Welcome to Issue 33 of Show Me What’s Hot, your monthly newsletter with the hottest innovations, brands and design, curated by Missouri.
This month’s Show Me What’s Hot celebrates Black History Month. We’ll take you through brands and campaigns, highlighting the hottest black businesses, breakthrough ideas and important messages to takeaway. Celebration and focus on an under-represented group is important all year round.
After noticing a lack of diverse representation in the spirits category, Chris Frederick and Damola Timeyin teamed up to create Spearhead, an African spirits group. Going toe to toe with the Western spirit staples, their portfolio highlights the continent’s heritage from bottle to sip.
Bayab is their award-winning premium copper distilled Gin brand making a breakthrough in the industry. Their range of gins are distilled using locally grown wheat and botanicals unique to Africa, haloing their hero botanical from the tree of life, Baobab fruit.
There are over 50 countries on the African continent, yet finding accessible cuisine that reflects its huge diversity might leave you hungry for more. Enter Adùn, a range of ready-to-eat, African-inspired frozen meals. Its playfully cool branding and dish variation will have you ditching that pasta bake for Puff Puff with the ping of a microwave.
Beaucoup, founded in New Orleans, Louisiana, combines flavour and culture in perfect measure. Their hot designs look more album cover than spice rack, bringing an element of street art and vibrancy not traditionally seen in the category. And as ethically manufactured and health-conscious (low sodium) products that do not compromise on flavour, they are sure to leave a good taste.
Research from Dove revealed that almost half of black or mixed-race women with afro hair experienced race-based hair discrimination at school. To coincide with UK Black History Month, Dove launched Reclaiming School Picture Day, Dove gave black and mixed-race women the platform to recreate their school pictures with their natural hair and raising awareness of the issue.
The campaign encapsulates Dove’s brand message, a compelling social mission, as well as providing exposure and a platform an important discussion. This campaign transcends generations, inspiring and empowering black and mixed-race women.
Capitalising on their famous curation creds, Spotify’s ‘Phenomenal black music’ is a series of tailor-made playlists to celebrate Black History Month. Their selection ranges from the new music trailblazers to throwback icons as well as showcasing black-run podcasts. The playlists also include cover art images from black photographers making it a multi-dimensional celebration of black culture, allowing listeners to explore and integrate different media into their daily regime.
