🍄 The shroom boom is a huge opportunity

Happy Trends Tuesday!

Today we’ve got:

• 1 trend alert
• 1 piece of operator wisdom
• 1 startup you should know about

Let's get to it.

🚨 TREND ALERT

Our first article about the booming shroom market (no, not the magic kind) was back in 2020.

We nailed it, and several Trends members capitalized on the opportunity.

Lucky for you, it’s still early. The global mushroom market is set to reach $90.4B by 2028.

Opportunities include:

1. Grow kits. The r/MushroomGrowers subreddit recently passed 283k subscribers. One brand is bringing in $132k+/month on Amazon.
   
   
2. Fun(gi) experiences. Global agritourism will surpass $117B by 2027, pick-your-own produce is becoming increasingly popular (think apple picking), and #MushroomHunting has 690k+ Instagram tags.
   
   
3. Mushroom fashion. Brands including Adidas, Stella McChartney, and Lululemon offer goods using mushroom leather.

📊 SKILL DEVELOPMENT TEMPLATES

🧠 OPERATOR WISDOM

There are ~114m YouTube channels, but less than 10% reach 1k+ subscribers – the benchmark that unlocks monetization.

On average it takes 22 months to get there, according to TubeFilter, but Trendster Deya Aliaga Kuhnle pulled it off in just 9 months.

We got her five biggest tips for doing the same:

1. Consistency is key. Deya recommends creating a system and workflow (she uses Notion) to make creating videos a non-negotiable part of your routine.
   
   
2. Make it easy. Remove even the smallest sources of friction that you encounter each week. Some of Deya’s tips: buy a second camera battery, create shorter videos, consider a teleprompter, and stick to the same good filming spot / angle.
   
   
3. Quantity before quality. At first, just get videos out there because the most important thing is developing the habit of publishing. Once you’re there you can ask, “what can I do better?”
   
   
4. Focus on the right metrics. It’s easy to focus on subs & view counts, but those are not within your control (especially in the beginning). Instead, focus on engagement: Are people commenting? What do they find useful? What do they ask for?
   
   
5. Prioritize fun. “Adults don’t prioritize fun as much as they should,” Deya mentioned (we agree). Write scripts as if you were talking to your best friend, sprinkle in your personality, include bad jokes and puns instead of editing them out.

In case there are any doubts, since talking to Deya just 8 months ago her channel has grown to more than 4k subscribers 🎉.

🔥 STARTUP YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

Plastic bags, bottles, food containers, and cutlery — all of which make up most delivery orders — account for more than half of the world’s ocean litter 😱.

To make your guilty pleasures guilt-free, German startup Vytal manufactures custom reusable containers that are leased to restaurants on a pay-per-use basis. They’re already putting up impressive numbers:

• 320k reusable packing items have been delivered
• 99.3% of those are returned, in order to be reused
• 4.3m units of disposable packaging replaced

Read the full story on The Hustle blog to learn more about Vytal.

PS. We gathered an expert panel of entrepreneurs to break down how to make a positive impact alongside your profits. It’s next Thursday, y’all. Don’t miss it.

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