consumption

700 years of consumption to challenge China

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Whoever follows it, gets it. The world has embarked on the great adventure of finding rare earth anywhere to stop depending on China. Japan, with tense relations – to say the least – was one of the most interested, and has achieved what it been searching for two years: extract rich rare earth mud from about 6,000 meters deep. But it is one thing to find it and another to refine it on an industrial level. Success. Japan had a set schedule: its advanced Chikyu ship had to leave in January 2026 in search of rare earths. In 2024 they reported the discovery of what could be one of the largest deposits in the worldwith a prospecting for the beginning of 2026. The idea was to collect a sample of mud to see the composition, and the results could not have been more promising. ago uus daysnear Minami Torishima Island, Japan signed which is considered the first successful attempt to extract rare earth sediment at extreme depths. We are talking about some mud located in a pit at about 6,000 meters deep, where it is believed that there are a deposit of more than 16,000,000 tons of valuable material. It was an autonomous vehicle deployed at that depth that, using an unmanned excavator, circulated mud from that depth to the ship through a pipe. Similar to the technique used to prospect for oil and gas. Good rare earths. Rare earths are a set of 17 metals and elements that are essential for practically any industry today. From aerospace to medical devices, our mobile phones, electric cars or headphones themselves, they all need some of the metals from rare earths. But it turns out that some are more valuable than others. It is estimated that the lands of the Minami Torishima site stand out due to its concentration in dysprosium and terbium. These two are particularly rare and valuable because they are used in vehicle engine magnets and defense technologies. They also have a certain concentration of yttrium, which is used for lasers or superconductors. The rare earth war. As we read on Al Jazeera, Japan is ecstatic. A government spokesperson commented that this is “a significant achievement both for the country’s economic security and for its maritime development.” And the truth is that the discovery could not have come at a better time for Japan. We have already commented that China is the one that dominates rare earths. Not only its mining, but its production. For decades we have let China refine them because the process is very polluting and the laws in the Asian giant were somewhat more lax. The price has been high: the entire world industry depends on China, and China has not hesitated to use rare earths as a weapon when it has come under attack. For example, in the context of the technological war or with tariffs. liberally. And, speaking of context and war, the Pacific is abuzz. China claims Taiwan and some islands held by Japan while build artificial islands with varied purposes. Japan, meanwhile, has allied itself with a United States that is testing weapons in the area and deploying maritime units. And, furthermore, they are rearming. For that they need rare earths and, on January 6, China prohibited the export of all double items use to Japan. This implies anything that can be used to improve Japanese military capabilities. The order came after the Japanese Prime Minister announced that any action by China in Taiwan It would be responded to in a warlike manner by Japan. The Chinese statement did not specify which exports would be affected, but the Chinese media suggested that heavy rare earths were in the equation. Consumption for a while. That is, in the current context, it is not a whim for Japan to stop depending on China for the production of rare earths: it is a necessity. And there are already media outlets like the Nikkei that have described the deposit as the third largest reserve of rare earths in the world. Estimates point to more than 16,000,000 metric tons of rare earth oxides, something that would satisfy domestic consumption for several generations. For example, it point that there will be more than 730 years of Japanese consumption of dysprosium and more than 420 years of local consumption of terbium. Way to go. Now, Japan has found the clue, but now it is time to confirm the estimates and, above all, start extracting and refining these rare earths. That will be the task of researchers this year to, in 2027, begin carrying out large-scale extraction tests. The idea is to get 350 tons of mud a day. Then everything has to be loaded by boat to Minami Torishima, where a first cleaning of the sludge will be carried out to separate the valuable from the mud and, then, transportation to the continent, where the refining process will take place. With everything in hand, wait that the Japanese government publishes an economic viability report by March 2028. and red flags. It is evident that Japan’s announcement is hopeful both for its independence and for the rest of the world to begin to do something with the deposits it has been finding with the aim of achieving sovereignty in rare earths. But there are also challenges ahead. On the one hand, it esteem that each ton of sludge produces just two kilos of rare earth oxides. This means that enormous volumes of material have to be processed to separate the ‘wheat from the chaff’. Then there is the refining process itself, something pollutant due to what is necessary to do it and the waste that is emitted. And finally, the worry for the habitat destructionspecifically deep-sea ecosystems that, according to environmental groups, would receive an irreversible impact. And since we are what we eat, and more countries like China or Japan than They need fish with no possible alternativeclouds of particles from the seabed can affect the food … Read more

The owner of Mercadona believes that in a few years kitchens will disappear from homes. The consumption of precooked foods proves him right

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The forecast sounded so far-fetched, it clashed to such an extent with the gastronomic tradition of Spain, that it generated a considerable stir. Just a year ago, during the presentation of Mercadona’s accounts, Juan Roig surprised by predicting death (almost) imminent of domestic kitchens. “I said it and I maintain it: in the middle of the 21st century there will be no kitchens,” cried the businessman. In the future imagined by Roig we go from making our own food in the vitro at home to taking it already prepared from supermarkets, which have become an absolute reference for food. The sector data They confirm that, no matter how dystopian Roig’s prophecy sounds, it seems to be coming true. A percentage: 3.8%. Spain is a benchmark for the Mediterranean diet. But also, and increasingly, a country of families who are no longer willing to spend hours and hours in the kitchen. That’s what it suggests at least. the last balance of the Spanish Association of Prepared Meal Manufacturers (Asefapre). According to the data of the sector, in 2025, ready-made foods “reinforced their weight in the shopping basket”, with an increase in consumption of 3.8%. In total, 715,052 tons of prepared meals were sold, “a new record,” recalls Asefapre, which consolidates the trend of the last decade. Translated into hard and fast euros, sales rose to 4,309 million, with an annual increase of 5%. A figure: 18 kilos a year. To give us an idea of ​​what this growth means, Asefapre calculates that last year each Spaniard ate on average about 18 kilos of prepared dishes. As a reference it is almost the same amount of fish products that we Spaniards consume in our homes (another thing is the restaurants) throughout 2024. The difference between precooked and fish is that the demand for the latter takes time to increase. low hours (both fresh and frozen) while the former grows at a good pace. The latest balance sheet of the employers’ association reflects an annual increase of 4.7% in the consumption of prepared foods, a growth rate that comfortably exceeds that of food as a whole (0.6%). What do we eat? Asefapre segregate your data of sales, which offers us an interesting vision of what exactly we Spaniards consume. The cake goes to “refrigerated” products, with a sales volume of 330,602 t shipped in 2025, 5% more than the previous year. In second place are “frozen products”, with sales that amounted to 297,023 t (+2.5%). The “dishes prepared at room temperature”, very common in some supermarket chains, are quite far behind, with 87,426 tons sold, but they leave an interesting fact: their demand grew by 4.1%. From pizza to potatoes and pasta. If we go down to detail we see that what we Spaniards like most (at least it is what we demand most) are pizzas, the leading producer in the sector with a sales volume that amounted to 131,600 tons. They are followed by frozen potatoes, with 98,056 t, and pasta-based dishes, which totaled 72,405 t. The three categories grew, with sales increases ranging between 2.6 and 7.2%. Beyond the Spanish market, one fifth (21.4%) of the industry’s production ends up being exported. More than just strategy. At this point the question is obvious: Why do we buy more and more pre-cooked foods? What leads us to feed ourselves with prepared dishes, whether frozen, refrigerated or food sold at room temperature ready for consumption, like what Mercadona offers in its supermarkets? The answer is complex. On the one hand there is the sector’s strategy, which has increased and perfected its range of products, adding foreign dishes that aim in part at the growing population immigrant living in Spain. Beyond the efforts of the industry, the increase in consumption of prepared dishes also responds to profound changes at a social and cultural level. They increase the single-person householdsit gets complicated conciliation between professional and family life and even change the kitchen structure in the houses. Also our way of thinking, as Asefapre herself remembers: today it no longer ‘squeaks’ at us that they serve us a pre-cooked dish on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve or that in families there are no longer people willing to lock themselves between the stoves. Of new grandmothers and homes. “Grandmas are not like they used to be and prefer to go walking with friends, do pilates or travel,” he reflected during the presentation of the balance sheet the president of Asefapre, David Aldea. It is not the only cultural change he cited. Added to this are others, such as the fact that it is increasingly easier to find “homes with fewer members” or homes in which the space dedicated to cooking has been reduced to a minimum. The trend seems to confirm Roig’s prediction, which a year ago I already confirmed the good progress of Mercadona’s business line for ready-to-eat dishes, launched in 2018. “It is profitable and continues to grow.” Images | Andalusian Government (Flickr), Mercadona and Asefapre In Xataka | Mercadona has grown so much in Spain that for the US it is no longer just a supermarket chain: it is a “cultural phenomenon”

This graph shows per capita coffee consumption and leaves us with a disturbing question: what is happening in Luxembourg?

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Be it for your energetic effectsby its benefits in the body or even for their psychological effectscoffee is the second most consumed beverage in the world. Is one of the engines of the economy of countries like Colombia or Brazil, as well as a thermometer of global economic health. Coffee culture continues to expand, and in this graph we can see which countries whose inhabitants drink the most coffee every day. There is only one question: what about Luxembourg. Europe >> others. Despite not being producers (although climate change may change that sooner rather than later), Europe gives the rest of the world a review of coffee consumption. Including powers like Brazil, Costa Rica or Colombia. The top 10 positions in coffee consumption correspond to European countries, and except for Greece, which has managed to sneak into the TOP, they are all northern countries. Outside of that ranking we find a country that may be unexpected: Lebanon. Then we have Brazil, Canada and another string of European countries. But if there is a proper name on this list, it is Luxembourg. Luxembourg has a trick. Visual Capitalist has created the graph taking the data from Cafely. After an impressive display of figures, they detail that they have taken data from sources such as the International Coffee Organization, as well as from Wikipedia to calculate per capita consumption and from global surveys of more than 4,000 people. All this has led them to calculate that Luxembourg drinks coffee. And a lot. That each person, on average, drinks 5.31 cups a day seems outrageous. It does not reach worrying levels of caffeine consumption (There are drinks that are not coffee and have much more caffeine), but it is a fact that draws attention. However, there is a trick: Luxembourg’s per capita figure is explained because almost half of those who work in the country live abroad and drink coffee on the road, as well as to stay awake, and although they are not the country’s population, that consumption has been taken into account for Luxembourg’s totals. 5.31 coffees a day implies 118,227 cups that each person drinks throughout their life, and is well above other countries: Cups consumed throughout life Money spent throughout life Luxembourg 118,227 425,618 Finland 83,939 335,756 Sweden 58,612 216,863 Norway 58,159 255,900 Austria 45,198 149,153 Denmark 44,676 241,250 Swiss 42,318 211,591 Netherlands 39,854 123,548 Greece 37,449 116,092 (27) Spain 23,988 46,057 (28) Costa Rica 22,229 56,683 (39) venezuela 12,844 20,423 (41) Colombia 12,264 13,981 a fortune. The average price per cupFurthermore, it is not cheap at all. Not counting atrocities that can be paid in countries like Japan (it is not a product either and transportation is expensive) or Dubai (because… it’s Dubai), the average price of a cup in northern European countries is quite high. Contrast with the average price as we go down to Portugal, Italy or Spain. And more interesting than the average price of a cup It is the account of the money we spend on coffee throughout our lives, which we can also see in the table above. The great absentee. It may be striking that countries like Mexico have a consumption of just 0.29 cups, but along with Guatemala, Argentina or Peru, it is one of the countries with the least roots in coffee. For example, it esteem that each Mexican consumes 2.1 kilos of coffee per year, while Colombians increase the figure to 4.2 kilos. But the big absentee on this list is… China. The Asian giant is not a traditional coffee consumer, but things are changing. There is not only multitude of cafes and chains like Luckin Coffee that are present practically on every corner of a big city, but they are leading the greatest growth in the region in opening of new brand cafes. And they are not only emerging in the region: China is taking over tons of coffee from Brazil due to a market that is growing at double-digit speed since 2010, with a growth annual average of more than 20%, which is well above a world average that barely reaches 2% But anyway, there is no one to blame Luxembourg. And if at some point they blame you for drinking a lot, you can now say that you are trying to raise the average for your country in this curious competition. In Xataka | The latest craze for weight loss is adding mushrooms to coffee. Science is not clear that it is a good idea

After electrifying cars, China is targeting trucks. It is a slap in the face to global diesel consumption

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China is one of the oil monsters. Not so much in generation, where they want to start being a powerbut in consumption. It is the fuel of hundreds of millions of vehicles They hit the road every day, but things are changing. Although the Asian giant has become one of the powers in car electrification, diesel seemed to have a break thanks to trucks. Not even that anymore. Diesel down. China is second diesel consumeronly behind the United States. transportation concentrate between 70 and 80% of that final consumption, but in recent years, the market has been going down. It is estimated that, in June 2024, diesel consumption fell to 3.9 million barrels per day. It’s still stupid, but it was 11% less than during the same period the previous year. It was the biggest drop since mid-2021 (logical because of the pandemic and the world situation) and despite the industrialization of the country and the rise of both national and international trade, this consumption has remained at a “plateau” for more than a decade. That is to say: it should be much greater than 10 years ago, but that is not the case. Another fact: in August 2024, 8% of new trucks were electric, but in August 2025, the figure was 28%. electric trucks. He rise of electric cars could explain this negative trend in diesel consumption, but as we say, the boats and, above all, trucks continued to support the market. That is no longer so clear, especially with the recent involvement of the Government. In April this year, the Ministry of Transport published, with the support of other government departments, a program to encourage the majority of new truck sales to be new energy by 2035. To achieve this, there are objectives, such as that by 2027 the share of electrical energy in final transport consumption must be 10% and the proportion of new new energy vehicles must be increased each year. The heavy truck seemed to be the bastion of diesel, but now it is one of the central pieces of this decarbonization of transportation. Paradigm shift. To achieve this, in addition to direct aid for the purchase of heavy electric trucks, China has launched a specific action to eliminate and replace old diesel trucks, with subsidies for their removal and replacement with new energy units. In fact, there are advantages: freer access to restricted urban areasfewer time limitations and discounts on tolls. In a report by The Associated Press This paradigm shift is reflected: if in 2020 almost all new trucks in China were diesel, by 2025 electric trucks already represent 22% of new heavy truck sales. As our colleagues point out Motorpassionthe arrow is inverse to that of diesel consumption: in the same period of 2024, that percentage was 9.2%. And the load? It represents a paradigm shift and there are analysts who predict that, by 2026, diesel will only account for 40% of sales. The rest: electric and gas trucks. Is the charging infrastructure? Because we are seeing advances in the development of solid state batteries that will allow greater autonomy, but until they arrive, it is necessary that there be numerous charging points to support the electrification of transport. The National Energy Administration and the Ministry of Transportation have already affirmed that 98% of highway service areas already have charging points, with widespread installation of 120 kW chargers and, in some segments, 600 and 800 kW chargers. The intention is for there to be some 28 million charging points throughout the country by 2027, and one of the key pieces in that expansion is CATL. The company is one of those leads the battery sector worldwideand is currently tracing a “green corridor” that will cover the major freight hubs to facilitate loading, but also to implement its battery exchange system that speeds up the process. Green curve… and economic. This electrification of commercial transportation would add to the objectives of decarbonization of the countrybut obviously truckers and companies also see a benefit in their pockets, or so they esteem. Although electric trucks are between two and three times more expensive than diesel trucks and cost 18% more than LNGare more efficient, have less maintenance and can help save between 10% and 26% over their useful life. Horizon. This change to the electrification of trucks would already be reducing the demand for oil in the equivalent of more than a million barrels per day, and that a giant like China stops depending on crude oil for its trucks is something that can shake the market internationally. And that ambition is not going to stay within its borders. If in recent months we have seen that China has flooded Europe with his electric carswe can expect something similar for 2026, but with trucks. And, furthermore, it has torn off in Hungary the construction of a factory for electric trucks and buses. It is evident that this path started by cars will be followed by trucks, which in the end are a important source of emissions in a world with increasingly global trade. Specificallya third of all transport-related carbon emissions in 2019. Images | Volvo, Cheng Long In Xataka | China’s energy paradox: an ‘electrostate’ that continues to feed on coal

Drastically reduce the consumption of data centers is crucial for AI. And China has had an idea: to submerge them in the sea

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China is About to submerge a data center In the sea, near Shanghai, as a solution to a problem that we will gradually begin to see more: Great energy consumption of the AI. The installation, which will come into operation in mid -October, is one of the first commercial projects of this type in the world and points to a new way of cooling servers without depending on traditional cooling systems that devour electricity. The background problem. Data centers are the backbone of the Internet and AI, but They generate huge amounts of heat. Keeping them refrigerated by air conditioning or evaporation of water consumes a brutal amount of energy, and with the rise of artificial intelligence, the demand of these facilities has shot. China seeks to reduce the carbon footprint of this critical infrastructure, and its commitment It goes through sinking it underwater. How it works. The yellow capsule that They have built Near Shanghai houses servers that remain cold thanks to the ocean currents, without the need for active cooling systems. According to Yang Ye, vice president of Highlander, the maritime company that develops the project with state companies, “underwater operations have inherent advantages” and can save approximately 90% of the energy for refrigeration. The installation will extract almost all its electricity from nearby marine wind farms, with more than 95% renewable energy. The technical challenges. Putting servers under the sea is not easy. They must be protected from the corrosion of salt water, for which they use a special coating with glass scales on the steel capsule. Also They have installed An elevator that connects the main structure with a section that remains on the water, allowing the access of maintenance equipment. Another challenge is to build the Internet connection between the Submarine and Tierra Firme Center, a more complex process than with conventional facilities. Universities researchers in Florida and Japan They have warned In addition to these centers could be vulnerable to attacks by sound waves driven by water. Environmental doubts. Although the project promises to reduce emissions, questions remain about its ecological impact. The heat emitted by servers could alter the surrounding marine ecosystem, attracting some species and driving others. Andrew Want, marine ecologist from Hull University, Point out That “these are unknown aspects at this time, sufficient research is not yet being carried out.” Highlander says that an independent 2020 evaluation on its test project in Zhuhai indicated that the water remained well below the acceptable temperature thresholds, but Shaolei Ren, an expert from the University of California in Riverside, warns That climbing these centers will also climb the heat emitted. There are few precedents. Microsoft tested this technology off the coast of Scotland in 2018, recovering the capsule in 2020 after declaring that The project had been completed successfully. However, he never marketed it. The Chinese project advances with the support of government subsidies: Highlander received 40 million yuan for A similar project in the province of Hainan in 2022, which is still operational. The installation of Shanghai will serve clients such as China Telecom and a state computing company of AI. What comes now. Experts agree that these underwater centers will probably not replace the traditional ones, but will complement the existing infrastructure in specific niches. According to Rencurrent projects seek to demonstrate “technological viability”, but much remains to be resolved before a massive deployment. What is clear is that, if these types of projects face all technological challenges and manage to greatly reduce the energy consumed of the data centers, it will be a great point in favor for the company that manages to provide its solution in the AI ​​race. Cover image | AFP In Xataka | China was the great pollut the planet: now it is emerging as the first “electrostate” in history

The most powerful countries and with greater electricity consumption per capita, ordered in this graphic developer

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He Electric consumption It is a great thermometer for countries. The amount of energy we consume is an economic, but also social, climate indicator, of technological decisions and even lifestyle. The reason is that there is a wide range of factors that influence this consumption, and the following graph prepared by Visual Capitalist We can see what are the 15 countries with the highest GDP in the world which consume more electricity per capita. The surprise is called … Canada. Oh, Canada. The data comes from Ember and reflect the difference between the consumption of electricity per capita of the main world economies In 2024 and the one they had in 2000. A quarter of a century is more than enough to see a change in this regard, but what has not varied an apex are the two nations that lead the graph. Canada occupies the first position with consumption in 2024 of 15,708 kWh per person in 2024. The figure is considerably less than the one that registered 24 years ago and that high consumption is driven by an industry (especially mining and Aluminum production) very demanding at the energy level and for the electricity necessary to withstand the long winters. The United States, with 12,741 kWh per person, is not behind and the reasons are very similar: industry and air conditioning (which is at an excessive temperature both in winter and in summer). South Korea and China. Australia is another of the countries that traditionally exceeded 10,000 kWh per person, but these last 24 years have passed something curious: South Korea has glued a time comeback in this indicator. Here we enter that of electricity consumption as an economic thermometer, by relating the passage of the 6,200 kWh at 12,100 kWh due to an advance in advanced industrialization and manufacturing, especially in the segment of semiconductors and cars, as well as the growth of data centers. In China we live a very similar phenomenon, with a consumption of about 1,100 kWh in 2000 and one of 7,100 kWh currently due to that same technological expansion with the Accelerated industrialization in steelaluminum, electronics, data centers, semiconductors and electric vehicles as main protagonists. In addition, even if it is practically half of the per capita consumption of Canada, we are talking about a population of 1,400 million people compared to about 40 million. To put it in percentage: 17% of the world population compared to 0.5%. Logical. But the increase in consumption in these two countries is not only due to industrialization. Japan also has a strong industry and consumption has remained practically identical. There is another factor: The increase in middle classespecially in China. The increase of living standards, urbanization and electrification in homes has contributed considerably to this increase in consumption. Migration to large cities has generated a boom in construction and electrification due to the use of appliances, services and goods such as electric cars. Now, that is causing other problems, such as a life train incompatible with the formation of families wave Lack of people working in factoriesbeing two of the Shared problems with their neighbors Japan and South Korea. Two prominent outside the graphic. Germany, Spain and Italy have consumption very similar to those of 25 years ago, but if we look beyond this classification for the 15 main world economies, we have two names that eclipse everyone else. On the one hand, Iceland, with an imposing consumption of 51,920 kWh per person, thanks to the fact that there are not many Icelanders (about 300,000), but they do have A very potent industry such as aluminum, as well as very few hours of light and an extreme climate that requires constant lighting and heating. In Norway they also put the heating and light the lights, they also have an industry and a high standard of living that allows high consumption, but something that helps its consumption of 24,580 kWh per capita is a tremendous electric car park. In fact, in 2024, Almost 90% of the new cars sold were 100% electricwith what this entails at the charge level both at home and in public networks- In Xataka | This chart exposes self -sufficient countries at the food level. There is a single winner: Guyana

In Spain, eating chocolate is becoming a luxury. And that has begun to take its toll on your consumption

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Despite price swings And that the tablets no longer take the deficated rhythm of A few months agothe chocolate market continues to cross turbulence. The latest IPC data show that eating chocolate today comes out 19% more expensive that a year ago, which threatens to convert the chocolates and chocolates into (almost) a luxury. Consumption is not falling to the same extent in which prices rise, but the industry begins to understand a reality: demand, even the very very chocolate, It is not immune to inflation. The big question is now … Will prices continue to upload? A percentage: -13%. They do not run good times for cocoa and chocolate lovers. It is something that We have been saying. Your crisis responds to A mixture of factors that transcend Spain, but still the data that are coming from the national market help to better understand its evolution and perspectives. One of the last clues is the INE in your price index August. It shows that both chocolate and cocoa powder continue to make more expensive. The first is today 13.1% more expensive than in January and 18.8% more than a year ago. In the case of the second, the product that is marketed in dust, the percentages are respectively at 10 and 11.8%. They are not as strong increases as those of a few months ago, when the interannual chocolate climb touched 25%but still far exceed General Food CPIwhich barely grew 1.8%. Consumption, in retreat. The price is not the only clue we have to understand the chocolate situation in Spain. Moreover, there is another equally important (or even more) indicator that is directly related to the evolution of costs: demand. And this is also far from moving in positive values. As the price of chocolates, tablets, nougat and other cocoa products rose, its demand was contracted. And what, how has you denounced Facua, at least part of the sector attempted to compensate for raw materials through a strategy of “Redouflation”which basically consists in reducing the size of the product without touching its price. At the end of 2024, for example, the organization detected that practice in Christmas sweets. And how does demand evolve? If we talk about chocolates, cocoa and their derivatives, the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food draw a negative curve. Your study ‘Food consumption in Spain’prepared with data from 2024, shows that last year we buy less than the previous one. The fall was 4.4%, although in the specific case of per capita consumption the setback was higher, 5.6%staying at about 3.03 kilos per individual and year. “In the long term, the purchase of these products by Spanish households decreases, because 4.7% less chocolates/cacaos are bought than with respect to 2008,” Precian From map, which clarify in any case that this setback does not affect the entire sector equally. In fact, it is concentrated in derivatives, which retreat 10%. Chocolates grew 6.2%. Four of the 2024 food report published by the Government. Are there more updated data? Yes. And although the figures change the sign, negative. Updated data The Ministry on Food Consumption shows that in the mobile year at the end of the first quarter (March 24-March 25) the demand for chocolates and cocoa in Spain had reduced 6.1%, leaving per capita intake by 2.96 kg. A year earlier that indicator was greater: 3.19 kg. Now, that fall leaves a positive reading for the industry: chocolate is enduring the price increase well. Or at least he is not suffering as much as he could. It is reflected by another report published in July by Nielseniq, which esteem That the demand for sweets in general has contracted 2.6%, that of chocolate 3.2%and that of cocoa 1.7%. It may seem a lot, but it shows an amazing resistance of the product if one takes into account that in a few years it reached take up 30%. Less consumption, more expense. The Data from the Ministry of Food They show a curious trend in the chocolate sector, one that is probably explained by that decoupling between the rhythm to which prices rise and to which demand lowers. In 2024 we might have bought less chocolate, cocoa and derived products, but if we talk about the money moved in the market the data is superior. “In terms of value, the category closes with an increase of 6.4%, which means a gain of 86.5 million euros for the industry,” Confirm the mapwhich has also found the increase in ounces throughout the year 2024. “The average price of these products is € 10.11/kilo, a figure that is 11.3% greater than last year, an increase of € 1.02/kilo.” Year (Tam March) Consumption (kg/per capita) of chocolates/cacaos/dirt 2O25 2.96 2024 3.19 2023 3.21 2022 3.54 2021 4.03 2020 3.57 2019 3.57 Millions of millions (which). The Photo of the year included between the months of March 2024 and 2025 is similar. The millions of kilos of chocolate that moved in the industry fall, but the millions of euros of billing rise. To be precise, the first indicator retreated 6.1%. The second grew by 7.1%. In fact it is one of the greatest increases between the categories identified by Map in its latest report. Only the prepared dishes (10.8%), olive oil (11.8%), frozen potatoes (11.9%), some fresh fruits (8%) and part of the wine industry, although with lower billing levels, are exceeded. How does the industry respond? Recently, coinciding with the World Chocolate DayEfe published a balance that shows that (despite everything) the chocolate industry is maintaining its sales and enduring the guy. It does so in thanks to exports. According to the data it manages, in 2024 consumption grew by 7.5% in value while its volume was reduced by 3.9%. I wish They stand out That data and remember that in 2023 the difference between spending and volume was more pronounced. “There is an effort, since profitability is reduced by the cost of raw material.” For the Spanish industry … Read more

Airbnb has just eliminated 65,000 tourist floors. The problem is that consumption has found another 55,000

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Spain has been living for years in a free bar of tourist floors, so in May, the Ministry of Consumer He pressed a red button against Airbnband activated it in more than 65,000 floors that considered that they breached legislation. The reasons? Do not include license, include a erroneous, or lack all the necessary information. The government finally has achieved its goalalthough it has a new almost equally ambitious. Goodbye to 65,000 floors. The Ministry of Consumption led by Pablo Bustinduy has announced that Airbnb has retired the more than 65,000 illegal ads whose elimination had been demanding for months. Three resolutions had been sent from the Ministry, and They specified That “in all cases these are complete housing for tourist use, no individual room ads appear” Yes, but. After this first batch that has ended the publications outside the platform, the Consumer Analysis Unit has communicated the existence of another 54,728 illegal ads that do not have “rental registration number”, the tuition that since July 1 they need to announce and operate on platforms such as Booking or Airbnb. The government has been firm on its road map, and has announced That will not stop: “The Consumer Analysis Unit will continue working to identify and report potential illegal ads on different digital platforms specialized in the rental of tourist accommodations.” The problems for Airbnb are not over. In the absence of knowing if after the agreement with Housing Airbnb it will proceed with this new list of ads as with the more than 65,000 retired ads, the company is still immersed in problems with the Bustinduy Ministry. At the end of the year, consumption opened a sanctioning file to the company, for illicit advertising (ads without license number). It remains subject to a formal investigation that can end in an economic sanction if the infractions attributed to them are confirmed. In that case, it faces fines of up to 100,000 euros, although according to the file, it can become between 4 and 6 times higher than the money obtained with illegal practices. Justice supports government (for the moment). After requesting the elimination of the more than 65,000 ads, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid had backed twice that Airbnb withdraw with immediate effect 5,800 ads. Despite the requested precautionary measures, the company was forced to eliminate these ads, located in Andalusia, Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Valencian Community and the Basque Country. The reason for not stopping the legal procedure was that the court did not consider that there were “irreparable damages” for Airbnb. A consequence of the war to Airbnb: more expensive hotels. Barcelona has been limiting tourist floors since 2014, looking for the rental market. However, the rental price has not stopped in the city: 72% shot from that date until 2023. But also The price of hotels has risen: 8% from 2023 to 2024 and 30% since 2019. From Xataka we have contacted Airbnb to know its position on the new government application. We will update if we receive more information. Image | Kaspars Upmanis in Unspash In Xataka | Neither air conditioning nor fan: the best thing to cool in summer is a pool. In these platforms they are rented for hours

YouTube has built its empire as an individual use platform. Now hugging group consumption

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Since its inception, YouTube was synonymous with personal entertainment: short videos we saw alone on the computer or on the mobile. However, the video platform has adapted to the times, investing great efforts to become the main streaming platform also on smart TV. And it is a long time since YouTube also won our rooms. More Smart TV, more YouTube. The platform has gone from being a simple alternative to traditional television, its main competitor. According to the last Nielsen datathe platform already represents 12.5% of the total television viewing time in the United States, surpassing Netflix and other streaming services. In fact, according to study figures, US users now pass an average of More than one billion hours a day watching YouTube on its televisions. In Spain, the platform is also sweeping at Smart TV. We have the example in The Barlovento Study in which they explain that, only in June 2025, 10.1 million unique users agreed to YouTube from their television connected in Spain. The sofa phenomenon. This migration to large screens has completely changed consumption behavior. It is not for less, because the smart TV now provide greater facilities When reproducing content from YouTube or any streaming service. Sending content from the mobile is easier than ever, and also many content creators have also adapted their videos to television consumption, with much more elaborate and more ‘suitable’ productions to enjoy them on the big screen (more resolution, production levels, rhythm, etc.). In WSJ They highlight the statements of American YouTube stars such as Rhett & Link with their “Good Mythical Morning” program, who confirm that 53% of their visualizations come from televisions. Group consumption is increasingly widespread, and it is no longer so strange to wear a background background video on TV with family and friends around. Longer, more professional content. Producers and content creators have quickly captured this trend and are adapting their content. Long -lasting proposals (more than 15 minutes) have experienced an exponential growthespecially on televisions. We see this trend reflected from star canals such as Mrbeast and Yes Theory to national referents such as Ibai Llanos, Jordi Wild or Clavero, among many others, where productions of more than half an hour, with professional equipment and with a content adapted to play it on a television with family and friends. In addition to because many times the content asks for it, there are also other reasons: to maintain the viewer’s attention for a longer time and maximize advertising income through intermediate ads. Between the lines. YouTube has not forgotten the consumption of individual content. In fact, their shorts They are paving their transformation towards a multiformat and multidispositive content platform. A strategy that combines the best of both worlds without giving up the original YouTube DNA. In the United States and other regions, the platform has greater similarities to the rest of streaming platforms, since it has functions such as “shows” (which allows you to see complete seasons such as in Netflix and many others), traditional television channels and personalized recommendations adapted to large screens. The conquest of the TV by YouTube is a battle that has been fighting for many yearsonly that they have taken more than what they expected, partly for the arrival of new technologies to televisions to further facilitate their use. The price of success. This transition to group consumption is also accompanied by an increasing advertising saturation. Ads can occupy between 15% and 20% of the total visualization time, especially on televisions, where YouTube has implemented specific interactive formats such as QR codes for direct purchases. The platform has also hardened Measures against advertising blockersconverting Premium YouTube into the only official escape route for an interruption experience. And now what. YouTube is in a unique position: it has made streaming overcome for the first time in history to combined traditional television and cable consumption in its predominant region, according to Nielsen. His next challenge will be to maintain the balance between aggressive monetization and the user experience, especially when more and more content creators who seek user attention arise. Analysts like Wells Fargo They suggest that Netflix should invest 500 million dollars to attract 20-30 from the main creators of YouTube, although several assured WSJ that there is no check large enough to abandon the audiences they have built for years. Exclusive productions as long as streaming platforms is common in large content creators such as the case of The Beast Games Mrbeast in Prime Video. Leaving a channel after so many years to create exclusive content on a platform such as Netflix, Prime or HBO, is something else. Cover image | Xataka Smart Home In Xataka | Tiktok has been contaminating the rest of the social networks for years. Thanks to that, YouTube is going very well

With the electric consumption triggered by the air conditioning, Singapore has had an idea: buildings that “sweat”

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Fresh news: it’s hot. A lotand it doesn’t look like This summer is going to give us a break. Bet on Fans or by him air-conditioning It is a solution, but there is a problem: temperatures will continue to increase and Electricity consumed by air conditioning devices It is a problem. Urgently Find passive solutionsand Singapore may have found the key thanks to a new painting. Your secret? Makes buildings “sweat.” Short. In 2022, air conditioning represented 7% of world electricity consumption. The estimate It is that, by 2050, that electrical consumption triggers up to 20%. In order to cool buildings, there are already researchers who are experiencing with heat dissipation solutions to create fresher environments without the need for air conditioning, such as The nanomaterials or a Botijo ​​technology nut rotation. Although we are seeing how to make the air conditioners are more efficient. But there is an easier solution that could be applied to already built buildings: a layer of paint. The Insulating paint It already exists, with examples Like the ultrabrabas developed by the University of Purdue that reflects Up to 98% of the light to maintain surfaces up to 7ºC fresher than other solutions, even under direct sunlight. Now, in Singapore they have developed a painting that mimics the sweating for which we regulate our temperature. Buildings that “sweat”. As we read in Sciencenewsa group of researchers from the Technological University of Nanyang is the responsible of a painting baptized as CCP-30 and what has special is not a color, but its operation. It is developed based on cement and combines three cooling strategies: radiative, reflection and evaporative (the latter, the one that uses our skin). And it works like an organism that sweats. The porous structure of the paint can retain up to 30% of its weight in water, which slowly releases the environment. It’s like the function of air conditioning dehumidificationbut passively. By absorbing water and dissipating heat, the released steam is cooler, contributing to cool the environment. SUV. If the sensation can be similar to that produced with ultrabrabic paint, why invest resources in replicating something that already exists? The main reason is that this ultra -ABANCA painting that reflects heat does not work at all well in Wet environmentssuch as Singapore itself, but also in Thailand and other areas where the moisture percentage is important. This reflected light is trapped by water vapor in the environment, and in large cities the creation of heat spotlights is encouraged. Come on, which contributes to embarrassment. The new porous painting, when not working by reflecting light and heat, does not have this problem and allows the buildings to be correctly isolated, fulfilling that passive cooling function. Promising. To hold their arguments, the researchers painted three houses with different types of paintings. One with a common white paint, another with a commercial painting that only uses radiative cooling and another with its new “sweat” painting. After two years exposed to the sun, rain and humidity of Singapore, while the first two became yellowish, the new formula continued with its white color. That is important not so much for aesthetics, but to continue being efficient reflecting the light. In addition, being prepared to absorb moisture, it does not crack, being another advantage. On the other hand, the house painted with CCP-30 reflected between 88% and 92% of sunlight even when it was wet, and emitted 95% of the heat it absorbed. Tandem with air conditioning. CCP-30 is designed to cover the outside of buildings, not homes or interior areas, acting as a first shield to combat heat. According to the area, the use of air-conditioning It will continue to be necessary to endure high temperatures, but researchers claim that a house covered with its new painting meant between 30% and 40% less use of air conditioning. It does not stop turning the building into a botijo. In the end, as we said, the use of paintings against heat is nothing new, but renewed formulas can help not only to refresh interiors, but to eliminate those urban heat spotlights in cities with a high percentage of moisture, calls “Heat islands”And the good thing about being a painting and not something that require a new construction It can be applied to existing structures without complex reform. I only ask that this type of painting arrives soon, but it is nice to know that passive ways of refrigerating households are being investigated, such as the Cement developed by the Public University of Navarra. Images | Ibrahim Guetar, Chromatograph In Xataka | If you want to drink an frozen coffee to fight heat, science has something to tell you: better not

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