Welcome to our final podcast of 2025! We’re walking through some of the biggest themes and headlines from the year, from redefining “function” (with protein, THC, and caffeine) to the new target demographics for skincare + fragrance and the future of retail. Thank you for being a listener this year—we are so grateful, and can’t wait to continue providing more for you in 2026. If there’s anything else you’d like to see from us next year, feel free to reach out at hello@expresscheckout.co 😊
Want to dig deeper into the protein trend? Check out our two protein podcast episodes: https://expresscheckout.co/p/protein-is-not-a-trend and https://expresscheckout.co/p/proteins-new-era
Looking for more info on energy drinks? We got a pod on that too: https://expresscheckout.co/p/energy-drinks-are-for-the-girls
And if you’re trying to check out all of the major headlines and themes from 202, snoop through our archive of newsletters at https://expresscheckout.co/archive
The Rundown
00:00 Intro
01:58 Biggest theme of 2025: Redefining “function”
02:52 Proteinification
06:21 Energy drinks (are for the girls)
08:55 THC category boom
10:26 Magnesium/sleep
13:04 The next gen of retail
20:37 Teens and men: The new targets of beauty/skincare
27:00 How the big guys streamlined
29:08 The crazy headlines you probably forgot
36:37 Winners of 2025
44:12 2026 predictions
49:08 Bye 2025!!!
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