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Each year after Thanksgiving, people flock to TikTok to show off the elaborate sandwiches they build out of their holiday meal leftovers. The ritual, going strong for at least four years now, is often paired with a viral audio clip from the quintessential ’90s sitcom Friends describing the perfect sandwich made out of holiday leftovers. The sandwich, starring an extra slice of gravy-soaked bread in the middle, is known as the moist maker. This Thanksgiving, Heinzmaker of ubiquitous and inoffensive condiments like ketchup and mustardis escalating matters considerably by introducing a squeeze bottle gravy designed to engineer the ultimate Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich. The squeeze bottle, labeled leftover gravy, actually comes empty in a special kit paired with a jar of Heinz turkey gravy and instructions that quote the Friends episode. The limited edition kit will be for sale through Walmart.com. A social media favorite among millennial sitcom-lovers, the Moist Maker epitomized an obsession with holiday food crafted with care and detail, Heinz Associate Director of Brand Communications Jamie Mack said in a press release, adding that the gimmick is a celebration of fans who share an irrational love of the moist maker. The concept of squeeze bottle gravy prompts many further lines of inquiry. Heinz already sells a surprisingly diverse array of jarred gravies with flavors like caramelized onion and thyme (for the adventurous) and regular turkey gravy for traditionalists who wont be cooking a gigantic hunk of poultry for hours and savoring its juices the old fashioned way. While the jars make sense, does a squeeze bottle really add any convenience? Would anyone try it? Is the gravy cold? The TV moment, from 1998s fittingly titled Friends episode The one with Ross’s sandwich, is capped off by Ross discovering that his boss keeps eating his sandwiches at work, including his prized moist maker, and absolutely crashing out. [Image: Heinz] FoodTok trends Brands hot on the trail of food-related TikTok trends is nothing new. Food and cooking are extremely popular enduring topics on TikTok, regularly launching micro-trends, viral one dish meals, horrifying products, dubious historical recipes, and massive content categories. Like all things on TikTok, these trends come and go quickly (mini pancake cereal, we miss you), but videos that hop on a food trend at the right time can easily rack up millions of views and a ton of engagementa tempting prize for any brand trying to stay relevant. While Gen Z generally powers TikToks viral food scene, Heinz says its gravy stunt is aimed squarely at a generation thats old enough to have watched Friends as the show aired. According to Heinz, the new condiment is aimed at the growing demographic of millennial hosts who are redefining holiday traditions. And redefine them you will, if you invite squeezable gravy to mingle with your precious post-Thanksgiving leftovers. Heinz isnt the first brand to hop on the gravy train. Last year, the upscale kitchen store Williams Sonoma posted its own version of the moist maker. Kings Hawaiian bread company, maker of excellent rolls for Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches, did too. The grocery chain Kroger was even earlier to the trend, quizzing its audience on the audio clip of Ross describing his sisters culinary flash of genius back in 2022. The TikTok account cooking panda appears to have originally uploaded the sound in 2021, juxtaposing the Friends clip with video of a moist makers step-by-step construction process and racking up 1.7 million likes in the process. Heinz might not be early to the moist maker trendnow ancient by TikTok standardsbut what it lacks in timeliness it plans to compensate for with sheer commitment to the bit.
Category:
E-Commerce
Imagine youre watching a basketball game. Youre not focused on the stat sheetyoure watching how the players read the court, pivot when a play breaks down, and celebrate their teammates. Those moments tell you a lot more about how someone performs under pressure than any metric ever could. I think about hiring the same way. Like a stat sheet, a résumé might list someones achievements, but it wont show how they adapt under pressure or support a team. Yet in the age of AI, companies often overlook that, prioritizing technical skills instead. According to a 2024 report from Microsoft and LinkedIn, 71% of employers said they would choose an AI-fluent candidate with less experience over someone more experienced but with limited AI knowledge. Technical ability matters, of course. But in a world where technology is evolving by the week, so are the skills needed to keep up. Thats why I dont screen for skillI scout for character. Because when everything else is changing, character is the one thing that cant be automated or learned from a prompt. Its the foundation for building a culture that wins together, not just works together. While tech keeps shifting, culture endures Were in what Goldman Sachs economists are calling a period of jobless growthan era where the economy is expanding but hiring lags behind. There are fewer openings, more applicants, and slower movement on both sides. At the same time, AI is reshaping the definition of work and what companies think they need. Everyones racing to hire the candidate who knows the latest model or has experience with the newest tools. But no one really knows what AI skills will mean six months from now. PwC found that requirements for AI-exposed roles are shifting 66% faster than in other jobsmore than twice the rate of change just a year ago. Whats cutting-edge today could be obsolete by next quarter. Even with a deeper pool of applicants, many companies are still hiring against moving targets, chasing technical standards that continue to evolve. And in a job-hugging economy where employees are staying put longer and hiring cycles have slowed, every decision carries more weight. The people you hire today will shape your company for years to come. Thats why culture matters more than ever. Too often its treated like an elusive vibesomething that magically appears when the right mix of people land in the same room. Or worse, its reduced to sameness: hiring people who share the same background, and likely talk and think the same way. Thats not culture, thats comfort. Real culture is chemistry. Its intentionally built on how people think, collaborate, and recover together when things go wrong. As technology keeps rewriting job descriptions, that chemistry is what helps teams move faster, grow stronger, and stay resilient through cycles of disruption and reinvention. Build a resilient culture one character interview at a time After years of conducting culture interviews, I know that one great hire can lift a team, and the wrong one can just as easily unravel it. Im looking for people who stay calm under pressure, think critically, and are driven by purpose, not titlestraits that endure long after roles, tools, and technologies change. Culture interviews are where you see that come to life; they strip away polish and show why someones really sitting across from you. These are a few ways I approach interviews to get a truer sense of the person behind the résumé. Be in the room As an HR executive, I make it a point to lead every culture interview I can, because who you hire shapes the culture, and culture shapes the business. Thats a responsibility no senior leader should be removed from. When senior leaders make time for interviews, it signals to candidates that culture isnt just talkits taken seriously and owned at every level. As an executive, being in the room gives you a better read on the energy, mindset, and values someone will bring to the team. Its also an opportunity to establish a mutual sense of respect and investment right out of the gate. If leaders expect candidates to show up with honesty and humility, we have to do the same. That starts with being fully present, making clear that their time matters as much as yours. Use consistency to reveal character In every culture interview, I ask the same core questionsnot because Im looking for perfect answers, but to see the level of energy behind them. When candidates are given the same starting point, you start to notice characteristics that cant be rehearsed, like thoughtfulness, curiosity, and excitement. Confidence can easily be mistaken for competence, especially when people have polished their right answers. But consistency helps surface patterns: Who takes a beat to reflect? Who connects ideas instead of reciting them? Who lights up when they talk about their career goals? In a time when ChatGPT and Copilot can write a résumé and coach candidates through mock interviews, a consistent framework helps cut through the performance and surface honesty and self-awareness. Remember that questions are a two-way street Some of the most revealing moments in a culture interview are when the questions go both ways. I pay close attention to what candidates ask, because their questions can say just as much as their answers. Are they trying to understand how decisions get made, how teams collaborate, what growth looks like? That tells me they care about more than a title or a paycheck. They are thinking about the environment they might step into. Curiosity signals investment. When a candidate asks me a tough questionthe kind that makes me pauseI respect it. It shows theyll bring that same honesty and initiative once theyre on the team, and thats what strengthens culture. Look for the same values, not the same story Great talent exists everywhere; the key is knowing what to look for. Whether Im interviewing in Milwaukee or Medellín, Im scouting the same core traits: curiosity, drive, honesty, and self-awareness. What changes is how people express those valueswhat ambition looks like to them, what stability means in their world, how they define success. Recognizing those nuances is how you build a culture that scales across borders, departments, and generations. The framework stays the same, but the conversation flexes. By knowing what to hold constant and what to adapt, you build and maintain a culture that lasts through technologies. Skills will change, but character is consant Technology will keep evolving faster than any job descriptionthats a given. But character doesnt run on an update cycle. Its what keeps companies steady when everything around them is in motion. Great hiring isnt about predicting the next trending skill. Great hiring means building teams that can adapt and problem-solve together, regardless of the new tools that come along. Whether or not your company has the shiniest or newest tech stack, organizations need people who can show up for each other and grow with the work. Skills will shift. Platforms will change. But your culture? Thats what gives you staying power.
Category:
E-Commerce
You might not know it from the headlines, but there is some good news about the global fight against climate change. A decade ago, the cheapest way to meet growing demand for electricity was to build more coal or natural gas power plants. Not anymore. Solar and wind power arent just better for the climate; theyre also less expensive today than fossil fuels at utility scale, and theyre less harmful to peoples health. Yet renewable energy projects face headwinds, including in the worlds fast-growing developing countries. I study energy and climate solutions and their impact on society, and I see ways to overcome those challenges and expand renewable energybut it will require international cooperation. Falling clean energy prices As their technologies have matured, solar power and wind power have become cheaper than coal and natural gas for utility-scale electricity generation in most areas, in large part because the fuel is free. The total global power generation from renewable sources saved $467 billion in avoided fuel costs in 2024 alone. As a result of falling prices, more than 90% of all electricity-generating capacity added worldwide in 2024 came from clean energy sources, according to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency. At the end of 2024, renewable energy accounted for 46% of global installed electric power capacity, with a record 585 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity added that yearabout three times the total generating capacity in Texas. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); Health benefits of leaving fossil fuels Beyond affordability, replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy is healthier. Burning coal, oil, and natural gas releases tiny particles into the air along with toxic gases; these pollutants can make people sick. A recent study found air pollution from fossil fuels causes an estimated 5 million deaths worldwide a year, based on 2019 data. For example, using natural gas to fuel stoves and other appliances releases benzene, a known carcinogen. The health risks of this exposure in some homes has been found to be comparable to secondhand tobacco smoke. Natural gas combustion has also been linked to childhood asthma, with an estimated 12.7% of U.S. childhood asthma cases attributable to gas stoves, according to one study. Fossil fuels are also the leading sources of climate-warming greenhouse gases. When theyre burned to generate electricity or run factories, vehicles, and appliances, they release carbon dioxide and other gases that accumulate in the atmosphere and trap heat near the Earths surface. That accumulation has been raising global temperatures and causing more heat stress, respiratory illnesses, and the spread of disease. Electrifying buildings, cars, and appliances, and powering them with renewable energy reduces these air pollutants while slowing climate change. So whats the problem? In spite of the demonstrated economic and health benefits of transitioning to renewable energy, regulatory inertia, political gridlock, and a lack of investment are holding back renewable energy deployment in much of the world. In the United States, for example, major energy projects take an average of 4.5 years to permit, and approval of new transmission lines can take a decade or longer. A large majority of planned new power projects in the U.S. use solar power, and these delays are slowing the deployment of renewable energy. The 2024 Energy Permitting Reform Act introduced by Senators Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, and John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, to speed approvals failed to pass. Manchin called it just another example of politics getting in the way of doing whats best for the country. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); An een bigger challenge faces developing countries whose economies are growing fast. These countries need to meet soaring energy demand. The International Energy Agency expects emerging economies to account for 85% of added electricity demand from 2025 through 2027. Yet renewable energy development lags in most of them. The main reason is the high price of financing renewable energy construction. Most of the cost of a renewable energy project is incurred up front in construction. Savings occur over its lifetime because it has no fuel costs. As a result, the levelized cost of energy for those projects varies depending on the cost of financing to build them. The chart shows what happens when borrowing costs are higher in developed countries. It illustrates the share of financing in each projects levelized cost of energy in 2024 versus the weighted average cost of capital. The yellow dots are solar projects; black and gray are offshore and onshore wind. [Chart: adapted from the International Renewable Energy Agencys Renewable power generation costs in 2024 report, CC BY 4.0] In many developing countries, wind and solar projects cost more to finance than coal or gas. Fossil projects have a longer history, and financial and policy mechanisms have been developed over decades to lower lender risk for those projects. These include government payment guarantees, stable fuel contracts, and long-term revenue deals that help guarantee the lender will be repaid. Both lenders and governments have less experience with renewable energy projects. As a result, these projects often come with weaker government guarantees. This raises the risk to lenders, so they charge higher interest rates, making renewable projects more expensive upfront, even if the projects have lower lifetime costs. To lower borrowing costs, governments and international development banks can take steps to make renewable projects a safer bet for investors. For example, they can keep energy policies stable and use public funds or insurance to cover part of the lenders investment risk. When investors trust theyll get paid, interest rates drop dramatically and renewable energy becomes the cheaper option. Without international cooperation to lower finance costs, developing economies could miss out on the renewable-energy revolution and lock in decades of growing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, making climate change worse. The path ahead To avoid the worst effects of climate change, countries have agreed to cut their greenhouse gas emissions over the next few decades. Achieving this goal wont be easy, but it is significantly less difficult now that renewable energy is more affordable over the long run than fossil fuels. Switching the worlds power supply to renewable energy and electrifying buildings and local transportation would cut about half of todays greenhouse-gas emissions. The other half comes from sectors where it is harder to cut emissionssteel, cement, and chemical production, aviation and shipping, and agriculture and land use. Solutions are being developed but need time to mature. Good governance, political support, and accessible finance will be critical for these sectors as well. The transition to renewable energy offers big economic and health benefits alongside lower climate risksif countries can overcome political obstacles at home and cooperate to expand financing for developing economies. Jay Gulledge is a visiting professor of practice in global affairs at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Tennessee. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Category:
E-Commerce
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