.  But what about the economy?  Let’s look at the recovery and state of the economies of a few countries around the world.

Five months after the coronavirus pandemic brought global activity to a screeching halt, we are still experiencing its effects and aftermath.  With such a drastic change in everyday life that occurred at what seemed like the snap of a finger, businesses everywhere have been forced to adapt to extremely challenging conditions.  As a result, several companies have come up with innovative ideas that have minimized risk and allowed their respective value chains to stay intact.

After a summer of internships, learning, and exploring, the globalEDGE team is returning for the 2020-2021 academic year.  We are eager to take on the challenges that a remote-learning environment poses and we look forward to providing our viewers with highly valuable and interesting information.  Look for the globalEDGE blog to return to its regular Monday through Thursday schedule starting next Monday, September 7th.