The rise of bibliotherapy - prescribing curated books as mental health medicine - signals a growing recognition of literature's healing power in 2025. New data shows trained "book doctors" are increasingly popular, offering personalised reading prescriptions to tackle everything from anxiety to grief. While the practice traces back to 1916, it's gaining fresh relevance as an accessible alternative to traditional therapy. The trend resonates particularly in communities with limited mental health resources. Practitioners report that fiction, rather than self-help, drives the deepest transformation, suggesting storytelling as a path to emotional wellness.

 The cherry vibe taps into the nostalgia of the 1950s rockabilly and its revivals in the late 1990s/early 2000s, as well as in the mid-2010s. This re-emergence coincides with consumers’ desire of escapism and authenticity. It's not just about wearing cherry prints or applying cherry-flavoured lip balm, it’s about combining the comfort of nostalgia with sensory and emotional experiences. It’s "niche at scale"; an aesthetic that can be both deeply personal and widely appealing without losing its authentic core.

In this week’s edition of the Trend Taster, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Will you quit if forced to RTO?

• Grads Are Unprepared for the Workforce

• Gen Z's Career Catfishing

• Explainer: Bibliotherapy

• Gig Economy's Wellbeing

Brands are tapping into a growing desire for sensory comfort by creating products that engage multiple senses simultaneously. This shift is particularly evident in the beauty industry, where food-inspired products create emotional connections through familiar flavours and nostalgic scents. The trend reflects consumers' search for comfort in an increasingly digital world. This multisensory approach to comfort represents a broader shift toward products that satisfy both physical and emotional needs.

In this week’s edition of the Trend Taster, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Starbucks' free refill policy

• What is a "virtual community kitchen"?

• Spotify's Wrapped Haircuts

• Explainer: Tactile Hedonism

• AI is coming for your job

In this week’s edition of the Trend Taster, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Flat pack oat milk

• Horror aficionados

• The Princess and the Poo

• Explainer: Taste Profiles

• Artificial gut intelligence