Coming out of Japan and Korea (see: last week’s (Seoul-Searching edition) an obsession with strawberry milk is slowly making its way to the States. Just opened in NYC’s West Village and getting a lot of attention for their strawberry milk and Japanese desserts, Post Card Bakery. Even US matcha pioneer Cha Cha Matcha has a strawberry-matcha combination that is getting good feed time. Food & beverage people, consider how you can play with this flavor profile.

What’s next out of Japan? A whipped cream vending machine. It dispenses soda can-shaped containers of 95% whipped cream/5% cake. The perfect proportion for topping lovers, with a respectable amount of the base dessert. CD & Co.'s predecessor TOBE called out vending machines as modern money-makers in 2013, and this only adds fuel to our fire. Start figuring out what you can package and sell via vending. It’s part game, part gain. We’re still bullish.

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